Online courses are the way of the future– and they are developing at an incredible rate.

According to BestColleges.com, “79% of online students find online courses to be better than or equal to in comparison to in-school education, a sentiment shared by an estimated 57% of the schools.” The e-learning industry is forecasted to hit $325 billion by 2025. That's triple the revenue of 2015!

Among the top intentions of people diving into online learning is to change careers or acquire academic credentials in their employment field. But people from all walks of life are looking for online courses to catch all sorts of new skills.

Have a look at the thirty-five most popular new Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) of 2021. But before we start 

What are MOOCs?

MOOCs are courses are given online and available to all for free.

MOOC stands for a massive open online course:

• Massive because enrollments are endless and can run into hundreds of thousands.
• Open because it’s available to all, and anyone can enroll — that is, there is no admission process.
• Online because they are transferred via the internet.
• Course because their goal is to teach a particular subject.
• MOOCs include video lessons, readings, and discussion forums.
  

For example, have a look at the page of a MOOC that teaches programming in Python.

Who creates MOOCs?

Universities make most MOOCs. Some of the first and most active MOOC makers are Stanford, Harvard and  MIT, and. (Check out the complete list, click here.)

Some MOOCs are made by companies, such as Microsoft or Google, or by various organizations, such as IEEE or the Linux Foundation. (To see the complete list, click here.)

Where can you take MOOCs?

However, MOOCs are developed by universities, and universities rarely distribute MOOCs themselves. Instead, they rely on course providers such as:

Coursera

edX

FutureLearn

Udacity

So it’s on those platforms and others that students take MOOCs.

When can you start MOOCs?

You can start some MOOCs any time. At the same time, you can begin to others at regular intervals — every few weeks or months. Some are rarely offered — sometimes, you can reappear after a year of absence. Finally, some MOOCs stop being provided entirely.

How long will it take you to complete a MOOC?

MOOCs last around 1 to 16 weeks. Most estimate the weekly time commitment; however, this may vary significantly from one student to another.

35 Most Popular Online Courses of 2021 (In No Particular Order)

Building your screenplay: the power of visual story-telling 

University of Cambridge via edX

Learn to improve your skills as a screenwriter while broadening your knowledge and understanding the demands of worldwide cinema and TV production. Learn how to become a productive visual storyteller; understand how to build a helpful structure within your screenplay; develop professionally transferable writing skills and communication expertise.

Foundations of Modern Finance II

Massachusetts Institute of Technology via edX

Explore fundamental principles of modern finance, including valuation models, derivative instruments, risk analysis methods, and investment management.

Web and Mobile Testing with Selenium

University of Minnesota via Coursera

The speed at which modern apps deploy new versions and features call for precise prioritization of testing work and accelerated execution through automation. Techniques and plans for testing such apps will be the focus of this course. This course will cover fundamental concepts relevant to trying web and mobile platforms, underlying techniques, and the use of Selenium as a framework for automating such apps’ testing.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the Global Context

University of Glasgow via FutureLearn

Understand how to recognize, assess the risk for, prevent and treat PTSD in various contexts.

Introduction to Python Programming

University of Pennsylvania via Coursera

This course covers an overview of the various tools available for writing and running Python and gets students coding super fast. It also gives hands-on coding exercises using commonly used data structures, creating custom functions, and reading and writing files. This course is much better than some other introductory python courses, as it probes deeper into specific essential programming topics.

Quantum Computing I: Fundamentals

Purdue University via edX

Study the fundamental hypothesize of quantum mechanics and how they can be charted onto present-day quantum information processing models, including computation, optimization, optimization, and machine learning.

Decision Making in Engineering Design

Purdue University via edX

Learn about the foundations of decision-making in the design of engineering products, processes, and systems.

Agricultural Water Management: Water,-Society and Technology Interactions

Wageningen University via edX

Enhance water governance- and technologies to meet increasing food demands around the world. Study the fundamentals of agricultural water management from a social and technical approach.

Conflict and stress management

Saint Petersburg State University via Coursera

This course covers theoretical and practical materials on organizational culture, business communication, the main components and reasons of conflicts and struggles in organizations, exit strategies, and stress management.

Transformational Leadership for Inclusive Innovation

University of Toronto via Coursera

In this course, you will learn to be an encouraging, uplifting and practical change agent by generating a toolbox of leadership skills for building and managing diverse teams. You will hear from experts who have led Gender Analytics in different settings, from companies to non-profits, to the government. In short, this course will encourage you to grow skills to be a transformational leader as you work towards creating inclusive products, services, processes, and policies.

Applied Data Science

Coventry University via FutureLearn

Improve your data science and analytics skills and increase your understanding of using data in the workplace.

Get Started With Digital Marketing

Coventry University via FutureLearn

What is digital marketing, and why is it so relevant to businesses in today’s world? And what is the scope of digital marketing in the future? 

Mindfulness: A Focus on Adolescents

University of Glasgow via FutureLearn

Get a hands-on introduction to mindfulness and its benefits. In this course, you’ll learn about the practical illustrations of how mindfulness can be of particular value in everyone’s lives and younger people in particular.  Get a deeper perception of mindfulness for your and others’ benefit.

Digital Design

Harvey Mudd College via edX

A unique but essential course in Digital Design that will take you from Zero to One – from no previous experience to design excellent digital systems. This is the primary step on the path to computer engineering.

