31 December 2019

Launch a New Tech Career in the New Year With Stone River eLearning


With the New Year fast approaching, now is a good time to reflect on the previous 12 months and plan ahead. If you want to switch jobs or climb the career ladder in 2020, Stone River eLearning can help. This online platform offers unlimited access to over 300 certified courses on code, design, animation, and many more skills. Right now, you can get lifetime membership for only $59 via MakeUseOf Deals.

Learn Anything

In times past, recruiters would only consider candidates with a degree. But in many careers, skills and talent are now valued more than certificates.

Whether you want to develop iOS apps for a living or become a graphic designer, Stone River can help you get started. This platform has over 3,500 hours of video training, covering a wide range of topics and skill levels.

Aspiring web designers can master HTML, CSS, node.js, and Bootstrap. Programmers can dive into Java and Python, while graphic designers can master Photoshop. You can also learn about cybersecurity, cryptocurrencies, business insights, and more.

Along with unlimited access to this training, members get downloadable eBooks, personal guidance, free entry to certification exams, and one year of membership to CodeMag.

Lifetime Membership for $59

Lifetime access to Stone River is worth $11,500, but you can become a member now for just $59 with this deal.

Prices subject to change

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5 Sites to Search and Find the Best Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for You


Online Learning and MOOC Search

Online learning is bigger than ever before, with top universities offering free courses on the internet. In fact, there are so many of these massive open online courses (MOOCs) that you need to rely on websites to help you figure out the best education for you.

From MIT to Coursera, there are some amazing websites that offer free college courses online. But go to any and you’ll be overwhelmed by the choices on offer. Plus, these sites limit themselves to courses available on their own platform.

So how do you search for or discover the best MOOC? These websites offer robust search engines, filters, reviews, and guided paths for free online courses.

1. Class Central (Web): Top 100 Free Online Courses

Class Central lists the best free MOOCs and online courses

Class Central is all about free online courses but it also lists paid courses. It includes a variety of universities, including MIT, Stanford, and Harvard. It neatly categorizes all these courses into subjects like computer science, business, humanities, engineering, etc.

The website has a powerful search engine to find any type of online course you’re looking for. You can also browse MOOCs by providers, universities, institutions, careers, and languages.

Class Central’s best feature is the regularly updated lists they provide. At any time, you can check the list of the top 100 free online courses of all time. The website also creates annual lists of the best MOOCs of the year, so if you want to know what’s new and awesome in 2019, there’s a ready reckoner available.

2. Course Root (Web): Search Over 80,000 Courses

Search over 80,000 MOOCs and online courses at Course Root

Course Root is one of the most comprehensive databases of MOOCs, both free and paid. It is an aggregator that lists everything from Khan Academy and Coursera to those made by smaller universities from around the world. And it simplifies the process of finding the right course for you.

At Course Root, you can choose a subject and then add filters to find the type of course that’s best for you. The three main filters are Difficulty (beginner, intermediate, expert), price (free or paid), and certificate (okay, good, excellent). The certificate filter is especially useful if you’re taking a course so that you can add accomplishments to your CV.

You can further filter the results by the number of hours it takes to complete the course, and choose from one of the eight most popular online course platforms. For each course, you’ll get a brief description, as well as find out whether it’s self-paced or an in-session course.

3. MOOC-List (Web): Most Comprehensive Filter System to Find MOOCs

MOOC-List has the Most Comprehensive Filter System to search for MOOCs

If you want to search or filter your results by various parameters, then it doesn’t get better than MOOC-List. The website has a multiple criteria search that lets you find any online course based on:

  • Words from the course title
  • Provider
  • University / Entity
  • Category
  • Length
  • Estimated Effort
  • Language
  • Subtitles
  • Country
  • Peer Assessments
  • Team Projects
  • Exam
  • Certificate
  • Audio Lectures
  • Video Lectures
  • Start Date

As you start looking at more and more MOOCs, you will find that many of these criteria are extremely useful in figuring out the right type of course for you. For example, peer assessments can play a major role in how much you understand a course, as can subtitles if you’re having trouble picking up accents.

