Posted 09 April 2020

Our pick of free and affordable online courses to get stuck into

Last week we collated some of the web’s best virtual events to ensure no one was missing out whilst quarantining. This week, we scoured the web to find some great free and affordable online courses offered by platforms like Skillshare and SuperHi. Below are a few that caught our eye...

Professor Laurie Santos, who leads the course ‘Science of Well Being’

A course in wellbeing from a Yale professor

Laurie Santos, a Yale professor, began teaching the Science of Well Being back in 2018 and the course has recently resurfaced and caught the attention of many self-isolators around the world. Touching on what makes us happy and the steps we can take to reach that place of complete fulfilment, the programme also delves deep into the unhealthy habits that we didn’t even know we had. Available completely free, it is said to help combat anxiety and worries that may be growing rife at this turbulent time.

Learn more here and sign up here.
Plus, see a full list of Yale courses available to the public here.

Images taken from Aaron Blaise’s ‘How to Draw: Drawing Human Anatomy’ course

Learn from an Oscar-nominated Disney animator

Aaron Blaise is something of a superstar in the Disney animation world, having animated such iconic characters as the Beast, Jasmine of Aladdin and many more. In response to the Covid-19 crisis, he has made a number of his animation courses free or heavily discounted (starting at just $1), including:

Fundamentals of Animation Course
How to Draw Wolves, Coyotes and Foxes

How to Draw: Drawing Human Anatomy

So if you’re looking to expand your digital painting or animation skills, these are great, in-depth courses from a master in the field. On offer are 20 videos and over 18 hours of content.

See the full range of discounted content here.

Grayson Perry for Channel 4

Join Grayson Perry’s art club

Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry has joined forces with Channel 4 to bring the nation a dose of inspiration and artwork, through this time of isolation. The show’s agenda is to “produce a visual representation of the unique time we are living through”. Grayson will also be in conversation with other artists and teaching you how to create various forms of art during quarantine. All artwork seen on the show will then be displayed in a public exhibition, and if you would like to showcase your own self-isolation work, you can submit it with an image and video. The programme will air on Channel 4 on April 16.

Learn more here and submit art work here.

The SuperHi beginners’ course information

SuperHi’s free course in coding your first website

Created by the brilliant online learning programme SuperHi, this free programme will get you ahead on designing and coding your very first website. It’s a crash course that provides over four hours of video lessons and guides to ensure you’re skilled up to create on your own terms. Whether you’re looking to do it for fun or to further your career in design and coding, this is a great place to get started.

Learn more here.

The Skillshare site

Skillshare’s classes in everything from illustration to music

Skillshare is an online learning platform that offers over 22,000 classes led by experts from all over the world. From illustration to photography and music, there’s something for everyone. In light of the Covid-19 crisis, Skillshare is offering a two month free premium trial. After your trial you can choose to continue and pay £7 a month or terminate your account.

Sign up here.

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If you’re looking for even more creative learning recommendations, creative education platform PH Learn has shared a comprehensive list of free initiatives here.

Written by Creative Lives in Progress
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