Data Science for Smart Cities

Purdue University via edX

Learn multiple scientific techniques that will allow the analysis, deducing, and prediction of large-scale data, including GPS vehicular data, social media data, mobile phone data, individual social network data, etc., that are present in city networks.

Introduction to Analytic Thinking, Data Science, and Data Mining

The University of California, Irvine via Coursera

In this course, we will explore the field and profession of data science with a focus on the skills and ethical points required when working with data. We will evaluate the types of business problems data science can solve and discuss applying the CRISP-DM process to data mining efforts.

Financial Investment & Risk Management

St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University via Coursera

All investors in the financial market, including top investment companies and private investors, face common difficulties when making asset allocation decisions: where to invest, how to fulfill their commitments, and what risk to take. This course will help you obtain skills in making investment decisions in the financial market in the short- and long-term aspects.

Recognizing and Responding to Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) in Pregnancy

Coventry University via FutureLearn

Learn how you can better support and encourage people experiencing domestic violence and abuse in pregnancy.

Health Information Technology Fundamentals

Johns Hopkins University via Coursera

This course will obtain an overview of the health IT ecosystem and the types of technologies IT support staff interact with the most. You will also learn about the role of electronic health records (EHRs), clinical decision support, telemedicine, patient portals, and medical devices.

What is Climate Change?

University of Colorado Boulder via Coursera

In this course, you will become familiar with the scientific evidence that shows human-caused climate change. We will explore how greenhouse gases cause the Earth to warm and why our current warming is connected to human activities.

Why Does Media Matter for Development?

University of East Anglia via FutureLearn

Know how the media can help to tackle poverty and inequality all around the world.

The Korean Alphabet: An Introduction to Hangeul

Sungkyunkwan University via Coursera

This course introduces Korean characters,’ Hangeul,’ and gives high-level knowledge related to Hangeul. In this course, you’ll learn about the background of ‘Hangul,’ who created the Hangeul, and according to what principle it is systematically explained.

Leading Diverse Teams & Organizations

University of Michigan via Coursera

In this course, you’ll get evidence-based knowledge and practical tools to help you design and lead diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) teams and organizations. This will also help you better understand yourself and your identity in the workplace and gain new skills to identify privilege, implicit bias, and microaggressions in your organization, and act as an active ally and change advocate.

Design and Implementation of Digital Health Interventions

Imperial College London via Coursera

In this course, you’ll study various themes around design, ethics, regulatory approaches, technology adoption, application, and strategy as applied to digital health. The concourses will cover areas that include data management, examples of data breaches in digital health, the challenges, and possibilities of technology adoption and implementation, focusing on non-adoption, abandonment, scale-up, spread, and sustainability framework (NASSS Framework).

Social Psychology

Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu via Swayam

Social Psychology is one of the significant Social Sciences areas, which tries to determine the characteristics of human beings’ social behavior. Man is a social animal and depends upon other individuals in every walk of life.

Psychology of Stress, Health, and Well-being

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati via Swayam

This course orderly discusses the issues of health, alignment, happiness, and well-being. It explores stress and health topics while attaching happiness and well-being theory and research to enhance our understanding of both the negative and positive sides of human behavior.

US-China Relations: Past, Present, and Future

National University of Singapore via edX

This course will completely cover the economic, political, military, and cultural dimensions of the rising United States-China geopolitical contest. It will evaluate both countries’ strategic perspectives and blunders and suggest what can be done to prevent further competition.

African development – from the past to the present

Lund University via Coursera

In five weeks, the course covers a coherent account of historical events and decisions that have formed the current political-economical landscape of Sub-Saharan Africa – from the pre-colonial and the colonial era to the era of liberalization, modern-day Africa, and the future possibilities of the continent.

Training and Learning Online

University of Leeds via Coursera

Learning online is different from face-to-face learning, as it often includes independent study and a diverse set of skills. In this course, you will know about effective online learning strategies that work for you, whether you are learning for work, leisure, or for your studies, so that you can make the most of it.

Public Health Perspectives on Sustainable Diets

Johns Hopkins University via Coursera

This brief course studies the urgent need to address our food systems’ sustainability, including a more genuine understanding of the complex relationship between diet and climate change. We’ll look into the current research on dietary shifts needed in high, middle, and low-income countries to achieve sustainability and food security goals.

Introduction to Digital health

Imperial College London via Coursera

This course includes the field of digital health and the fundamental concepts and definitions in this emerging field. The main topics include Learning Health Systems and Electronic Health Records, and different digital health technologies to include mobile applications, health information systems,  wearable technologies, machine learning, telehealth, artificial intelligence, and big data.

Introduction to Psychology

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur via Swayam

This course is created for a better understanding of the self and others. It will help you learn about the how and why of thinking, feeling, and action. This introductory psychology course will include the significant psychological constructs and principles, fundamentally focusing on the perceptual processes, memory learning, genetic, emotions, and environmental determinants of behavior and personality. 

Innovation and Information Technology Management

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore via Swayam

Information Technology (IT) changes the style and scope in which businesses operate and compete. Innovations in IT have led many companies to prosper, while others have stammered due to this industry’s massive changes. IT is particularly hard to manage. This course will incorporate fundamental concepts of information technology management.

Transforming Urban Mobility: Components of Transport Planning for Sustainable Cities

University College London via FutureLearn

Analyze how different types of public transport can be employed to make urban transport more sustainable.

Django Features and Libraries

University of Michigan via FutureLearn

Collect all the skills you need to develop Django-based web applications suitable for use.