Free Online Courses

Free Online Computer Science Courses

Table of Contents

There are several definitions of Computer Science. Some of the definitions are :

  • Computer Science is a study of computing systems and computation.
  • Computer Science is the study of algorithms.
  • Computer Science is the study of techniques underlying computing systems.
  • Computer science is the study of computable processes and structures.
  • Computer Science is the study of theories on computation and practical methods of implementing it on computing systems.

The above are the standard definitions. According to me, definitions should be short and precise. So Computer Science can be defined in simple terms as the

‘Study of Computing’

Study of computing involves knowing how the computing systems work and the learning of algorithms, structures, operating systems, hardware, software and so on.

Today almost every activity in our life is some way or the other associated with computers. Therefore, it is essential for one to know Computer Science. The following is a list of websites that offer free online computer science courses :

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT offers free materials and video lectures that are very instructive and what more can you ask for when computer science is taught from the world’s greatest institute of technology. Courses offered in the computer science category are :

  • Computer System Engineering
  • Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
  • Introduction to Computer Science and Programming
  • Introduction to Algorithms
  • Computer Language Engineering
  • Computation Structures
  • Elements of software construction

Links: MIT OCW – Computer Science , MIT OCW – Computer Science Video Lectures
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Tokyo Institute of Technology

Tokyo Institute of Technology OpenCourseWare – TOKYO TECH OCW provides free access to great computer science course materials for users around the world. The courses are offered by the TOKYO TECH Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering. The courses offered in computer science department are :

  • Data Analysis
  • Information Processing
  • Data Engineering
  • Human Interfaces
  • Machine Learning

Link : TOKYO TECH OCW – Computer Science
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UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley offers computer science courses in the form of webcasts and podcasts. The courses offered in the department of computer science are :

  • The Beauty and Joy of Computing
  • Operating Systems and System Engineering
  • Software Engineering
  • The structure and interpretation of computer programs

Link : UC Berkeley – Computer Science
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University of California – Irvine

UCI OpenCourseWare provides access to UCI-faculty created courses that are being taught to UCI students. The faculty created computer science courses are great for students and self learners. The computer science courses offered are :

  • Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
  • Kernel-Based Learning
  • Machine Learning

Link : UCI – Computer Science
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The Open University

The Open University provides high quality materials that enable people to achieve their career and life goals. They have strong teaching methods and so the courses are easy and open to all people and places. They offer various courses in the department of computer science. Some of the courses are :

  • An Introduction to Data and Information
  • Finding Information in Information Technology and Computing
  • e-government
  • Introducing ICT systems
  • Computers and computer systems
  • Modelling object-oriented software – an introduction
  • Information on the web
  • Living with the Internet

Link : Open University – Computer Science
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