MOOC-List also notifies you of upcoming MOOCs and free online courses for the next 30 days, sorted by date. All of these features combine to make it one of the best sites for beginners to online courses.

4. Course Talk (Web): Discover Courses Through Student Reviews

Discover online courses and MOOCs based on student reviews at Course Talk

Given how big the MOOCs industry is, there is naturally a lot of people who are gaming the system through search engines and ads. If you prefer to rely on word of mouth for your recommendations, Course Talk lets you find courses based on reviews by students.

People who take a course rate it on different aspects on the website. Course Talk also encourages them to write detailed reviews so you can figure out what you’re getting into, from someone who has already done the course. Based on ratings, there are also leaderboards for the top course providers.

Meanwhile, try the Course Advisor by clicking Recommendations. Course Talk will ask you different questions about your interests and recommend a few of the best-reviewed courses that you’re likely to find interesting.

A lot of the better reviews on the site are pretty old now, but they’re still beneficial. After all, education doesn’t have to be new or change every year for it to be an engaging lesson.

5. MOOCLab’s Degree Paths (Web): Guides to Learn Like a Degree Course

MOOCLab's Degree Paths make playlists of online courses to give you an online education equivalent of a bachelor's degree

MOOCLab believes that if you combine the right courses from different online learning resources, you can get an education that is close to a traditional bachelor’s degree course. It calls these learning playlists Degree Paths.

Currently, MOOCLab has 272 degree paths, divided into four main categories: computer science, business administration, health science, and general education. Click any for further options, like a core business course or a business specialization course. The website estimates that if you commit to 15 hours of study time per week, you can finish a degree path in two to three years.

Before you ask, no, you won’t get a certified bachelor’s degree by doing any of these. Upon completion, you can get a certificate for a small fee. MOOCLab’s degree paths are a great way to learn about a subject in detail, but potential employers are not going to see it as actual academic qualifications.

Google’s Best Courses

Apart from educational institutions, Google has jumped into the MOOC game. The internet giant offers a variety of online courses through its own portals or through other platforms like Udacity. But don’t worry, you don’t have to go hunting for them, we rounded up the best Google online courses for you.

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Listen to top VCs discuss the next generation of automation startups at TC Sessions: Robotics+AI


Robotics, AI and automation have long been one of the hottest categories for tech investments. After years and decades of talk, however, those big payouts are starting to payoff. Robotics are beginning to dominate nearly every aspect of work, from warehouse fulfillment, to agriculture to retail and construction.

Our annual TC Sessions: Robotics+AI event on March 3 affords us the ability to bring together some of the top investors in the category to discuss the hottest startups, best bets and opine on where the industry is going. And this year’s VC panel is arguably our strongest yet.

Eric Migicovsky is a General Partner a Y Combinator. Prior to joining the firm, he cofounded Pebble. The smartwatch pioneer was itself a YC-backed venture, along with raising three of Kickstarter’s all-time top crowdfunding campaign. Migicovsky joined YC following Fitbit’s acquisition of the startup in 2016.

DCVC partner Kelly Chen focuses primarily on the AI, robotics, manufacturing and work-work-related sectors. Her work is generally focused on the world of hardware, along with the transformations of populations and labor.

Dror Berman cofounded Innovations Ventures in 2010 with former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt. A key driver in the firm’s investments in Uber, SoFi and Formlabs, Berman also focuses on robotics, including companies like Blue River Technology and Common Sense Robotics.

TC Sessions: Robotics+AI returns to Berkeley on March 3. Make sure to grab your early bird tickets today for $275 before prices go up by $100. Startups, book a demo table right here and get in front of 1000+ of Robotics/AI’s best and brightest – each table comes with four attendee tickets.


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