10 Cool Courses You Can Take Online for Free

What better time than right now to learn a new skill or explore a new subject? Maybe you’re someone who loves learning, perhaps you’ve always wanted to get into a new hobby but never got around to it, you could be searching for a change in career, or maybe you’re just bored! Whatever the reason, there are literally hundreds of online courses you can take to fulfill your goal. And better yet, a lot of them are free.

Here are some of the coolest, most interesting courses you can take for free online right now. From setting up an Etsy store to Ivy League psychology classes, there are endless courses for everyone’s interests.

World of Wine: From Grape to Glass

Who doesn’t love drinking wine? But wouldn’t be even cooler if you knew about the fine details of the winemaking process and the flavor differences between a Pinot and a Cabernet? With EdX’s World of Wine course, you’ll learn about all of those things and more. The 6-week long course explains the practices and principles of how grapes are grown and how wine is made. By the end of the course, you’ll confidently be able to describe many varieties of wine across the world. Expect to dedicate 2-3 hours per week but, luckily, the ‘homework’ involves wine tasting. Learn more and sign-up here.

Come Rain or Shine: Understanding the Weather

You might think your local weatherman might just be making things up sometimes, but the weather is actually a fascinating and dynamic science. Future Learn is offering a 3-week course called Come Rain or Shine: Understand the Weather that helps explain the physical processes that make weather systems. After learning a bit about the science behind weather processes, you’ll try your hand at forecasting and interpreting weather maps. Sign up for the course and learn more about the syllabus here.

The Science of Well-Being

Prepare to be happier and more productive after taking Yale’s The Science of Well-Being class offered through Coursera. This 19-hour Ivy League course will assign you challenges that are designed to increase your happiness and help you build productive habits. Not only that, but students will also learn about the misconceptions of happiness and why our minds make us think the way we do. You’ll walk away with a new-found understanding of how to incorporate positivity and wellness into your daily life. Read the syllabus and learn more about the course at Coursera.

Dash: Learn to Code

Building and designing your own website is easier than you might think. General Assembly is offering a free coding course called Dash to help people learn about HTML, CSS3, and Javascript. By the end of the self-paced course, you’ll be able to design a beautifully-modern and dynamic website with functional layouts and navigation elements. Sign yourself up for the course here.

Interior Design Basics: Simple Steps to Your Perfect Space

Turn your living space into a true ‘home’ by learning about some interior design basics with SkillShare’s Interior Design Basics: Simple Steps to Your Perfect Space course. Students will discover a fun and simple approach to the four principles of interior design that will help you create gorgeous spaces in every area of your home. You’ll learn how to identify your own personal style, curate a color palette, create a sense of rhythm and balance, and choose pieces that you’ll enjoy for a lifetime. Sign up and start decorating by visiting the SkillShare course website.

Yale’s Introduction to Psychology

If you’re someone that misses a university-structured course with deep thinking and problem-solving—you found it. Yale is offering a free Introduction to Psychology course via Coursera that explores the scientific study of thoughts and behavior. The course will help explain why we do certain things and think in certain ways—what makes us happy? Why do we dream? What causes mental illness? All of this and more will be discussed in the 4-week long course. Learn more here.

Astronomy: State of the Art

Are you the type of person that loves gazing at the stars pondering all of the universe’s greatest mysteries and questions? Then you’ll probably want to sign up for Udemy’s Astronomy: State of the Art course. The course is almost 24-hours long and students will learn everything from current planetary research to the existence of life beyond Earth. You’ll also learn about the technology of telescopes that are helping scientists discover more about our universe each day. Sign up for the course at Udemy.

Knife Skills: A Mini Class to Chop Like a Chef

Many people don’t have time to sit at their computer for hours at a time to learn a new skill or subject. Luckily, SkillShare has a 12-minute class for those that are looking to up their culinary game. The Knife Skills course is a fun and informative short class that teaches you all about basic knife skills. You’ll learn about the 4 essential basic cuts and a few other fundamental skills in the kitchen. Afterward, you’ll be able to confidently take your skills into your next cooking session. Start dicing, mincing, and slicing here.

Building an Etsy Shop that Sells: Strategies for E-Commerce Success

Learn something, make money, and practice your favorite hobby? Yes, please! SkillShare’s Building an Etsy Shop that Sells course is just over 40-minutes long and can help you transform your online business. From designing an eye-catching product to crafting your own unique brand, this course will teach you key strategies and tactics that will help you create an Etsy store that sells. Sign up for the course at SkillShare.

Basic First Aid

Basic First Aid is something that everyone should know—and this two-week course from Future Learn will teach you skills that could help save someone’s life. In the class, students will learn clinical skills through articles, videos, and quizzes. The four scenarios dealt with in the course are: unresponsive patient with pulse, unresponsive patient without pulse (CPR), choking, and acute bleeding. Gain vital life-saving skills by signing up for the course here.

Written by Ashley Brewer for Knockaround.