Introduction

Exploratory Data Analysis with MATLAB, offered by MathWorks through Coursera, is one of the most practical and industry-oriented courses that I have taken on the web. This course is part of the Specialization program titled Practical Data Science with MATLAB which consists of four courses on this subject. The whole Specialization will take around five months to complete. The theme of the Specialization is well designed to guide the attendees through the standard procedures to analyze data in several forms.

Why I Took this Course

We live in an era where large amounts of data are generated every day. This data comes from several sources including traffic, agriculture, internet of things, interconnected electrical grids, transport and many other areas. The growing amount of data poses a challenge to humans as our brains are not evolved to compute large chunks of increasingly complex data in a short time. On the other hand, we need a timely and accurate analysis of this data to decide on critical situations and financially important matters. As an electrical engineer, I see how much data is generated from the consumers each hour and how difficult it is for humans to make sense of it on our own. MATLAB, as a powerful computational engine has the capability to help us analyse this data and furthermore, use artificial intelligence to train models in this domain. My specific goal was to develop my skills in data science and use it to help in the analysis of electrical power networks planning. We need the following tasks to be successfully done:

1.     Predict the behaviour of the consumers in short- and long-term intervals,
2.     Predict weather patterns to plan renewable energy generation,
3.     Plan the generation to balance the supply and demand in a cost-efficient manner,
4.     Analyse the consumers data to identify the network’s bottlenecks, congestion times and points, etc.

History

I found the course in the Coursera platform and further searched for similar ones and the rest of the courses in the specialization in Class Central website. After taking a few sessions, the content and courses proved to be unique in many ways and therefore I continued to pursue it.

Instructor

I have seen the instructors in the course in multiple other online events and courses offered by MathWorks and they have very deep knowledge and experience of the content they present. I see both theoretical and practical knowledge and organization in the content they are offering which makes the course an enjoyable experience.

My Skills

I have a master’s degree in renewable energy engineering and my bachelor is in electrical engineering. I have been a user of MATLAB both in the academy and my job. I currently work as a specialist engineer and use MATLAB as one of our everyday tools for solving different problems including data analysis. I had also taken other data science courses already like the one offered via Edx by MathWorks.

How to be Successful

As per my experience from the course, it is an advantage if the reader has some theoretical background in data science, mathematics and/or engineering. It is also very good if you start applying the knowledge when you learn the material in the course. However, having MATLAB is essential as the online version will not be available after the course is finished.

Editor’s note: Learners are provided access to MATLAB for all the courses.

Certificate

The course offers a certificate like other MOOCs in Coursera for a fee. You can choose to take the course only or the entire specialization. There are other options in Coursera like the Coursera Plus membership where you can have annual access to thousands of courses and get a certificate for them.

The Course

This course is on Class Central’s Best Free Online Courses of All Time list. It’s rich in content and well organized in five weeks. The course covers all the basics of a standard data science task in it. It describes the workflow of data science, how to import the data, how to filter and sort it, how to do the necessary analysis and calculations on the data and finally how to present it to your audience. Participants can also discuss the topics in several forums and ask questions.

Grading

There are several graded and ungraded quizzes and tests. A lot of practice tests are also provided through the MathWorks website for helping in this course. It is required to pass the graded tests in order to be considered for a certificate.

Time Commitment

It is suggested in the course to dedicate 4 hours per week, however, if you want to deeply understand the topics, you need more time to research the topics further and more importantly practice them on your own.

Conclusion

I successfully went through the contents of the course and found it very useful. It actually helped me a lot in understanding the power of MATLAB in data science. I can now use the learned topics in my own work. It is one of the best courses I have taken online.

Editor’s note: Here is an in-depth review for the third course in the specialization, Course Review: Predictive Modeling and Machine Learning with MATLAB by MathWorks written by Magesh John, with a comment from one of the instructors, Brandon Armstrong.

The post Learn How To Think Like A Data Scientist: A Review of Exploratory Data Analysis with MATLAB appeared first on The Report by Class Central.

I found the Class Central online learning catalog quite by accident while researching online free school mentoring training. I needed this because of my professional advancement (I am a classroom teacher). The course name Learning to teach: mentoring and tutoring student teachers caught my attention and that’s how I started the training. The course is created by The Open University and available for free on the OpenLearn platform.

The course

The training is very well designed. It is very clear and I found it so interesting that I went through it “almost in one breath”. It is exactly what I needed and what I was looking for. I learned a lot about mentoring. The term “mentor” means a person who works daily with a teacher at the beginning of their career, supporting their development during their tenure. I remembered the teacher who supported me when I started working at the school.

At this training, guidelines were clearly given on what is important to follow in the role of a mentor, specific instructions and examples of what to pay attention to, and that the role of a mentor includes giving selfless advice as well as observing the emotions of your student.

I also learned that the role of a “tutor” can include providing academic support, if a student is studying for an academic qualification, and visiting the school to observe teaching. There are clear guidelines for this role as well.

Conclusion

My opinion is this training Learning to teach: mentoring and tutoring student teachers is great, clear, does not require a lot of time, and provides a lot of information. I will wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone who is engaged in the work of a teacher.

This course will help me become a better mentor to my students, as well as a better tutor to students. After this course I have a clear idea of the role of a mentor.

What’s next

A related course that I would like to participate in is Exploring Inclusive Pedagogies.

The post Empowering Future Educators: A Review of ‘Learning to Teach – Mentoring and Tutoring Student Teachers’ appeared first on The Report by Class Central.

When I looked back at 2022, I noticed that Udemy was the only major player in online learning that hadn’t undergone layoffs. Just two weeks ago, a Senior Director of Recruiting at Udemy bragged about this and thanked Udemy for “allowing us to feel safe in a very uncertain time”.

Unfortunately for them, a couple of days ago, Udemy let go 10% of their employees. They officially disclosed this during their Q4 2022 earnings report, which was published yesterday.

(2023 also saw Domestika and Thinkific announce new rounds of layoffs.)

The same Udemy Director mentioned that 800 “Udemates” were hired in 2022. Last year, when I analyzed Udemy’s 2021 Annual Report, I learned that Udemy had 1,238 full-time employees at the end of 2021. So back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that about 200 Udemy employees have been laid off.

According to Udemy CEO and Chairman Greggo Coccari, who’s set to retire at the end of this month, these layoffs were prompted by a “challenging macro environment”. Like other layoff messages, it was very generic. The goal is to cut costs and position Udemy for long-term sustainable growth.

The layoffs will result in adjusted severance costs of $8–9 million in Q1 2023 but are expected to save Udemy approximately $30–32 million annually. At the end of 2022, Udemy had $465 million of unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and expects to be profitable in the second half of 2023.

Udemy’s 2022 Revenues

In 2022, Udemy’s revenue grew by 22% to $629.1 million. But all the growth came from its B2B segment, which grew by 68% from $187.0 million to $314 million. This is similar to what we saw in 2021.

