Due to the uncertain situation around the world caused by COVID-19, all education institutes are closed, and most classes are being undertaken online. Although this is a difficult period for everyone, you can use this time to improve your skills through the multitude of free and paid online learning resources. We’ve listed a selection of these for your information.

Udemy

Udemy is an online learning platform aimed at professional adults and students. Developed in May 2010, as of January 2020, the platform has more than 50 million students and 57,000 instructors teaching courses in over 65 languages.

Courses are offered across a range of categories including business and entrepreneurship, academics, the arts, health and fitness, language, music, and technology.  Highly practical subjects such as using Excel and your iPhone camera are available alongside Udemy for Business, a targeted suite of over 4,000 training courses on topics including digital marketing, office productivity, design, management, and programming.

Lynda – LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is an American website offering video courses taught by industry experts in software, creativity, and business skills. It is a subsidiary of LinkedIn. It was founded in 1995 by Lynda Weinman as Lynda.com, before being acquired by LinkedIn in 2015.

It is an online educational platform that helps you discover and develop business, technology-related, and creative skills through expert-led course videos. With more than 5,000 courses and personalized recommendations, you can find, complete, and track courses related to your field and interests. You can also choose to add these courses and related skills to your LinkedIn profile once you've completed them.

Facebook – BluePrint

Facebook and Instagram advertising is one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience. The right ads tell a story about your brand and help you make a memorable first impression, or they can give customers that last little nudge they need to make a purchase.

Becoming Blueprint certified shows that you have a complete understanding of Facebook advertising, from building a strategy to implementing it and analyzing the results.

It sets the standard for digital advertisers, requiring advanced proficiency in Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger advertising.

The exams are challenging and require both experience on the platforms as well as time spent studying and preparing. These rigorous conditions and overall difficulty are what make Facebook Blueprint Certification so impactful.

Duolingo

Learning a foreign language is not as simple as it may seem. However, with the Duolingo app, you can learn languages like Dutch, Spanish, German, French, Danish, Irish, Italian, and English. You can download the app for free and use the same app each time for any language you wish to learn.

Science 360

Created by the National Science Foundation, the app runs exclusively on tablets. It contains engineering news, images, advanced science news, and videos – all ideal for students. The content is authentic, very high quality, and updated every week. Some of the content is collected from universities and scientists from across the world, and the rest is exclusively produced by the National Science Foundation.

QuickStart.com

QuickStart is an online boot camp website where you can take courses offered by renowned international universities. These courses are based on boot camp styles and will help you to learn and get a certificate in 8 to 24 weeks.

Courses include:

- Full Stack Web Development Instant Prep

An accelerated online training program with a focus on creating the core programming concept. Attend classes, do hands-on labs, and apply your learning to complete projects that address different coding topics.

Skills you will learn:

• Front-End Concepts
• Python
• Responsive Design
• HTML / CSS
• JavaScript 

Cybersecurity Instant Prep

The prep serves as the foundation for the advanced-level learning of cyber security. Graduates of this program will learn critical skills for different cyber security careers.

Topics you will learn:

• Hardware Architecture
• Operating Systems
• Network Management
• Network Security
• System Security
• Vulnerability Assessments