The 11 Most Popular Courses on the Online Education Website

The Internet is a great medium for sharing knowledge. This also applies to university knowledge. Thanks to it, anyone with a connection can access courses from foreign universities and classes in very specific subjects. One of the platforms responsible for this is EdX.

Founded by researchers at Harvard and MIT in 2012 to make courses from those institutions more accessible. It currently contains thousands of courses, including those institutions, that can be viewed online by everyone. The content available on the platform ranges from foreign language courses to very specific and challenging subjects.

In addition, several master’s degree distance learning programs. Although these programs are fee-based, they are offered by renowned foreign universities. But with more than 15 million users, the platform is already seeing increased interest in some content and has published a list of its most popular courses.

The experts from the apa paper writing service really recommend looking at the list below and choose one of the popular courses.

1. Learning Java Programming from Microsoft

In ninth place is a course offered by technology giant Microsoft that teaches programming in Java, the language used to create apps for Android, among other applications. It lasts four weeks and requires the student to dedicate six to ten hours per week.

2. Introduction to Linux from the Linux Foundation

As the name implies, this course is an introduction to Linux, the system that is the foundation of many operating systems and open-source software. It was created and taught by Jerry Cooperstein, director of training at the Linux Foundation, and the platform estimates that it can be completed in about 14 weeks.

3. English Grammar and Style, University of Queensland

An English writing course taught by the University of Queensland in Australia. It covers English writing topics such as verbs, pronouns, prepositions, punctuation, and paragraphs in eight weeks. This is a great option for those who want to improve their English and can devote three to four hours a week to this activity.

4. Data Science: Fundamentals of R, Harvard University

This course, offered by Harvard University (through the HarvardX platform), was the seventh most popular course. The goal of the course is to teach students how to program in R, a language widely used in Data Science, to solve problems and analyze situations where huge amounts of data are available to support decisions. 

To do this, the course revolves around a project in which the student learns how to use the language to solve a problem using a set of real data. It lasts eight weeks and requires one to two hours per week from the student.

5. Analyzing and Visualizing Data Using Microsoft Excel

If you want to learn how to better use Excel, you’re not alone. The “Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Excel” course offered by Microsoft was the sixth most popular course on the platform in 2018. 

In it, you’ll learn how to use the program to create smart charts and tables, see how to import data from other programs into Excel, and use features to create interactive and sophisticated data visualizations. It lasts six weeks and requires 2-4 hours per week from the student.

6. Introduction to Python: The Absolute Beginner, by Microsoft

For those who want to start programming but don’t know where to start, this introductory Python course for beginners is a good option. In five weeks with three to four hours of instruction each, it shows students the basics of one of today’s most versatile programming languages. 

It’s all done on an online platform, which means there’s no need to download or install programs on your computer. Topics such as conditional logic, methods, and getting user input are covered.

7. Introduction to Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel

Another Microsoft course is on this list. This one focuses on data analysis using Excel. It is similar to number 6 on this list but focuses more on creating tables and formulas to create clean and consistent data sets. In it, you will also learn how to use program functions with your dataset to calculate probabilities and find anomalies. This is a four-week course with two to four hours per week.

8. Introduction to Computer Science and Python Programming, MITX

Another introductory programming course, and another course that uses Python to help students write their first lines of code. The big difference is that this course is taught by MITX, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s platform. It superficially covers a range of topics, from basic programs to complex algorithms, so the student can decide where to go deeper. 

9. University of Queensland, IELTS Academic Test Preparation

Another University of Queensland course focused on English, this IELTS preparation course was the third most popular. Over the course of eight weeks, with classes lasting five to ten hours each, each part of the exam is explained in detail: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, in that order. In each part, students can see examples of questions and problems, and learn strategies for solving questions more quickly.

10. Harvard University, CS50 Introduction to Computer Science

CS50 is one of Harvard University’s most popular courses, and its “online version”. Rather than focusing on a specific language, it takes a broader approach to computer science, teaching algorithmic thinking, and effective problem solving and covering such topics as abstraction, resource management, software engineering, and Web development.

It lasts four weeks, but it emphasizes that projects (which include real data sets and languages such as C, Python, and SQL) can be done at the student’s own pace. But you can also take the course for free.

11. Preparing for the TOEFL® test: an ETS expert guide

The most popular course has been the TOEFL preparation course offered by ETS (the organization that administers the test itself). It covers all four parts of the test (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) separately, using questions from past exams as examples. ETS specialists also advise on how to prepare for the test and how best to take it. The course lasts six weeks and requires two to four hours per week. 

If you want to learn something new or gain professional knowledge and skills for your future work, choose one of the presented courses and go ahead!