I suspect that most people who work with technology would consider themselves to be problem-solvers and that they like to learn new things. I am no different.
Technology is constantly changing. In some cases that is gradual, incremental change. In some cases, it is fast, revolutionary change. In either case, having an interest in learning is key.
We all have the ability to learn (growth mindset) so the main constraints on learning are around time, cost, and access. Below are some of the learning resources that I like to use. Most of them are on-demand, free (or relatively low cost) and public.
I have given examples of some courses that I especially enjoyed, or thought were useful. I will add to this list gradually over time.
Microsoft Learn
Summary
This is a fantastic resource for just about everything Microsoft related. The Power Platform, developer and Azure courses are particularly good. The courses cover every skill level and are very often hands on. The Azure Learning Explorer by Alexey Polkovnikov is an excellent tool to help you visualise and find Azure courses you may be interested in.
Cost
Free, although having access to a Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Azure subscription is helpful for some of the courses. If you do not have access to these via work, then trial versions will give you what you need. Alternatively, try the Microsoft 365 Developer Program.
Courses
These are some of the Microsoft Learn courses that I have gained most benefit from:
LinkedIn Learning
Summary
An excellent range of soft and technical skills courses. The range of skill level is very good, though some are possibly a little light on the technical side. Learning Paths group related courses together and you can create your own Collections. Course duration can be anywhere between 30 minutes and 20 hours. They are always in easy to manage bite-sized chunks.
Cost
Various LinkedIn packages include LinkedIn Learning but basically costs between £20:00 – £25:00 per month. Whilst that is a significant cost, having access to unlimited courses for that fee can make the cost per course very low.
Courses
These are some of the LinkedIn Learning courses I thought were valuable:
edX
Summary
Probably my favourite MOOC. You can find a course on just about anything here. Professional qualifications, academic study, specific products, or technologies are all covered. Some truly great institutions provide the courses, although the amount of effort put in by those institutions does vary.
Cost
Most courses are free to “audit”. This gives access to virtually all the course materials but not to some quizzes. Also, there is no certificate for completion and access to the course expires. The cost of the “verified” courses, which give you a certificate, ranges from £10s to £1000s.
Courses
These are some of the edX courses I enjoyed:
- AP Psychology from University of British Columbia
- Digital Leadership MicroMasters from Boston University
- AI in Practice – Preparing for AI from Delft University of Technology
- Climate Change: The Science and Global Impact from SDG Academy with Dr. Michael Mann
Other Sources
These are other sources that I use, though mostly to either get a feel for something that I will study further using one of the above or for background learning.
- Coursera – An early MOOC provider that has everything from short courses to degrees, from free to $1000s. The “Learning How to Learn” is excellent and has great advice for formal, and informal, study.
- Future Learn – A MOOC service from the Open University, it has everything from short courses to degrees, from free to £1000s.
- SkillShare – These are mostly creative courses. Creators who have a particular skill and want to share their knowledge provide the courses. This is a subscription service costing around £80 per year for the Premium service. There is free service, but the number of courses is very limited.
- Duolingo – I use Duolingo all the time. I have listed it here mostly because language learning is something that fits well into the lifelong learning approach. This is free with ads or $7.00 per month without ads.
- The Great Courses (via Audible) – I really like The Great Courses content and, again, they are an excellent source for a wide-range of topics. I particularly the psychology and philosophy courses. The Audible subscription I have includes this content.
- Audible – For general reading/listening but the non-fiction selection is fantastic. I have had a couple of books that have a lot of tables or figures. The downloadable PDF that goes with them does not really work in some cases. Monthly subscription is £8.00 per month.
- Kindle – Again for general reading but the non-fiction content is great, and no issues with tables or figures. Amazon have made Kindle books and Audible books work together in some cases. I think that they could do a lot more. Cost is per item, unless you take out an Amazon Prime subscription, which costs about £80 per year.
- Scribd – Another general source that provides much the same type of content as Audible and Kindle plus some periodicals and journals. A subscription service costing about £9.00 per month.
When it comes to reading I tend to only use paper versions when the digital versions do not work for me. In practice this ends up just being a small number of periodicals where the reading experience via their apps/websites is not something I enjoy.
I have generally preferred online learning for a few years now. So I attend learning from the big corporate training providers, like QA for this excellent BCS Business Analysis course, paid for by my employer. QA also used to offer another excellent on-demand C# course from Microsoft Official Courses but that seems to be a virtual/classroom course at present.
If you use, or would recommend, any other sources can you let me know via the Contact page.