For the third year in a row, B2C revenue has remained mostly unchanged, declining by 4% in 2022 to $315.1 million. In Q3 2022, as first reported by Class Central, Udemy’s B2B revenue exceeded its B2C for the very first time.

Note that B2B revenue has a higher profit margin: 65.8% for B2B — 51.5% for B2C (in 2022). It’s no surprise that Greg Brown, president of Udemy Business, will take over as Udemy CEO on March 1st.

Udemy’s annual revenue projection for 2023 is $700–730 million, which at the high end represents a growth of ~15%.

This is quite similar to Coursera’s projection for 2023, which they announced during last week and were promptly followed by a 14% drop of Coursera’s stock price (though it has recovered a bit since).

In the next few weeks, Udemy and Coursera will publish their annual reports for 2022 (10–K), which I intend to analyze in a new report. Meanwhile, you can read some of my other coverage on the subject:

• Content vs Credential: Coursera Beats Udemy’s B2C Revenue
• 202K Courses, 662M Enrollments: Breaking Down Udemy’s Massive Catalog
• Udemy’s 2021: Half a Billion Revenue, B2B Revenue Soars, B2C Plateaus
• Coursera 10-K Highlights: Lower Partner Revenue Share, 1k+ Employees

The post Udemy Lays Off ~200 Staff, After Being Only Major Player to Avoid Layoffs in 2022 appeared first on The Report by Class Central.

Guess what’s common between your favorite Hollywood movies Dune, Black Widow, Godzilla, Thor: Love and Thunder, Frosty, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Eternals (other than the fact that they are super awesome movies). It’s DaVinci Resolve.

In this guide, I’ve selected the 9 best free and paid DaVinci Resolve online courses for you from the 60+ DaVinci Resolve courses on our catalog by following a well-defined methodology that you can find below.

But if you want to jump straight to the results, here are my top 9 picks. You can click on a course to jump to the corresponding section:

What is DaVinci Resolve?

As Blackmagic Design says on their website:

“DaVinci Resolve is the world’s only solution that combines editing, color correction, visual effects, motion graphics and audio post production all in one software tool!”

This means that you don’t have to learn and use multiple applications for different post production tasks – you can carry out the entire process in DaVinci Resolve itself, faster and at a higher quality.

DaVinci Resolve (originally da Vinci Resolve) was developed by da Vinci Systems in 2003 which was later on acquired by Blackmagic Design in 2009. The commercial version of the software is known as DaVinci Resolve Studio, while its free version (with reduced functionality) is simply called DaVinci Resolve.

With DaVinci Resolve, you get DaVinci’s Emmy award winning image technology with 32‑bit float processing, patented YRGB color science, a wide gamut color space for HDR workflows. and Fairlight audio processing for the best in class sound.

Why are DaVinci Resolve Skills Important?

DaVinci Resolve is a popular choice for creating visual effects and motion graphics, as well as post-production workflows. As such, professionals who have skills in this software are in high demand in the industry.

DaVinci Resolve is considered one of the leading video editing software in a market that’s projected to reach a value of USD 3.24 Billion by 2030. It’s a popular choice among professional editors and colorists in the film, television, and video production industry.

The job market for professionals with skills in DaVinci Resolve is generally strong, as the software is widely used in the film and television industry, you can easily find job openings on LinkedIn, Indeed, and Upwork with an average salary of USD 54,946 in US, according to Glassdoor. However, the level of competition for jobs can vary depending on the specific role and location. Generally, the more specialized and in-demand the role, the higher the competition.

Having skills in DaVinci Resolve is an important asset for any professional in the video editing industry, but it is not the only skill that is needed to get a job. Employers also look for candidates who have a solid understanding of the technical aspects of video editing, such as color correction, visual effects, and audio mixing, as well as experience working on real-world projects. Additionally, a strong portfolio and a good understanding of the industry are important factors when looking for a job.

What is My Experience with DaVinci Resolve?

I am a Guided Project Instructor and a Beta Tester at Coursera, having tested many courses before they’re officially launched. I have taken over 50 online courses in various subjects.

My experience as an online learner and teacher has given me some perspective on what to look for in an online course. I used my experience to evaluate each course in this list.

Course Ranking Methodology

I built this ranking following the now tried-and-tested methodology I used in previous rankings (you can find them all here). It involves a three-step process:

1. Research: I started by leveraging Class Central’s database with 100K online courses and 200K+ reviews. Then, I made a preliminary selection of 60+ DaVinci Resolve courses by rating, reviews, and bookmarks.
2. Evaluate: I read through reviews on Class Central, Reddit, and course providers to understand what other learners thought about each course and combined it with my own experience as a learner.
3. Select: Well-made courses were picked if they presented valuable and engaging content and they have to fit in a set of criteria and be ranked accordingly: comprehensive curriculum, release date, affordability, ratings and enrollments.

The end result is a unique selection of courses that combines a decade of Class Central data and my own experience as an online learner to try to get the best of both worlds. So far, I’ve spent more than 11 hours building this list, and I’ll continue to update it.

Course Ranking Statistics

Here are some statistics regarding this course ranking:

• Combined, these courses have accrued over 57.8K enrollments.
• 5 courses are free or free-to-audit and 4 courses are paid.
• The most-represented course provider in the ranking is YouTube, with 4 courses.
• All 9 courses are in English.
• The DaVinci Resolve subject is followed by over 500 learners on Class Central, and accounts for over 60 courses in Class Central catalog.

So without further ado, let’s get to my picks for the best DaVinci Resolve online courses.

1. DaVinci Resolve 18 – Training (Blackmagic Design)

My first pick for the best DaVinci Resolve online course is a collection of free courses DaVinci Resolve 18 – Training, offered by Blackmagic Design.

Blackmagic Design, the developer of DaVinci Resolve, provides their very own, professional-standard courses and books to learn the software for both beginners and professionals alike. With their exclusive training, you’ll be able to become a DaVinci Resolve certified editor, colorist or sound editor quickly and easily.

What You’ll Learn

Blackmagic Design offers both training videos and training books for learning DaVinci Resolve:

1. Training Videos (4 sections)

• DaVinci Resolve Edit with Chris (4 videos)
• DaVinci Resolve Color with Daria and Cullen (5 videos)
• DaVinci Resolve Fairlight with Mary (7 videos)
• DaVinci Resolve Fusion with Tony and Matt (4 videos)

2. Training Books (5 books)

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 20 training videos and 5 training books. Each video involves about 30 minutes to 1.5 hours of work. You can download the PDFs of the books or buy them online. Downloadable project files are also provided along with each video and book. After completing each book, you can try an online exam.

Fun Facts

• Roberts is an award-winning video editor, trainer and writer based near Birmingham, UK.
• Fissoun is a freelance colourist and VFX compositor.
• Kelly is a seasoned professional in both film and commercial color grading.
• Gallardo is a father, creative director, editor and mographer.
• DeJohn is a VFX/Editorial Workflow Manager at Blackmagic Design.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the courses and how to enroll here.

