By the numbers: MOOCs during the Pandemic, “Personal Development” was the number one subject, with Self Improvement and Communication Skills making it to the top 10, as well as Art & Design, Humanities, and Language learning. Unsurprisingly, Health & Medicine is also a top 10 subject.”
By now, most people should be familiar with MOOCs – Massive Online Open Courses. As remote work continues, now is the best time to invest in learning and personal development. Check out these free online courses or MOOCs on personal development, if it helps you enrich your career.
1. Critical Thinking at University: An Introduction(FutureLearn)
What this course is trying to do is to give students a real sense of what it means to think critically at university. Also, why it’s so important to think critically, how your critical thinking is applied in different disciplines. This course is aimed at undergraduate students and new top postgraduate students.
Critical thinking skill is really valued by employers so if you’re looking to evidence your critical thinking skills then this will be a course that you’ll want to take.
This course is a really practical guide to help learners develop their approach to critical thinking at university and what makes it really unique is that it gives learners a really multidisciplinary perspective on what critical thinking means.
Learners will hear from academics and students from lots of different subject areas because whatever subject you study critical thinking will be absolutely crucial to that discipline.
You can access this course free for 4 weeks but you need to pay to get a Certificate of Achievement.
2. Data Literacy for All (Tableau)
Data Literacy is not just for analysts, data scientists, and statisticians – Everyone can benefit personally and professionally from understanding foundational data skills.
You can learn how to explore, understand, and communicate with data – online, for FREE. A huge thanks to Sue Kraemer for developing this course and Corrina Wycoff for bringing it to life as engaging eLearning – this incredible education will help many for years to come!
3. SalesTribe
SalesTribel is the world’s first CAREER MANAGEMENT PLATFORM for salespeople, dedicated to the B2B sales profession. They help sales professionals globally UPGRADE and PROTECT their sales careers.
SalesTribe’s purpose is to assist salespeople in navigating all of the accelerated change that is now occurring. Their unique community, ‘The Tribe’, helps salespeople re-purpose and upskill to be ready for the future of sales that has now arrived.
If you are in sales or a sales-related role, then you should join SalesTribe today (it’s Free) to protect and upgrade your career. You will find content, courses, and conversations that will help you leverage the power of the Tribe.
And if you do want to continue in sales, then you need to focus your attention on becoming devoted to career development and long-term career goals to upgrade and protect your career.
With change comes opportunity and it’s those sales professionals that adapt quickly will benefit as the traditional sales role diminishes.
Join SalesTribe today and upgrade and protect your sales career
4. The Science of Well-Being (Coursera)
Professor Laurie Santos, a professor in psychology and cognitive science started the lectures about the science and the practice of well-being, in Solomon College by introducing a small set of students to the science of psychology. And then, she thought that it might be so beneficial to Yale students, they wanted to bring it to a bigger group, and that’s where you come in.
You get a chance to watch the short lectures on the science of happiness for free and to think about how to develop these practices in your own life through a very cool app called ReWi
The app allows you to track all the practices of science and how it can increase happiness in your life. Things like savoring more, gratitude, sleeping, and exercise. As you watch the lectures, the instructor encourages you to use the app and try to track the practices in your own life. It’ll definitely make a difference, both in terms of teaching about the science of happiness, and the tools you need to apply those practices in your daily life.
“The Science of Well-Being”, a course that is equally as challenging as it is fulfilling for personal development.
5. Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence
(Coursera)
Emotional Intelligence is a vital element of being an efficient Leader and a valuable team member.
It is a great course that talks about how to build resonant relationships, counter stress in work and personal life, use emotional intelligence for effective leadership, how to inspire and motivate others for sustained development, growth, and learning, learning about coaching styles. There are a lot of action learning assignments and practice opportunities to experience.
Enroll in the course for free: Start your 7-day full access free trial.
6. Success (Coursera)
The course is designed to help you define what success means to you and to develop a plan for achieving it. In times like this, when we all look at social media and really only see the positive side of everyone’s life, it is easy to fall into the trap of naturally comparing oneself to others.
