Ever dreamed of studying at Harvard? This is the most significant time to pursue your dream by enrolling into Harvard free online courses. Harvard university offers interested students various free online courses that helps them to explore exclusive education at its peak. These topics covers topics from various field.
whether you are interested in computer science, artificial intelligence, history, or others, these courses let you expand your knowledge while learning from some of the brightest minds in the world.
Therefore. In this article, we will provide a comprehensive list of top Harvard free online courses and everything you need to know about them.
Table of contents
- What You Should Know About Harvard University
- Does Harvard Offer Certificates For Its Free Online Courses?
- Who Can Attend Harvard Free Online Courses?
- Top 15 Harvard University Free Online Courses
- 1. CS50: Introduction to Computer Science
- 2. CS50’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python
- 3. CS50’s Introduction to Databases with SQL
- 4. CS50’s Introduction to Cybersecurity
- 5. CS50 for Lawyers
- 6. Fundamentals of TinyML ( Tiny Machine Learning)
- 7. Bioethics: The Law, Medicine, and Ethics of Reproductive Technologies and Genetics
- 8. Introduction to Digital Humanities
- 9. Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles
- 10. Data Science: Machine Learning
- 11. Cell Biology: Mitochondria
- 12. Introduction to Probability
- 13. Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking
- 14. Food Fermentation: The Science of Cooking with Microbes
- 15. Christianity Through its Scriptures
- Conclusion
- Reference
- Recommendation
What You Should Know About Harvard University
Undoubtedly, Harvard University is one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. As a private Ivy League research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the university has the distinction of being the oldest higher learning institution in the United States, founded in 1636.
Harvard university has unique reputation, influence, and high rankings attributes attached to its status as a global leader in education. The university features of ten academic faculties and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.
Does Harvard Offer Certificates For Its Free Online Courses?
Harvard provides over 40 free online courses, offering a unique opportunity for learners to access world class education. However, most of these courses don’t come with certificates. While some certificates are free, others require a nominal fee.
Regardless, these free online courses are an excellent way to gain valuable skills and knowledge, covering a wide range of subjects to enrich your learning experience.
Who Can Attend Harvard Free Online Courses?
Harvard free online course are open to anyone aged 18 and above. If you’re interested, all you need to do is meet the age requirement, choose a course, and enroll. There’s no application or registration fee, making it an accessible opportunity for learners from all backgrounds to benefit from Harvard world class education.
Top 15 Harvard University Free Online Courses
Here are the top 15 Harvard free online courses:
1. CS50: Introduction to Computer Science
This is one of Harvard free online courses. The CS50: Introduction to Computer Science, is available for students on edX. The purpose of this course is to provides an engaging introduction to computer science and the art of programming.
As a student, you will gain insight on how to reason algorithmically and provide solutions to difficult situations. Key topics include:
- Algorithms
- Abstraction
- Data structures
- Resource management
- Security
- Web development
- Software engineering
Also, Languages covered in during this course are C, Python, SQL, JavaScript, CSS and HTML. It is without a doubt an crucial starting point for students interested in computer science or software development.
Link: Cs50 Introduction Computer Science
2. CS50’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python
This is a highly recommended free course on edX that be completed in 7 weeks. this is a course that focuses on the algorithms and concepts behind modern AI. It also introduces some branches in technologies such as machine translation, game playing engines, handwriting recognition, and more.
Through hands on projects, students learn the theory and practical applications of:
- Graph search algorithms
- Classification
- Optimization
- Reinforcement learning
This course will provide Students the opportunity of working with machine learning libraries. They will also get to apply AI principles to design their own intelligent systems. It is an ideal option for students looking to gain foundational AI skills.
Link: Cs50s Introduction Artificial Intelligence Python
3. CS50’s Introduction to Databases with SQL
This is an excellent free online course offered by Harvard, available on edX and it is 7 week duration course. Similarly to others, it is a self paced course requires a weekly time commitment of 6–12 hours, making it flexible for learners with varying schedules.
During the course, students will be introduced to the fundamentals of databases using SQL (Structured Query Language). as a student, you will learn how to Create, read, update, and delete data. Also, you will Work with relational databases, which organize data in rows and columns
At its completion, you will have a good understanding of how to manage and interact with databases. This is a unique skill for many tech related fields. You will learn how to connect SQL with other languages like Python and Java.
Note that, The course begins with SQLite for portability‘s sake and ends with introductions to PostgreSQL and MySQL for scalability sake as well.
Link: Cs50s Introduction Databases Sql
4. CS50’s Introduction to Cybersecurity
This is among the top Harvard free online course on edX. The purpose of this course is to help students gain insight on how to protect their data, devices, and systems from potential threats in their personal and professional settings.
Students will learn more on:
- Identifying and mitigating cybersecurity threats
- Evaluating future risks
- Understanding technical concepts through high and low level examples
As a participant, you will earn the essential knowledge and skill that will improve your cybersecurity skills and protect yourself in a digital world.
Link: Cs50s Introduction Cybersecurity
5. CS50 for Lawyers
This is among the best Harvard free online courses. It is an advanced version of Harvard renowned CS50: Introduction to Computer Science, which is created only for law practitioners and students.
The purpose of this program is to equip students with an insight into the legal implications of technological decisions made be customers.clients. This course helps to prepare students on how to confidently engage in tech based conversations and crate tech informed legal argument, discussions, and present solutions.
This program also covers cloud computing, networking scalability, privacy, databases, security, programming, and others. It focuses on Hands on experience with Python and SQL for data analysis.
Participants will learn to create a gap between technology and law, and this will help the, gain relevant skills for modern legal landscape and more.
