Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
What is a MOOC? A wide range of free not-for-credit (some fees apply for credit courses) courses commonly offered through universities and colleges, and open to anyone. Course length and time commitments vary. Teaching is through video lectures, podcasts, online discussions and links to articles and ebooks. Here are some examples where many courses are free (look for auditing options):
- Cognitive Class is an initiative by IBM to spread data literacy through free classes for students and experienced IT professionals alike. Users can pursue coursework at their own pace with no time restrictions for completion. Covers topics like Python for data science, reactive architecture, and digital analytics and regression.
- Coursera – courses that span the humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business and computer science. Notable courses offered through the University of Alberta & Coursera are Indigenous Canada and Science Literacy.
- EDX – partnership between MIT, Harvard, Berkeley and University of Texas. McGill University, the University of Toronto and others, offering courses “designed to be interesting, fun and rigorous.”
- Kadenze - focuses on music, visual arts, creative technology
- MOMA - hear directly from artists and designers, look closely at works in our collection and exhibitions, and join a global community of learners unlike any other. Enroll any time and complete the course at your own pace.
Gale Courses – Gale Courses offer patrons access to hundreds of instructor-led online courses covering everything from health and wellness to creative writing, computer programming, GED test preparation and much more.
Mango Languages – Each Mango lesson is focused on practical, common conversation skills and includes instruction on vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, AND culture. Lessons are developed by native-speaking teachers who understand the nuances of the language and the culture. Also available as an iPhone or Android app!
Linked-In Learning – LinkedIn Learning gives you free access to over 16,000 online courses taught by industry experts in business, technology and creative topics.