2. RESOLVE 18 CRASH COURSE – Davinci Resolve 18 Walkthrough [BEGINNER] (Casey Faris)

My second pick for the best DaVinci Resolve online course is the free course RESOLVE 18 CRASH COURSE – Davinci Resolve 18 Walkthrough [BEGINNER], offered by Casey Faris on YouTube.

If you’ve used any editing software before and would like to learn DaVinci Resolve, then this free course is for you. Within a matter of a couple of hours, you’ll learn about the different components and functionalities of DaVinci Resolve 18 and get started with the software.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll cover the following topics:

• What is Resolve and how to download it
• The Layout and Page 
• The Edit Page
• The Cut Page
• The Media Page
• The Fusion Page
• The Color Page
• The Fairlight Page
• The Deliver Page

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 10 videos. Each video involves about 5 to 30 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only.

Fun Facts

• Faris teaches video editing, color grading, and visual effects in DaVinci Resolve, Blender, and more.
• He also gives courses on editing, color grading and effects in DaVinci Resolve on his website, groundcontrol.film.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

3. DaVinci Resolve for Beginners (Domestika)

My third pick for the best DaVinci Resolve online course is DaVinci Resolve for Beginners on Domestika.

This course is spread out into 6 subcourses. Throughout these courses, you’ll learn how to add balance and stylize your video footage with the basic and advanced features of the free version of DaVinci Resolve. A basic understanding of video formats and non-linear editing software will be helpful but is not required in order to take this course.

What You’ll Learn

First, you’ll learn about why we color grade, opening DaVinci resolve for the first time, exporting your film from Premiere, importing footage with xml or flattened qt, finding still images as references, log and raw terminology, exploring nodes, and playback speed and creating caches.

Then, explore preparing media for grading, primary controls, learning to use scopes, changing levels, changing color, matching color and contrast between shots, giving your film a feel, balancing then giving shots feeling, and secondaries and using the qualifier.

Next, you’ll understand power windows and drawing shapes, tracking with power windows curves as secondaries, parallel vs. serial nodes, alpha channels, using keyframes, keys, trackers and keyframes, LUTs, teal and orange split tone look, and bleach bypass look.

After that, you’ll take a look at cross processed look, low contrast vintage film look, assessing and recreating looks from TV, using color theory in your work, experimenting with creative looks, remote grades, groups and colourtrace, organizing the node tree, and useful terms.

Finally, you’ll learn about grading control surfaces, delivery interface and exporting, exporting with handles to return to Premiere, export colors and why they change, databases and project archiving, and exporting your work.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 6 subcourses (41 lessons). Concepts are taught through a combination of videos, exercises and downloadable resources.

Fun Facts

• Berry is a professional colorist from the UK.
• He co-founded his own creative studio in East London in 2010.
• He has worked with brands like McLaren, Nintendo, Puma, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Airbnb, Clarks, the NHS, FIFA, and more.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

4. DAVINCI RESOLVE 18 (FREE COURSE) (Sergio Mota | Academy)

My fourth pick for the best DaVinci Resolve online course is the free course DAVINCI RESOLVE 18 (FREE COURSE), offered by Sergio Mota | Academy on YouTube.

This short, free course is a great option for beginners to get started with video editing in DaVinci Resolve 18. Within a matter of a couple of hours, you’ll become familiar with DaVinci Resolve and learn how to use popular Resolve tools and techniques to edit your videos. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to work with text, reduce noise and create effects in Resolve.

What You’ll Learn

First, you’ll use magic mask, put text behind moving objects, optimize DaVinci Resolve 18 for faster editing (proxy and render cache), stabilize your videos, ramp speed, give clone effect, 3D track text, and create animated neon lines.

Next, you’ll add video inside text, give typewriter effect, reduce noise, zoom, change the color of any object, do ink transition, split screen, make VHS effect, replace skies, blur objects and faces, give ghost effect, and remove green screen.

Finally, you’ll give locked-on stabilization effect, turn videos to drawing, give cloning effect, export videos, install LUTs, do super slow motion, export videos without background, add camera shake in your videos, add text, and refine faces.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 40 videos. Each video involves about 3 to 12 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only.

Fun Facts

• Mota is from Spain and he runs a second YouTube channel where he also shares his videos and DaVinci Resolve tutorials in Spanish.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

5. Color Grading with Da Vinci Resolve: Beginner to Advanced (Udemy)

My fifth pick for the best DaVinci Resolve online course is Color Grading with Da Vinci Resolve: Beginner to Advanced on Udemy.

This course will provide a comprehensive introduction to using DaVinci Resolve 17. As a beginner, you’ll start from scratch and go all the way to high-end and professional color grading, while practicing through real-world hands-on projects. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to take a grading project from start to finish and deliver it to a professional standard.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn to use the tools found in each panel, import projects from other editing software such as Premiere Pro and Final Cut, read images using scopes, use the calibrating tools, work on a short sequence from a short film shot on a Blackmagic Cinema camera, and apply the skills learned in the course to a project shot on a Sony 700 camera.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 20 sections. Each section involves about 30 minutes to 5 hours of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos and readings.

Fun Facts

• Falconer is a freelance colorist with nearing 6 years of experience in using DaVinci Resolve,
• He has produced work for the web, broadcast and cinema as well as music videos, short films and drama projects.
• He teaches editing, visual effects and color grading at the Met Film School in London.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

6. Video Editing in DaVinci Resolve 18/17: Beginner to Advanced (Udemy)

My sixth pick for the best DaVinci Resolve online course is Video Editing in DaVinci Resolve 18/17: Beginner to Advanced on Udemy.

This beginner-friendly course will teach you visual effects, motion graphics, color correction and grading, and audio editing in DaVinci Resolve ( both 17 and 18 versions). You’ll work on your first video step by step from start to finish right from importing your video clips all the way to color correction and grading, while adding music, graphics, text and transitions. 

What You’ll Learn

First, you’ll understand the workflow in DaVinci Resolve, import and organize your media from Bins to Power Bins, video edit in the Edit Page, create your first short video, multiple ways to assemble your video (from inserts to swaps), and fine edit your clips a frame at a time.

Next, you’ll re-time your clips with speed graphs (slow motion and fast motion), create your own transitions, add graphics, lower thirds and titles, create an intro and outro, work in Fusion Text, apply and customize Effects from ResolveFX, and achieve perfect color correction.

Finally, you’ll use Power Windows, Cloud and Point Trackers, understand and work with advanced tools such as Curves, Qualifiers and Keys, color grade like a colourist, and learn advanced editing techniques like the tree point edit, J cuts and L cuts.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 24 sections. Each section involves about 30 minutes to 1.5 hours of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos, readings and downloadable resources.

Fun Facts

• This course is a bestseller on Udemy.
• Zambarakji loves teaching video editing, animation, motion graphics and visual effects.
• He has a 4.6 instructor rating on Udemy with over 394K students.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

7. DaVinci Resolve Fundamentals (LinkedIn Learning)

My seventh pick for the best DaVinci Resolve online course is DaVinci Resolve Fundamentals on LinkedIn Learning.