Link: Cs50 Lawyers
6. Fundamentals of TinyML (Tiny Machine Learning)
This another Harvard free online course that requires 5 Weeks to complete. This short free course focuses on deep learning and it is free to all interested students. It covers various areas and its first program is the Fundamentals of TinyML.
During the first program, student will gain insight into the basics of machine learning, embedded system (smart devices), and deep learning. Students will get to learn data science methods. This will help them to understand how data can be collected, learn algorithms that helps to train basic machine learning techniques, and more
As a participant of the course, you will learn the TinyML language and how to use its application in the next phase of the course.
Link: Fundamentals Tinyml
7. Bioethics: The Law, Medicine, and Ethics of Reproductive Technologies and Genetics
This is among the top Harvard free online courses, which requires 10 Weeks to complete. This is a course that focuses on the ethical, legal and medical aspects across human genetics and reproduction. It ensures that students thinks on how they can apply legal knowledge into the arising questions.
This course is an ideal option for medical professionals, law students and individuals who are interested in parenthood, reproductive technology, genetics, surrogacy, genetic material ownership, and others.
Note that you do not need any background in law, medicine, philosophy, or really any subject to enjoy this course.
Link: Bioethics Law Medicine And Ethics Reproductive Technologies And Genetics
8. Introduction to Digital Humanities
Cost: Free
Duration: 7 Weeks Long
Another Harvard free online course, Introduction to Digital Humanities is a self paced 7 Weeks Long course, offered on edX. The purpose if this course is to ensure that student understands technological humanity research and its scholarship.
This course is an ideal option for museum curator, scholars, public historicist, or librarian who wants to learn the uses of new by using technological tools.
As a participant, you will gain insight into the varieties of files that can be use to collect, create, and organise data. You will also learn more on how you can create visual text analysis.
Link: Introduction Digital Humanities
9. Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles
Cost: Free
Duration: 4 Weeks Long
In this short introductory course, you will explore strategies for leading in a changing world where adaptive pressures will continue to challenge all of us. You will develop leadership skills, discover new ways to approach complex organizational systems and take thoughtful action on the work we all face ahead.
This course is offered on edX with two options, Paid and free. The paid option is unlimited, however, the Free option is limited and expires on February 4.
Link: Exercising Leadership Foundational Principles
10. Data Science: Machine Learning
Cost: Free
Duration: 8 Weeks Long
In this course, you’ll learn popular machine learning algorithms, principal component analysis, and regularization by building a movie recommendation system. You will also learn how to train algorithms using training data so you can predict the outcome for future datasets.
Overall, students in this course will learn the basics of machine learning, how to perform cross validation to avoid over training the meaning of regularization, and why it is useful.
Link: Data Science Machine Learning
11. Cell Biology: Mitochondria
This is among the top Harvard free online courses that requires 4 Weeks to complete. This program focuses on the mitochondrion, which is the organelle that empowers the cell.
As a participant of the course, you will gain insight on the how/why of biology. This will help you access the functions of the molecular components of cells, and why the cells are arranged in a complex hierarchy.
The purpose of this course is to help student understands the cell biology fundamental and to learn about the usefulness of mitochondria in the cell. Students will also learn about the significance of making ATP. You will also learn how cells metabolize food to provide the molecules necessary for mitochondrial function.
Link: Cell Biology Mitochondria
12. Introduction to Probability
Cost: Free
Duration: 10 Weeks Long
The Introduction to Probability Harvard online course is a self paced certificate course designed to give you the tools needed to understand data, science, philosophy, economics, engineering, and finance. You will learn not only how to solve challenging technical problems but also how you can apply those solutions in everyday life.
The course is offered on EDX. However, to be eligible, you need to meet the requirements, which includes:
- Familiarity with U.S high school algebra concepts
- Understanding the single variable calculus
- Understanding matrices
- Understanding derivatives
- Understanding Integrals.
Link: Introduction Probability Edx
13. Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking
Cost: Free
Duration: 8 Weeks Long
This Harvard online course is an introduction to the theory and practice of rhetoric, the art of persuasive writing and speech. Participants of this course will learn to create and defend challenging arguments, which is a high paying skill.
Also, with this course, you will learn how to analyze and apply rhetorical style and structure. This will help you understand the importance of persuasive communication and easily identify when someone is trying to persuade you negatively.
This course is offered on EDX with two options; paid and free. The Paid option is unlimited with a shareable certificate upon completion. However, the free option is limited and expires on Mar 5. Also, there is no certificate.
Link: Rhetoric Art Persuasive Writing And Public Speaking
14. Food Fermentation: The Science of Cooking with Microbes
Cost: Free
Duration: 14 Weeks Long
This course explores the roles that microbes play in the production, preservation, and enhancement of diverse foods in a variety of culinary traditions and learns about the history of food fermentations.
In this course, you will learn through hands on, at home exercises, you will experiment with your food to grow your microbial environment to make mead, sourdough, tempeh, and more.
Overall, you will have a greater understanding and appreciation of fermented foods and their history, culture, and science.
Link: Food Fermentation Science Cooking Microbes
15. Christianity Through its Scriptures
Cost: Free
Duration: 4 Weeks Long
This free Harvard online course is an introduction to Christianity through its sacred scriptures. In this course, you will learn what’s in the Bible, as well as have an overview of contents with a focus on diverse interpretations of well known passages.
This course is self paced and offered on EDX, and participants will earn a certificate after its completion.
Link: Christianity Through Its Scriptures
What Are The Harvard Free Online Courses?
Is There An Age Limit For Harvard Free Online Course?
Conclusion
The top Harvard Free Online Courses highlighted in this article are crafted for students and individuals who have always wanted to take a course at Harvard University. These courses are free and impactful and we hope you find this article a helpful guide.
