Online free Harvard courses are the best options to build your knowledge or reinforce your professional standing. Harvard University offers you free online short-duration courses through its MOOC learning platform edX. You can find free courses in edx.
In the following list of Harvard courses for free, you will find top-rated courses you can start today.
See Also: Which Courses are in Demand in the UK?
1. CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science
An introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming.
About this course
This is CS50x , Harvard University’s introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming for majors and non-majors alike, with or without prior programming experience. An entry-level course taught by David J. Malan, CS50x teaches students how to think algorithmically and solve problems efficiently. Topics include abstraction, algorithms, data structures, encapsulation, resource management, security, software engineering, and web development. Languages include C, Python, SQL, and JavaScript plus CSS and HTML. Problem sets are inspired by real-world domains of biology, cryptography, finance, forensics, and gaming. The on-campus version of CS50x , CS50, is Harvard’s largest course.
- Institution: HarvardX
- Subject: Computer Science
- Level: Introductory
- Prerequisites:None.
- Language: English
What you’ll learn
- A broad and robust understanding of computer science and programming
- How to think algorithmically and solve programming problems efficiently
- Concepts like abstraction, algorithms, data structures, encapsulation, resource management, security, software engineering, and web development
- Familiarity in a number of languages, including C, Python, SQL, and JavaScript plus CSS and HTML
- How to engage with a vibrant community of like-minded learners from all levels of experience
- How to develop and present a final programming project to your peers
Read Also: How to Become a Real Estate Broker?
2. Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking
Gain critical communication skills in writing and public speaking with this introduction to American political rhetoric.
About this course
This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of rhetoric, the art of persuasive writing and speech. In it, you will learn to construct and defend compelling arguments, a crucial skill in many settings. We will be using selected speeches from prominent twentieth-century Americans — including Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Margaret Chase Smith, Ronald Reagan, and more — to explore and analyze rhetorical structure and style. Through this analysis, you will learn how speakers and writers persuade an audience to adopt their point of view.
Built around Harvard Professor James Engell’s on-campus course, “Elements of Rhetoric,” this course will help you analyze and apply rhetorical structure and style, appreciate the relevance of persuasive communication in your own life, and understand how to persuade and recognize when someone is trying to persuade you. You will be inspired to share your viewpoint and discover the most powerful ways to convince others to champion your cause. Join us to find your voice!
- Institution: HarvardX
- Subject: Humanities
- Level: Introductory
- Prerequisites: None
What you’ll learn
- When and how to employ a variety of rhetorical devices in writing and speaking
- How to differentiate between argument and rhetorical technique
- How to write a persuasive opinion editorial and short speech
- How to evaluate the strength of an argument
- How to identify logical fallacies in arguments
3. Data Science: Machine Learning
Build a movie recommendation system and learn the science behind one of the most popular and successful data science techniques.
About this course
In this course, part of our Professional Certificate Program in Data Science, you will learn popular machine learning algorithms, principal component analysis, and regularization by building a movie recommendation system.
You will learn about training data, and how to use a set of data to discover potentially predictive relationships. As you build the movie recommendation system, you will learn how to train algorithms using training data so you can predict the outcome for future datasets. You will also learn about overtraining and techniques to avoid it such as cross-validation. All of these skills are fundamental to machine learning.
- Institution: HarvardX
- Subject: Data Analysis & Statistics
- Level: Introductory
- Estimated 8 weeks, 2–4 hours per week
- Prerequisites: This course is part of our Professional Certificate Program in Data Science and we recommend the preceding courses in the series as prerequisites.
What you’ll learn
- The basics of machine learning
- How to perform cross-validation to avoid overtraining
- Several popular machine learning algorithms
- How to build a recommendation system
- What is regularization and why it is useful?
Read Also: 7 Best Life Coaching Courses Online
4. CS50’s Introduction to Programming with Scratch
A gentle introduction to programming that prepares you for subsequent courses in coding.
About this course
An introduction to programming using Scratch, a visual programming language via which aspiring programmers can write code by dragging and dropping graphical blocks (that resemble puzzle pieces) instead of typing out text. Used at the start of Harvard College’s introductory course in computer science, CS50, Scratch was designed at MIT’s Media Lab, empowering students with no prior programming experience to design their own animations, games, interactive art, and stories. Using Scratch, this course introduces students to the fundamentals of programming, found not only in Scratch itself but in traditional text-based languages (like Java and Python) as well.
Topics include: functions, which are instructions that perform tasks; return values, which are results that functions provide; conditions, via which programs can decide whether or not to perform some action; loops, via which programs can take action again and again; variables, via which programs can remember information; and more. Ultimately, this course prepares students for subsequent courses in programming.
- Institution: HarvardX
- Subject: Computer Science
- Level: Introductory
- Prerequisites: None
What you’ll learn
- functions
- events
- values
- conditions
- loops
- variables
- abstraction
5. Managing Happiness (Best Happiness Program Online)
Managing Happiness encourages you to explore the science of happiness, allowing you to find your truest self. Through cutting-edge survey tools, the best research, and trends in social science, positive psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, learners unlock the strategies to create a more purposeful life, full of long-lasting enjoyment and satisfaction.
About this course
What is happiness? What makes you happy?’ Can you get happier through study and effort?
Maybe you have pondered these questions over the course of your life, but haven’t been able to come up with any definitive answers. Still, you’d like to think that happiness is something you can understand and manage, right? ****
This is a class that answers these questions and shows you how you can use the answers to build a happier life. It introduces you to the modern science of human well-being and shows you how to practice it. Unlike other happiness courses, Managing Happiness goes a step further and demonstrates how you can share the ideas with others, thus bringing more happiness and love to the world and supercharging your own well-being efforts. ****
Led by Harvard professor, author, social scientist, and former classical musician Arthur Brooks, this course will introduce cutting-edge survey tools, the best research, and trends in social science, positive psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy to help learners unlock the strategies to create a more purposeful life, full of long-lasting enjoyment and satisfaction. Managing Happiness uses philosophical and technical insights to challenge your assumptions about happiness — helping you break bad habits that hold you back and build good ones you can use for the rest of your life. ****
- Institution: HarvardX
- Subject: Social Sciences
- Level: Introductory
- Prerequisites: None
What you’ll learn
- Explore diverse definitions of happiness and understand its function in everyday life
- Learn how genetic, social, and economic influences impact your happiness
- Apply the science of the mind, body, psychology, and community to manage emotions and behaviors for greater happiness
- Develop a happiness portfolio focused on your deepest goals and desires
- Recognize how success and achievement impact short versus long-term happiness
- Write your ending — build happiness strategies for your work and life at any age or stage
6. Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies
Explore how entrepreneurship and innovation tackle complex social problems in emerging economies.
About this course
This business and management course, taught by Harvard Business School professor Tarun Khanna, takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and solving complex social problems. You will learn about prior attempts to address these problems, identify points of opportunity for smart entrepreneurial efforts, and propose and develop your own creative solutions.
The focus of this course is on individual agency—what can you do to address a defined problem? While we will use the lens of health to explore entrepreneurial opportunities, you will learn how both problems and solutions are inevitably of a multi-disciplinary nature, and we will draw on a range of sectors and fields of study.
What you’ll learn
- An awareness of the opportunities for entrepreneurship in fast-growing emerging markets
- An understanding of a conceptual framework for evaluating such opportunities
- An appreciation of the types of problems that lend themselves to entrepreneurial solutions
Read Also: Harvard Online Courses For Free With Certificate | Harvard edX Certificate Courses 2022
Article by
PK
image credits: wiki