This course will teach you post production in DaVinci Resolve using a 60 seconds commercial that you’ll work on. You’ll go through all the steps of the process, starting from importing your media, building a rough cut, refining your rough cut, adding titles and transitions, correcting colors, organizing and mixing sound clips, and exporting your final product.

What You’ll Learn

The course starts with the setup essentials, including an overview of the interface, essential system and user preferences, and creating your first project. You’ll then learn about organizing media on the Media and Cut pages, including importing footage, organizing it into bins, and building a rough cut. Finally, you’ll learn about rendering and delivering your final project on the Deliver page, including rendering for online streaming platforms and managing the Render Queue.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 7 modules. Each module involves about 30 minutes to 2 hours of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos and practice exercises.

Fun Facts

• Inhofer is a professional film and video colorist with a pedigree in editing and finishing.
• He has over 30 years of professional experience in delivering high-quality programming for broadcast, commercial, corporate and indie clients.
• For over 10 years, he has also developed a career in  teaching others how to digitally color correct moving images.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

8. DaVinci Resolve Color Grading for Beginners | FREE COURSE (Envato Tuts+)

My eighth pick for the best DaVinci Resolve online course is the free course DaVinci Resolve Color Grading for Beginners | FREE COURSE, offered by Envato Tuts+ on YouTube.

Whether you are a beginner or even an intermediate colorist looking to improve your skill level, this short, free course will teach you color grading within a matter of a couple of hours. Even if you’ve never opened DaVinci Resolve before, after taking this course, you’ll get up and running with color grading in Resolve.

What You’ll Learn

First, you’ll get started in Resolve, get to know the layout, set up your project, use Scene Cut Detection to import your footage, get an in-depth overview of the color tab, read scopes (Waveform, Parade, Histogram and Vectorscope), and understand pro color grading workflow.

Next, you’ll learn what the Primaries Color Wheels do, color correct skin tone, use Noise Reduction to clean up the image, motion track your grade using the Tracker Window tool, color grade the background of your image, and dial in ‘the look’ for your color grade.

Finally, you’ll add finishing effects like Film Grain to your footage, use the Halation effect on background lighting, produce the final product, deliver your grade to the editor, and create a custom LUT from your grade.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 19 videos. Each module involves about 1 to 5 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only. Useful links are also provided in the YouTube description of the course. Just click on Start Learning and go to Direct link.

Fun Facts

• Graham is a content creator with a background in commercial filmmaking.
• He has worked as a Director, DoP, Producer, Editor and Creative Director across television commercials, feature films and large-scale corporate video events.
• He creates post-production and filmmaking content for the Envato Tuts+ YouTube Channel.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

9. DAVINCI RESOLVE 18 for BEGINNERS – 2023 Guide | Everything You NEED to KNOW to get STARTED (Jason Yadlovski)

My ninth pick for the best DaVinci Resolve online course is the free course DAVINCI RESOLVE 18 for BEGINNERS – 2023 Guide | Everything You NEED to KNOW to get STARTED, offered by Jason Yadlovski on YouTube.

This free course is the shortest one on this list. But don’t let that fool you. One hour is enough to get started with DaVinci Resolve 18. Step by step, you’ll go through all the necessary tools and techniques in order to become familiar with Resolve and start editing your videos.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll store and organize projects, create a project library, import media, get an overview of the various tabs and functionalities such as the Media, Cut, Edit, Fusion, Color, Fairlight, and Deliver tabs, and explore the Edit Tab interface.

You’ll also learn how to set in/out points, create a timeline, add clips, make cuts, explore various timeline view options, edit effects, perform transitions, move around the timeline, and color and export videos using Deliver presets and export settings.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 98 videos. Each video involves about 1 minute of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only. Useful links are also provided in the YouTube description of the course. Just click on Start Learning and go to Direct link.

Fun Facts

• Yadlovski shares tips, tricks and tutorials in DaVinci Resolve on his YouTube channel.
• He also talks about some gear that can help make your videos better.
• You can find more of his work on his website.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

The post 9 Best DaVinci Resolve Courses to Take in 2023 appeared first on The Report by Class Central.

Here are the 25 most popular free online university courses and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) starting in March 2023, based on Class Central learners’ activity.

If you don’t find what you’re after here, browse Class Central’s extensive catalog of over 100K online courses via our subjects page, or have a look at our thematic collections:

• Massive List of Thousands of Free Certificates & Badges
• 1000+ Hours of Free LinkedIn Learning Courses with Free Certification
• 700+ Free Google Certifications
• 800+ Open University Free Certificates
• Harvard Computer Science Courses with Free Certificate

You can find all our free certificates articles here.

Connected Leadership
Yale University via Coursera
This course is designed to maximize your ability to create change at the individual, team and system levels through study, reflection, and deploying practical tools.

Introduction to 3D Modeling
University of Michigan via Coursera
On this four-week practical course from the University of Michigan, you’ll not only learn how to use the Rhino software to create your 3D models, but you’ll also gain basic design skills to help bring your imagination to life.

Teaching LGBTQ+ Health
Stanford University via Coursera
The course goals are to improve your knowledge, teaching skills, and attitudes pertaining to the provision of health care to LGBTQ+ patients.

Creating a Startup Company
University of Colorado Boulder via Coursera
The course starts by exploring entrepreneurial ecosystems and systems thinking. The Technology Adoption Life Cycle is introduced to help explain market dynamics and support developing business strategy.

Ukraine: History, Culture and Identities
University of Washington via Coursera
Explore the history, culture and society of the people of Ukraine from the Middle Ages to the present in this introductory course developed by the Ukrainian Institute, educational studio EdEra, and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and offered on Coursera in cooperation with the University of Washington.

Foundations of Information Systems for Business
Howard University via Coursera
This course introduces business information systems. It presents essential components of data systems, how data systems are used in business, and the roles and responsibilities of people who work within information systems.

The Science of Well-Being for Teens
Yale University via Coursera
In this course, you will explore what the field of psychology teaches us about how to be happier, how to feel less stressed, and how to thrive in high school and beyond.

Modes of Science Communication
University of Colorado Boulder via Coursera
In this course, you will explore different modalities of science communication, including oral presentations, written forms of communication, technology, and artistic media, including best practices for each.

Quantum Technologies for Decision Makers
University of Queensland via edX
Quantum technology is all around yet many of us can readily be confused by the science. Our interest lies in exploring enough of the science to boost our understanding so that we can make informed decisions.

The Softer Side of Science Communication
University of Colorado Boulder via Coursera
In this course, you will continue to explore how to develop and implement evidence-based methods for science communication. Here we’ll be looking at the softer but no less important side of science communication.

Managing Customer Expectations with Jagdish Sheth
University System of Georgia via Coursera
This course, taught by Professor Jagdish Sheth, 2020 Padma Bhushan Award winner for Literature and Education, suggests shaping customer expectations is as, if not more, important than exceeding customer expectations.

