4 Awesome Online Classes To Try Right Now For FREE!
The COVID-19 outbreak has temporarily displaced millions of students worldwide. The good news is that there are plenty of online tools to help students continue their studies. The great thing about online education is that anyone can be a student!
With services like Coursera and Skillshare offering extended free trials, we thought it would be a good idea to share 4 of our favorite online classes that will not only stimulate your curiosity, but add value to your life long after this pandemic is over.
Some of the classes can be made more fun if you link up with a group of friends and tackle them together. Make sure you create a study group chat on Lark so everyone can stay on the same page throughout the course! Whether it’s the seamless video conference, or the autogenerated meeting notes, Lark encompasses all the digital tools you need to learn at your own pace.
1. Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science
Provided By: Harvard University
Duration: 16 Weeks
Harvard is known for a lot of things, such as their impeccable academic standards, famous alumni, and now…culinary classes? This isn’t your average cooking class — in fact, there isn’t as much cooking as the transformation of matter. A basic background in science is definitely recommended, but the videos of food transformation will awe and inspire even the most science illiterate person. Either way, the course will teach you the chemistry and physics behind scrambled eggs so you can whip up better breakfasts while stuck at home!
2. Master Gardener Series: Vegetable Gardening
Provided By: Oregon State University
Duration: 4–6 Hours
If you’re fortunate enough to have a small garden, why not invest the extra time you have at the moment and learn the composition of what makes a truly spectacular garden? This class is nice and brief (4–6 hours), and packs enough soil composition knowledge for you to plant whatever vegetables you want. You could even try keeping all your progress and notes in a collaborative doc shared amongst friends if you’re growing different crops to figure out what works best!
3. The Science of Wellbeing
Provided By: Yale University
Duration: 15 Hours
This free online course is now one of the most popular courses ever at Yale University. In fact, it is so popular that there is now a podcast about it hosted by the professor, Dr. Laurie Santos. So whether you like shorter, curated bits that are produced at high quality — or the consistency and routine of an online class, you are bound to learn new insights and techniques to improve your personal happiness. Don’t tackle this alone, as one of the things Dr. Santos recommends for happiness is trying new challenges with close friends. Invite a buddy or two so you can debrief after each class over a video call on Lark.
4. Fashion As Design
Provided By: Museum Of Modern Art (MOMA)
Duration: 20 Hours
If you’re at home, chances are you aren’t wearing as many different outfits as you used to before COVID-19. Now might be a good time to go through your wardrobe, and really learn about what you’re wearing, and how it got to your closet. We could all make more conscious choices of what we wear, and a good way to do that is to invest time in studying the evolution of fashion. If fashion isn’t your first choice, MOMA offers 9 other classes, ranging from art history to contemporary art history.
If you’re staring at blank walls in your home all day, maybe you’ll find some inspiration to seek out your next art piece!
Even if growing your own vegetables, cooking them in new ways, taking care of your mental health, and updating your fashion sense aren’t subjects you’re particularily interested in, there are countless other online classes available for free at the moment. This pandemic has created a massive amount of downtime for most people, which means this is the perfect opportunity to start on that dream project you’ve always wanted to try!
Lark is your ultimate remote learning and collaboration platform. Click here to get started for free.