This course specifically references this and points out the flaws of the “theory of relativity” way of thinking. It will help in defining what success means to you and will give you more clarity on the relationship between achievement and happiness in both personal and professional lives. The instructor, Dr. Richard Shell, is personable, engaging, and undoubtedly passionate about helping his students
This course is a part of the Achieving Personal and Professional Success Specialization but you can enroll in this course and audit for free.
7. Improve Your English Communication Skills Specialization (Coursera)
This English course in Coursera from the Georgia Institute of Technology will teach you how to express yourself more professionally in English. Not only that, but you also learn how to make a strong personal introduction. You will develop your English speaking skills in person, through discussion, phone, and even online. Besides that, you’ll be able to improve your English pronunciation and fluency in this course.
There are four courses in this specialization:
- Write Professional Emails in English
- Speak English Professionally: In-Person, Online & On the Phone
- Build Your Professional ePortfolio in English
- Take Your English Communication Skills to the Next Level
Each course focuses on a particular area of communication in English: writing emails, speaking at meetings and interviews, giving presentations, and online networking.
You can access this specialization by entering into a 7-day Free Trial.
8. How to Succeed at Writing Applications (FutureLearn)
Moving (permanently) to a different country for study or settlement can prove a little difficult. Many things are different and feel uncomfortable at first. One of the most intimidating things is writing applications.
Applications, the way you learned it in school many years ago are completely different now.
The CV alone feels much more personal and requires self-promotion skills.
FutureLearn hosts a course provided by The University of Sheffield called How To Succeed At Writing Applications.
In this, three weeks’ online course the Career Advisors will talk about how to write CVs, cover letters, and personal statements. It is extremely helpful and will allow you to reflect on your past applications and the improvements which you can make in the future.
The course is tailored for both job and course applications. It is free, but if you upgrade the course you will receive a certificate.
9. Career and Personal Development Plan (Udemy)
David Osborne, the Managing Director of Profitable Personnel, has launched his first and very own course in Udemy about the “Career and Development Plans”.
-Are you looking to upgrade your career?
-Are you longing for some Career and Personal Development?
-Do you want to win an interview?
-Do you want to know how you can craft your Resume and Cover Letter in the most professional manner?
This course is not only for fresh graduates, if you are still unsure of your career or personal path this course is for you! Enroll now while this course is still on SALE!
10. Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects (Coursera)
Nowadays people have to learn every day and there are many more distractions than ever before. It happens to all of us when we feel kind of dissatisfied about our quality of learning. Mainly when it comes to working on new materials, we may even feel disappointed about our learning progress.
This course provides insights and techniques, how to tackle procrastination, loads of information, and distractions.
One take-way element which I found very relevant is to focus on the process rather than the product while learning – it will help you memorize subjects easier and to a greater extent!
For everyone working in fields where a lot of knowledge is required to be processed such as in cybersecurity, risk, audit, and others, this course is a must.
If you’re already an expert, you can gain valuable insights that will help you make the best use of your time with a structured treasure trove of practical techniques.
You will learn about topics such as:
- The Focused and the Diffuse Models
- Conquering Procrastination
- Procrastination and Memory
- Chunking
- The Illusions of Competence
- Overlearning, Choking, Einstellung, and Interleaving
- How to use the Memory Palace Technique
- Consolidation, Reconsolidation, and reactivation
- Renaissance Learning among other topics
Additionally, the course includes tons of videos of subject matter experts in the field.
Change your thoughts🤯change the way your mind works🙇♂️and change your life 🚀.
11. Applications of Everyday Leadership (Coursera)
This is an excellent course about everyday leadership and leveraging your leadership skills in negotiations, change management, and conflict management. The articles about emotional intelligence and leading change are highly insightful and interesting. The course was well-structured and only requires (5-7 hours weekly), dedication and commitment, but gives a lot.
The videos are short and conveyed the information precisely. The assessments and materials provided are satisfactory and serves the basic purpose.
The assignments and the discussions are also enriching in their own ways as you’ll meet people from around the world.
12. Digital Storytelling (StoryCenter)
If you wish to develop Digital Storytelling skills, check out this online service from Storycenter.org. It’s a good hands-on workshop where you will end up creating a 2-4 minute 300 words personal digital story, while also learning the process of developing a script, creating media elements, and publishing a story. You can join workshops, attend webinars, and listen to storytelling podcasts through their website.
As a sample, check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw20D28zEQc