Player Evaluation, Team Performance and Roster Management
State University of New York via Coursera
This course will provide students with an introduction to using specific data techniques to address key sports administrative functions in team and roster management.

Speaking to a Technical Group
University of Colorado Boulder via Coursera
Great speakers focus on voice, nonverbals, eye contact, body language, and storytelling to captivate their audiences. This course focuses on the fundamentals of excellent oral communication.

Intro to Improving the Patient Experience Through Analytics
Northeastern University via Coursera
In this course, you will have an opportunity to explore concepts and topics related to improving the patient experience and reducing pain points in healthcare processes through analytic and decision support frameworks.

Ruralization: Creating New Opportunities in Rural Areas
Delft University of Technology via edX
Analyze trends and dynamics of rural regions and learn to formulate ideas, strategies and actions to boost rural development, with a particular focus on younger generations.

Our Share: Employee Ownership as a Wealth Sharing Tool
Rutgers University via Coursera
In this course, you will learn about a well-researched tool for building a more equitable economy: “employee ownership.” You will learn what it is, how it differs from traditional business ownership models, and the forms it can take.

The Great Sustainability Transition: Global challenges, Local actions
Leiden University via Coursera
Drastic shifts are needed. Get the knowledge and skills to take local action. Learn about sustainability and staying with the environmental boundaries of our planet.

Probability & Statistics for Machine Learning & Data Science
DeepLearning.AI via Coursera
Mathematics for Machine Learning and Data science is a foundational online program created in by DeepLearning.AI and taught by Luis Serrano. This beginner-friendly program is where you’ll master the fundamental mathematics toolkit of machine learning.

Piano Scales for Modern Music
Berklee College of Music via Coursera
Scales are an essential part of musical study and are a vital part of an effective practice routine. This course will provide you with a new look at practicing and using scales to guide your musical creativity.

Data Visualization & Cloud Technologies
University of Wisconsin–Madison via edX
Learn to use data visualization and cloud technologies for business analytics.

Frontiers in Dentistry
University of Pennsylvania via Coursera
In this course, Frontiers in Dentistry, you will be able to explore some of the latest advances in the field of dental medicine.

The Web and Databases in Android
Meta via Coursera
In this course, you’ll move outside of the platform and begin working with integrations like web frameworks, tools and asynchronous programming techniques.

Black Performance as Social Protest
University of Michigan via Coursera
Black performance and social activism have been a model for protest globally. It has enriched and activated cries for justice in multiple contexts. This course will help you expand your understanding of Black performance as social protest and its active effects on performance and protest today.

A New Communication Framework for Healthcare
University of California, San Diego via Coursera
Join palliative care physician Dr. Kathryn Winters, along with the Sanford Institute’s Center for Compassionate Communication at UC San Diego Health, for this fascinating, personal and instructive lesson on how to better understand the stories involved in clinical care—both provider and patient.

Solar Energy: Photovoltaic Materials, Devices, and Modules
Delft University of Technology via edX
The growth in global PV capacity towards 100 Terawatt by 2050 requires a diverse portfolio of PV technologies. Apply the solar design rules to PV technologies and analyze them using metrics related to performance, costs, reliability and circularity.

The post 25 Most Popular Online Courses Starting in March 2023 appeared first on The Report by Class Central.

Interested in intelligent systems?

Prolog is a powerful declarative logic programming language that’s mainly used for artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and symbolic computation. It’s based on first-order logic, which means that programs in Prolog consist of logical statements that are interpreted as facts or rules (for example, the premise ‘If it rains, then the ground is wet’ and ‘It is raining’ lead to the conclusion ‘The ground is wet’).

These facts and rules can be used to make logical deductions which can help in developing intelligent systems that can reason, learn, and solve problems using logical rules and data, such as in complex decision making systems and AI.

In this guide, I’ve picked the best free online courses to learn Prolog. If you’re in a hurry, here are my top picks. Click on one to skip to the course details:

What is Prolog?

Prolog, short for Programming Logic, is a declarative programming language that was first developed in 1972 by Alain Colmerauer and Philippe Roussel. It is unique in that it is homoiconic, meaning it treats code as data, and is focused on specifying what you want to achieve rather than how to achieve it. This makes it well-suited for artificial intelligence and natural language processing tasks, as it allows the programmer to define a set of facts and rules that describe a problem and then use these to find a solution, or in other words, to ‘reason’.

Prolog is not only used in academia though, it has also seen commercial applications. The Java Virtual Machine Specification contains Prolog, NASA uses Prolog for voice-control, IBM Watson’s natural language processing abilities come from Prolog, New Zealand’s stock broking system is written in Prolog, and a third of all airline tickets are handled by Prolog.

While Prolog has been around for more than half a century now, that hasn’t stopped it from evolving, with more declarative features that make it easier to understand and use to create general programs with less effort. If you need to model and solve complex problems through symbolic data and logical deductions, a logical programming language like Prolog can save the day.

Best Courses Guides Methodology

I built this ranking following the now tried-and-tested methodology used in previous Best Courses Guides (you can find them all here). It involves a three-step process:

1. Research: I started by leveraging Class Central’s database with 100K online courses and 200K+ reviews. Then, I made a preliminary selection of Prolog courses by rating, reviews, and bookmarks.
2. Evaluate: I read through reviews on Class Central, Reddit, and course providers to understand what other learners thought about each course and combined it with my own experience as a learner.
3. Select: Well-made courses were picked if they presented valuable and engaging content and they have to fit in a set of criteria and be ranked accordingly: comprehensive curriculum, affordability, release date, ratings and enrollments.

Course Ranking Statistics

Here are some aggregate stats about the ranking:

• All of the courses in this ranking are free.
• All of the courses with an exception of one are suitable for beginners to Prolog.
• Four of the courses are text-based, whereas two are video-based. One course makes use of text and video formats.
• Two of the courses are interactive in the browser — no installation required!

Without further ado, let’s go through the top picks.

1. The Power of Prolog (Markus Triska)

My number one course for the best Prolog course is The Power of Prolog.

This free course is my top pick because it is the most comprehensive and up-to-date course on Prolog that I have found. It has been consistently updated for two decades, so you can rest assured that you’re learning the latest modern features of the Prolog language. 

The course covers a wide range of topics, including simple integer arithmetic, web applications, theorem proving, and even artificial intelligence! In addition to its comprehensive course material, there are also sample programs for you to practice with and video tutorials to help guide your learning. Before you get started, watch the course’s trailer.

The course presumes no background knowledge about logic or logical programming, although some experience in programming is helpful.

What You’ll Learn

To get started in logical programming, you’ll need to know the foundations of logic first. You’ll understand that Prolog is based on a subset of classical first-order predicate logic called Horn clauses which allows for the proving of theorems through resolution — an amazing tool for solving complex problems!

