Get yourself a business education free of charge

vivatifosi

Many years ago, I was lucky enough to be funded by my employer to get a qualification in business. These days, with cuts to budgets, I know I wouldn't be as lucky. However the growth in online courses from great universities and institutions means that there are now some really good modules that can be taken completely free of charge.

(Apologies if I'm teaching anyone to suck eggs here) MOOC is the abbreviation for Massive Open Online Courses. You can take them in a whole host of subjects, not just business. I have taken a selection of business ones and I have to say, they are pretty good. You can also get a certificate in a lot of them to show you have done the learning. As the following article shows, they are already being looked at as an alternative and threat to an MBA:

http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-distance-learning/2671/mooc-tech-may-destroy-mba-programs-cut-faculty-by-third

I've been looking to start this thread for a while, with the aim of posting new courses as and when they become available. First though, here are links to some of the main providers (if you know of others please post) so that you can have a browse.

Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/
ALISON: https://www.alison.com
edX: https://www.edx.org/
Udacity: https://www.udacity.com/
FutureLearn: https://www.futurelearn.com/

The big American 3 are Coursera, edX and Udacity. There's a good article about what to expect, their strengths and weaknesses here:

http://www.skilledup.com/blog/the-best-mooc-provider-a-review-of-coursera-udacity-and-edx/

In terms of Europe, FutureLearn is British initiative, run by the Open University in conjunction with a number of leading UK universities (largely Russell group) and major institutions such as the British Library and British Museum. ALISON is an Irish company that was one of the first (if not the first) companies in the MOOC marketplace.

vivatifosi

ALISON courses:

Fundraising for the non-profit:
http://alison.com/courses/Fundraising-for-the-Non-Profit

Fundamentals of financial accounting:
http://alison.com/courses/financial-accounting

Financial maths:
http://alison.com/courses/Financial-Maths

Fundamentals of accounting:
http://alison.com/courses/Introduction-to-Accounting-1

21 days to building a web business:
http://alison.com/courses/21-Steps-to-Building-a-Web-Business

Characteristics of the successful entrepreneur:
http://alison.com/courses/Characteristics-of-Successful-Entrepreneur

Customer service training:
http://alison.com/courses/Customer-Support-Training

NB: this is a selection only
Caveat: I haven't taken any courses with ALISON, so can't vouch for how good they are.

Mistral001

I would not forget plain old Youtube. There are lots of people making videos on everything from advanced physics to plastering and posting them on Youtube. Others are language learning, Adobe Illustrator, crafts etc.

Yale even puts 100's of full lectures on youtube as well. I cannot imagine what the parents of the students who attend those lectures think about this as Yale are giving away what they are paying a small fortune for.

However it is putting what you learn into practice that is important. Yes, I have been able to improve my DIY around the house by just looking at Youtube videos on plastering, welding and painting, but I hardly think that watching all Yale's lectures on business studies will get me a job in the City!


Edit: I have edited name of university.

vivatifosi

Absolutely! Thanks Mistral. I have done some great Excel tutorials from YouTube.

paddyrg

Maybe something interesting in the khan academy too http://www.khanacademy.org, they have economics and maths courses, not specifically business.

vivatifosi

Thanks paddyrg. I think some of the Khan Academy courses are on ALISON too.

vivatifosi

Upcoming Coursera courses for business:

Developing innoviative ideas for new companies, the first step in entrepreneurship:
https://www.coursera.org/course/innovativeideas

What's your big idea?
https://www.coursera.org/course/bigidea

Social entrepreneurship:
https://www.coursera.org/course/socialentrepeneur


These ones cover similar subject matter to core MBA modules (though not necessarily at the same level/depth). I've met a few people studying via Coursera who run their own businesses and are taking a 'build your own MBA' approach:

Competitive Strategy:
https://www.coursera.org/learn/competitivestrategy/outline

An introduction to Operations Management:
https://www.coursera.org/course/operations

Introduction to marketing:
https://www.coursera.org/course/marketing

Organizational analysis:
https://www.coursera.org/course/organalysis

vivatifosi

The MOOC List at https://www.mooc-list.com lists courses from across different providers. Again, here are the forthcoming courses for business:

Public Relations (from the PR Academy):
http://www.pracademy.co.uk/courses/public-relations-mooc/

Introduction to Negotiation (from NovoEd/Stanford Uni):
https://novoed.com/introduction-negotiation

Project Management for Business Professionals (Canvas):
https://www.canvas.net/courses/project-management-for-business-professionals-3

Entrepreneurship and Family Business (Open Universities Australia):
https://www.open2study.com/courses/entrepreneurship-and-family-business

Again, this is just a selection.

missbiggles1

vivatifosi wrote: »

Many years ago, I was lucky enough to be funded by my employer to get a qualification in business. These days, with cuts to budgets, I know I wouldn't be as lucky. However the growth in online courses from great universities and institutions means that there are now some really good modules that can be taken completely free of charge.

(Apologies if I'm teaching anyone to suck eggs here) MOOC is the abbreviation for Massive Open Online Courses. You can take them in a whole host of subjects, not just business. I have taken a selection of business ones and I have to say, they are pretty good. You can also get a certificate in a lot of them to show you have done the learning. As the following article shows, they are already being looked at as an alternative and threat to an MBA:

http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-distance-learning/2671/mooc-tech-may-destroy-mba-programs-cut-faculty-by-third

I've been looking to start this thread for a while, with the aim of posting new courses as and when they become available. First though, here are links to some of the main providers (if you know of others please post) so that you can have a browse.

Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/
ALISON: https://www.alison.com
edX: https://www.edx.org/
Udacity: https://www.udacity.com/
FutureLearn: https://www.futurelearn.com/

The big American 3 are Coursera, edX and Udacity. There's a good article about what to expect, their strengths and weaknesses here:

http://www.skilledup.com/blog/the-best-mooc-provider-a-review-of-coursera-udacity-and-edx/

In terms of Europe, FutureLearn is British initiative, run by the Open University in conjunction with a number of leading UK universities (largely Russell group) and major institutions such as the British Library and British Museum. ALISON is an Irish company that was one of the first (if not the first) companies in the MOOC marketplace.

Have just signed up for a couple of (non business) courses. Thank you.

Dreams777

Thanks I did not know about free online courses and I'm really impressed. Have signed up and doing a course with Khan Academy. Will try some of the other ones.

vivatifosi

There are a couple of blogs out there about how to build a free MBA. I have met a couple of people doing this and I have no doubt that they would also be very able MBA students if they could afford it. Here are some blogs:

http://poetsandquants.com/2013/12/17/the-mooc-revolution-how-to-earn-an-elite-mba-for-free/
http://poetsandquants.com/2014/04/01/20-essential-mooc-courses-in-business/
http://www.nopaymba.com/
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-31/the-free-mba-building-your-own-business-degree

FWIW I believe that we're currently in a sweet spot, these programmes are currently pretty new and that over time unis will look for ways to monetise them more effectively. In short you won't be able to do it for free forever.