Best sites with free online courses

Best sites with free online courses

Taking free online courses can solve the problem of those who want to obtain specializations quickly and at a distance. Coursera, Veduca are some of the platforms that offer certificates from major universities such as Stanford, Yale, the Brazilian USP and even Google and IBM without charging anything. Fundação Getúlio Vargas and SESI are also on the list.

Most of the online classes are free and are attended by means of video lessons, slides and tests on the Internet, and there are also options for courses in Portuguese or other languages. At the end, the student receives the certificate of completion – many of them are accepted at colleges and universities as a complementary workload.

Here are seven good options for websites to take distance courses for free over the Internet.

1 of 5 Online platforms make it possible to study for free from a distance – Photo: Reproduction / Intel

Online platforms allow distance learning for free – Photo: Reproduction / Intel

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Focused on the Business, Information Technology and Science area, Coursera offers 2,690 specialties, including: Marketing, Design, Entrepreneurship, History, Music and Languages ​​courses, and Personal Development. On the Coursera website, you can attend classes for free. However, if you want to receive the certificate of completion, you must pay a fee starting at US $ 29 (R $ 94.28 in the current quote).

2 out of 5 Coursera offers courses from different universities around the world – Photo: Disclosure / Coursera

Coursera offers courses from different universities around the world – Photo: Disclosure / Coursera

Coursera has partners from 29 countries, including Google, the University of São Paulo (USP), ITA (Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica) and Stanford University, in the United States. Some of the options are taught in Portuguese, but most are in English and other languages, with Portuguese subtitles. In addition to the website, it is possible to download the application to attend classes on iPhone (iOS) and Android devices.

3 out of 5 Veduca has classes from USP professors – Photo: Reproduction / Veduca

Veduca has classes from USP professors – Photo: Reproduction / Veduca

Veduca’s online courses are taught in Portuguese by specialized teachers from major educational institutions in the country, most of them from USP. Among the offers are: People Management, Financial Mathematics, Libras, Scientific Methodology and several options in the areas of Sustainability and Engineering. Access to videos, activities and complementary materials is not charged, but to take the final exam and obtain the certificate, a fee of R $ 99 must be paid.

3. Fundação Getulio Vargas

Fundação Getulio Vargas was the first Brazilian institution to offer content and teaching materials free of charge over the Internet through the OEC (Open Education Consortium), a consortium of educational institutions from different countries. FGV serves the areas of Law, Economics and Personal Finance, People and Business Management, in addition to Marketing and International Relations.

4 out of 5 Fundação Getúlio Vargas is a pioneer in offering free courses on the Internet – Photo: Disclosure / Fundação Getúlio Vargas

Fundação Getúlio Vargas is a pioneer in offering free courses on the Internet – Photo: Disclosure / Fundação Getúlio Vargas

Courses last between five and 30 hours and most of them are presented with slides and animations. After the final exam, a certificate from Fundação Getulio Vargas is issued free of charge.

The Industry Social Service (Sesi) has a structure designed according to the demands of each state in the country, that is, each place offers different courses, but you can attend the classes available at any online unit. Even with this segmentation, some areas are frequently approached, among them: Administration, Mathematics, Libras, Writing, Corporate Communication, Financial Education and Health.

The lessons are presented in slides with simple animations and are available monthly, starting on the 1st and ending on the last day of the current month. Sesi also provides certificate of completion of classes.

With one of the most complete online education catalogs in the country, Fundação Bradesco offers courses divided between six educational fields in partnership with the Escol @ Virtual platform. Students can attend classes in Entrepreneurship, People Management, Projects and Processes, Photography, Written Communication, Writing Techniques, Programming, various levels of improvement in Microsoft Office and Web Design programs, among others, for free.

5 out of 5 Specialization courses are offered at Fundação Bradesco – Photo: Reproduction / Fundação Bradesco

Specialization courses are offered at Fundação Bradesco – Photo: Reproduction / Fundação Bradesco

Classes are taught on slides and illustrated with texts, animations and YouTube videos. The digital certificate is sent by email upon completion.

A partner of the Brazilian Distance Education Association, Prime Cursos offers a variety of classes: there are more than 20 areas of knowledge. The student can choose between Administration, Gastronomy, Music, Foreign Languages, various areas of Law, Tourism, Fashion and Health, and others.

Unlike other platforms, Prime Cursos only offers texts and photos for the realization of the classes, divided by extensive lessons, which can leave the classes a little tiring. Finally, the student approved in the assessment needs to pay a fee of R $ 49.90 to receive his certificate.

At LearnCafe, access to classes is available for 30 days after the start of the course. The student has at his disposal: Marketing, English, Healthy eating, Programming, WordPress, Makeup, Bartender, courses in History, Journalism and Languages, Entrepreneurship and Economics.

Classes are taught by tutors on videos played on YouTube, and the certificate is issued upon completion, free of charge.