Once you have the fundamentals of logic under your belt, you’ll soon be writing and reading Prolog programs. First, you’ll learn the most basic concepts of Prolog, such as its program and data structures. From there, you’ll learn how to reason effectively with Prolog by reading and writing Prolog programs, including doing integer arithmetic, sorting, and searching. You’ll level up your Prolog skills by exploring more advanced concepts such as logical purity and definite clause grammars, as well as practical techniques like declarative testing and debugging that can truly be a life-saver.

The potential of Prolog is truly limitless — from web applications, to databases, to cryptography, and of course, building artificial intelligence. Why is Prolog used for these? It’s because Prolog can emulate the process behind human decision making, proving complex mathematical theorems, and solving logic puzzles. You’ll find out how Prolog does this, as well how it is used in all of these applications in detail.

How You’ll Learn

This course consists of 33 chapters. You’ll learn by reading through the course chapters, looking at the code examples, and watching the lecture videos.

Fun Facts

• The website the course is hosted on uses a reverse proxy written in Prolog!
• You can find the course’s Github page here.
• The Power of Prolog aims to bring traditional old Prolog textbooks up to date with the current modern state of the language. That’s why this book is currently in use by eight university courses.
• Markus Triska studied at the Vienna University of Technology. He has made significant contributions to the development of the language, like creating several libraries for SWI-Prolog and maintaining Prolog’s FAQ Frequently Asked Questions webpage. In addition, he has won the Prolog Programming Contest twice and received a Master’s degree and a doctoral degree in the field of Prolog and constraints. Tristan has also published numerous scientific papers on combinatorial optimization, Prolog, and constraints, and has contributed to the Prolog ISO standard (N226) and the Prolog teaching environment GUPU.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

2. Simply Logical – Intelligent Reasoning by Example (Simply Logical)

My second pick for the best Prolog course is Simply Logical – Intelligent Reasoning by Example.

This free course focuses on Prolog programming in the context of Artificial Intelligence, implementing intelligent behavior in machines, and Computational Logic, automating various kinds of reasoning. The course’s philosophy is ‘teaching by showing, learning by doing’, which is reflected in the interactive code blocks embedded in the course page for you to experiment with. By the end of this course, you’ll understand how logic can be used to solve problems in AI.

What You’ll Learn

The course is divided into 3 parts: Logic and Logic Programming; Reasoning with structured knowledge; Advanced reasoning techniques.

The first part serves as an introduction to Logic Programming with Prolog, where you’ll deal with concepts such as program clauses, query answering, proof trees, and recursive data structures in an intuitive manner. Then, you’ll cover them much more formally by proving soundness and completeness in a program. You’ll also uncover common Prolog programming techniques, including the use of SLD-trees, arithmetic expressions, second-order predicates, and programming techniques.

In Part II, the focus shifts to Artificial Intelligence concepts, specifically structured knowledge. You’ll learn how to represent structured knowledge (relationships) as graphs, and how to answer a problem with no known analytic solutions through two kinds of search — blind and informed.

Part III will explore advanced reasoning techniques beyond the boundaries of clausal logic, where sequences of events are happening over time, where truth is not guaranteed, and knowledge is available in non-logical form such as pictures or spoken text. You’ll learn how to turn natural language into clausal logics, and how to reason with incomplete information, and finally how to conduct inductive reasoning through generalization or specialization.

How You’ll Learn

This course consists of 12 chapters in total. You’ll learn by reading through chapter material, playing around with the interactive code samples, and completing the exercises given, some of them having answers.

Fun Facts

• About Simply Logical is an open-source project providing a suite of online resources about Artificial Intelligence and Logic Programming with Prolog.
• Peter Flach is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Bristol. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Machine Learning journal from 2010 to 2020. Prof Flach has also been involved in organizing several conferences in the field of machine learning, and is a founding board member and current President of the European Association for Data Science. He is a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

3. Prolog Programming (Ryan Schachte)

Ryan Schachte’s Prolog Programming video series will teach you the fundamental concepts of Prolog and how to use it to solve complex problems through logical reasoning and symbolic data representation.

What You’ll Learn

First, you’ll start by getting a handle on the basics. You’ll delve into the basics of running and compiling basic prolog code and understand how facts like “The sky is blue” are represented as simple predicates in Prolog. Next, you’ll learn how to define rules that make use of these facts, such as “If the sky is blue and the sun is shining, then it is a nice day”. Then, you’ll see Prolog do something magical — give it a query like “Is it a nice day?” and watch as it determines the answer for you!

Moving on, you’ll dive into representing information as variable syntax and structs, and figure out how to ask more sophisticated questions about the data you have. Arithmetic operations will become second nature as you see how Prolog performs them. And that’s just the beginning! You’ll learn about Prolog’s support for complex data structures, such as lists and pairs, and how to perform advanced operations like sorting and searching through lists to get the information you need.

How You’ll Learn

This course is 1–2 hours long and consists of 4 parts. You’ll learn by watching the lecture videos and following along with the instructor as he codes.

Fun Facts

• Ryan Schatche’s YouTube channel discusses programming in C, C++, Java, Javascript, HTML, CSS, Assembly, MIPS, computer architecture, mathematics, and computer science theory. He also covers numerous topics for web design, algorithm analysis, statistics, discrete mathematics, and more.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

4. Prolog Tutorial (Derek Banas)

Derek Banas’s Prolog Tutorial is a very concise one-hour video teaching the essentials of Prolog. You’ll learn how to use Prolog to describe facts and relationships about problems to facilitate automated reasoning.

What You’ll Learn

Prolog is a programming language that enables you to describe facts and relationships about problems rather than merely outlining a series of steps to solve them. You’ll learn how to define facts and rules to facilitate automated reasoning, and use variables as a placeholder for values that might change. Then, you’ll learn how to use if statements to create complex terms and rules.

Prolog also has logical and arithmetic operators. You’ll learn how to use them, both sequentially as well as recursively. You’ll also see how you can read and write to consoles and files. In fact, one of the things you’ll discuss is how to modify the database of facts and rules directly. Finally, you’ll learn how to create lists in Prolog to represent more similarity-related values and work with strings.

How You’ll Learn

This course is 1 hour long. You’ll learn by watching the lecture video and following along on your PC.

Fun Facts

• Derek Banas is a prolific YouTube educational content creator. He has made around 50 videos covering the basics of different programming languages, as well as covering topics like data science and machine learning, statistics, and linear algebra.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

5. Prolog Problems (Bern University of Applied Sciences)

Prolog Problems is a free collection of problems aimed to help students practice their logic programming skills in Prolog, where your goal should be to find the most elegant or logically clear solution of the given problems. Problems are marked by their difficulty, from easiest to hardest. 

What You’ll Learn

The collection is structured into seven sections:

1. Prolog Lists: Manipulating lists in Prolog. Example questions:
   • Find the last but one element of a list.
   • Drop every N’th element from a list.
2. Arithmetic: Primes, mathematical algorithms, and functions. Example questions:
   • Determine whether two positive integer numbers are coprime.
   • Determine whether a given integer number is prime.
3. Logic and Codes: Creating truth tables and encoding sequences. Example questions:
   • Truth tables for logical expressions.
   • Huffman code.
4. Binary Trees: Manipulation of binary trees. Example questions:
   • Check whether a given term represents a binary tree
   • Construct height-balanced binary trees
5. Multiway Trees: Manipulation of Multiway Trees. Example questions:
   • Count the nodes of a multiway tree
   • Lisp-like tree representation
6. Graphs: Manipulation of Graphs. Example questions:
   • Cycle from a given node
   • Construct all spanning trees
   • Generate K-regular simple graphs with N nodes
7. Miscellaneous: Miscellaneous computer science questions. Example questions:
   • Syntax checker
   • Crossword puzzle
   • Von Koch’s conjecture

How You’ll Learn

This course consists of seven sections. You’ll learn by going through the problems and solving them hands-on. The course provides solutions to the problems at the end of each section if you get stuck.

Fun Facts

• This course is a remake of the P-99: Ninety-Nine Prolog Problems collection.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

6. An introduction to Prolog for SQL programmers (Robert Laing)

If you’re primarily familiar with SQL, then thinking of Prolog as a relational database query language might be a great way to get started. That’s what this free course is about.

An introduction to Prolog for SQL programmers teaches Prolog by simulating basic SQL operations through Prolog code, from querying to modifying databases.

What You’ll Learn

This course is made up of three parts.

The first part walks you through querying databases where you simulate traditional SQL commands like SELECT, INSERT, WHERE, and JOINs in Prolog. 

The second part is a translation of the Social-Network quiz questions from Databases: Relational Databases and SQL Stanford course. You’ll convert natural language questions into Prolog prompts.

The third part of the course is all about recursion, or in mathematical terms transitive closures. Here, you’ll also learn commands that are easy to do in Prolog but not in SQL, for example returning paths and guarding against endless cycles.

How You’ll Learn

This course consists of three parts. You’ll learn by going through each part and doing the interactive in-browser exercises for hands-on practice.

Fun Facts

• Robert Laing has a Prolog Cookbook website where he writes down notes on logic programming with Prolog.
• He has also made a website where you can play Chinese Checkers coded in Prolog.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

The post 6 Best Free Prolog Courses to Take in 2023 appeared first on The Report by Class Central.

Udemy is one of the largest online learning platforms for professional learning. According to the company, they have 57 million registered users. An analysis by Class Central shows they’ve launched over 200,000 courses since 2010.

The pandemic boosted the fortune of many online providers. Udemy was no exception. In 2020, propelled by the pandemic, they raised $123 million and increased their valuation by over $1 billion.

In 2022, the situation changed. Overall, the company raised ~$300 million at a valuation over $3 billion. But Udemy’s market cap has significantly fallen, like that of many other online course platforms.

In this course ranking, let’s explore the best of the best that Udemy has to offer.

Udemy By the Numbers

Analyzing Udemy’s catalog with my colleague @Archisha, we discovered that they currently have over 202,000 courses — which amounts to a 33% increase in the last 2 years. You may find a complete analysis of Udemy’s catalog here: 202K Courses, 662M Enrollments: Breaking Down Udemy’s Massive Catalog.

Combined, Udemy’s 202K courses have gathered ~662 million enrollments and average 3274 enrollments per course. What I found most surprising is that the median enrollment is only 240, which means that half of Udemy’s courses don’t reach 240 learners.

Currently, there are 718 courses with over 100K enrollments and 4 courses with over a million enrollments.

Do Udemy courses satisfy the Pareto 80/20 principle? I found that Udemy’s top-20% courses by enrollment account for 91% of all enrollments.

You can also find some of the best Udemy courses on Class Central’s catalog page.

250 Top Udemy Courses

Here’s a quick summary of 250 Udemy top courses based on the number of enrollments:

• Enrollments range from 187K to 1.8M. There are 4 courses with over 1M enrollments.
• Combined, they account for 79.5M enrollments, with an average of 318K enrollments.
• 31% of the courses are free.
• 90% of the courses are in English.
• Combined, they represent 4K hours of content.

Without further ado, here are the top 250 courses on Udemy sorted by number of enrollments:

• Java Tutorial for Complete Beginners
• The Complete Python Bootcamp From Zero to Hero in Python
• Microsoft Excel – Excel from Beginner to Advanced
• Automate the Boring Stuff with Python Programming
• Machine Learning A-Z: Python & R in Data Science [2023]
• The Complete 2023 Web Development Bootcamp
• The Web Developer Bootcamp 2023
• Introduction To Python Programming
• 100 Days of Code: The Complete Python Pro Bootcamp for 2023
• Java Programming Masterclass updated to Java 17
• The Complete JavaScript Course 2023: From Zero to Expert!
• The Complete Digital Marketing Course – 12 Courses in 1
• Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate SAA-C03
• React – The Complete Guide (incl Hooks, React Router, Redux)
• Angular – The Complete Guide (2023 Edition)
• The Complete SQL Bootcamp: Go from Zero to Hero
• Web Design for Web Developers: Build Beautiful Websites!
• [NEW] Ultimate AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner – 2022
• Python for Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp
• C++ Tutorial for Complete Beginners
• Become an Android Developer from Scratch
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate 2020
• The Complete Python Programming Course: Beginner to Advanced
• The Data Science Course 2023: Complete Data Science Bootcamp
• Learn Ethical Hacking From Scratch
• Useful Excel for Beginners
• Java Programming: Complete Beginner to Advanced
• Python : Master Programming and Development with 15 Projects
• Front End Web Development Ultimate Guide
• Adobe Photoshop CC: A Beginner to Advanced Photoshop Course
• The Ultimate Drawing Course – Beginner to Advanced
• Introduction to Databases and SQL Querying
• An Entire MBA in 1 Course:Award Winning Business School Prof
• Adobe Premiere Pro CC Masterclass: Video Editing in Premiere
• Web Development Masterclass – Online Certification Course
• Complete C# Unity Game Developer 2D
• The Complete Front-End Web Development Course
• Zero to Hero in Microsoft Excel: Complete Excel guide 2023
• SQL Masterclass: SQL for Data Analytics
• Learn Python Programming Masterclass
• Ultimate AWS Certified Developer Associate 2022 – NEW!
• The Complete Financial Analyst Course 2023
• English Launch: Learn English for Free – Upgrade all areas
• The Ultimate MySQL Bootcamp: Go from SQL Beginner to Expert
• Pianoforall – Incredible New Way To Learn Piano & Keyboard
• Stock Market Investing for Beginners
• Python 3 na Web com Django (Básico e Intermediário)
• Build Responsive Real-World Websites with HTML and CSS
• Code Your First Game: Arcade Classic in JavaScript on Canvas
• HTML and CSS for Beginners – Build a Website & Launch ONLINE
• Machine Learning & Deep Learning in Python & R
• Javascript Essentials
• Introdução à linguagem Python
• Learn Android Application Development
• Deep Learning A-Z: Hands-On Artificial Neural Networks
• After Effects CC Masterclass: Complete After Effects Course
• Tableau 2022 A-Z: Hands-On Tableau Training for Data Science
• Unreal Engine 5 C++ Developer: Learn C++ & Make Video Games
• Python Programming – From Basics to Advanced level [2023]
• iOS & Swift – The Complete iOS App Development Bootcamp
• Start Kali Linux, Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing!
• Photography Masterclass: A Complete Guide to Photography
• Beginner PHP and MySQL Tutorial
• Microsoft Excel – Advanced Excel Formulas & Functions
• Learn HTML5 Programming From Scratch
• 7 Scientifically Proven Steps to Increase Your Influence
• Introductory Photography Course
• AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam Prep 2023
• The Complete Web Developer Course 3.0
• Microsoft Power BI Desktop for Business Intelligence
• The Complete Full-Stack JavaScript Course
• Complete JAVASCRIPT with HTML5,CSS3 from zero to Expert-2023
• Linux for Absolute Beginners!
• Selenium WebDriver with Java -Basics to Advanced+Frameworks
• Microsoft Excel Weekender Crash Course
• SEO Training Course by Moz
• Spring & Hibernate for Beginners (includes Spring Boot)
• A Mini Course on Time Management
• Adobe Photoshop Ultimate Guide
• The Complete Ethical Hacking Course!
• Desenvolvedor Android Iniciante
• Practical Web Development: 22 Courses in 1
• Professional Logo Design in Adobe Illustrator
• Introduction to Cloud Computing
• SEO Tutorial for Beginners
• Python for beginners – Learn all the basics of python
• Practical Web Design & Development: 7 Courses in 1
• Complete Blender Creator: Learn 3D Modelling for Beginners
• Modern React with Redux [2023 Update]
• PMP Exam Prep Seminar – Complete Exam Coverage with 35 PDUs
• Docker Mastery: with Kubernetes +Swarm from a Docker Captain
• HTML, JavaScript, & Bootstrap – Certification Course
• The Complete Ethical Hacking Course: Beginner to Advanced!
• The Complete Node.js Developer Course (3rd Edition)
• The Python Mega Course: Learn Python in 50 Days with 20 Apps
• Adobe Lightroom Masterclass – Beginner to Expert
• Character Art School: Complete Character Drawing
• JavaScript – Basics to Advanced step by step [2023]
• Machine Learning- From Basics to Advanced
• SQL Bootcamp with MySQL, PHP & Python : 5 Courses in 1
• Docker and Kubernetes: The Complete Guide
• Python para Iniciantes
• HTML, CSS, & JavaScript – Certification Course for Beginners
• Python Network Programming for Network Engineers (Python 3)
• Complete Guitar Lessons System – Beginner to Advanced
• Java Multithreading
• Learn to Code in Python 3: Programming beginner to advanced
• HTML5 and CSS3 Fundamentals
• JavaScript, Bootstrap, & PHP – Certification for Beginners
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) – Zero to Hero
• Python-Introduction to Data Science and Machine learning A-Z
• Learn Machine learning & AI (Including Hands-on 3 Projects)
• The Complete Cyber Security Course : Hackers Exposed!
• Complete Machine Learning with R Studio – ML for 2023
• PHP & MySQL – Certification Course for Beginners
• Microsoft Power BI – The Practical Guide [2023 EDITION]
• Aprenda Linguagem C – Fundamentos Para Lógica de Programação
• Learn to Code with Python 3
• Beginners guide to Android App Development (Step by Step)
• Scrum Certification 2023 +Scrum Master+ Agile Scrum Training
• Java from Zero to First Job, Practical Guide, 1500+ examples
• Python Complete Course For Python Beginners
• R Programming A-Z: R For Data Science With Real Exercises!
• Practical PHP: Master the Basics and Code Dynamic Websites
• Build Your First Website in 1 Week with HTML5 and CSS3
• Adobe InDesign CC: Your Complete Guide to InDesign
• Deep Learning Prerequisites: The Numpy Stack in Python (V2+)
• Microsoft Excel – Learn MS EXCEL For DATA Analysis
• Curso de C++ – Intermediário
• Complete Responsive Web Development: 4 courses in 1
• The Complete Financial Analyst Training & Investing Course
• Python Practicando. Desde 0 hasta Desarrollador en Python
• Adobe Photoshop Photo Editing Ultimate Guide
• HTML5 Ultimate Guide
• Advanced Databases and SQL Querying
• Ms Excel/Excel 2022 – The Complete Introduction to Excel
• Deep Web- The complete Introduction to the hidden web
• Beginning C++ Programming – From Beginner to Beyond
• Özel Ders Formatında Sıfırdan Zirveye İngilizce Eğitim Seti
• Kubernetes for the Absolute Beginners – Hands-on
• Introdução à Linguagem HTML
• Do Básico ao Avançado – O Curso Completo de Microsoft Excel
• The Complete ReactJs Course – Basics to Advanced [2023]
• Learn Ethical Hacking: Beginner to Advanced
• Digital Marketing Masterclass – 23 Marketing Courses in 1
• Flutter & Dart – The Complete Guide [2023 Edition]
• Python for beginners
• Data Science: Visualização de Dados com Python
• Project Development Using JAVA for Beginners – 2023
• Secret Sauce of Great Writing
• Universidad Java – De Cero a Experto – Más Completo +106 hrs
• Python 3 Ultimate Guide
• Ionic 3 para iniciantes
• CSS – Basics to Adv for front end development [2023]
• HTML5 – From Basics to Advanced level [2023]
• React JS- Complete Guide for Frontend Web Development [2023]
• Make Money from Home: How to Build an Online Business
• How to speak to anyone & be fearless – in less than 55 min
• Practical Database Course for Beginners : 6 courses in 1
• Learn JavaScript – For Beginners
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) with Practice Tests
• Fundamentals of Computer Hacking
• The Python Programming A-Z Definitive Diploma in 2023
• Modern JavaScript for React JS – ES6 [2023]
• Git e contribuições para projetos Open Source
• Complete WordPress Website Developer Course
• The Complete Python Hacking Course: Beginner to Advanced
• WordPress for Beginners: Create Your Own WordPress Website
• AWS Services for Solutions Architect Associate [2023]
• Introdução a banco de dados com MySQL & PHPMyAdmin
• Introduction to networking for complete beginners
• Python And Django Framework For Beginners Complete Course
• Photoshop Beginners Mastery: Zero to Hero in Photoshop
• Wireshark: Packet Analysis and Ethical Hacking: Core Skills
• JavaScript Ultimate Guide
• Agile Crash Course: Agile Project Management; Agile Delivery
• Web Development By Doing: HTML / CSS From Scratch
• Git Started with GitHub
• Become a SuperLearner® 2: Learn Speed Reading & Boost Memory
• Curso React.js Ninja: Módulo React + Webpack
• Vue – The Complete Guide (incl. Router & Composition API)
• SEO Training: Complete SEO Course & SEO Copywriting MASTERY
• Photoshop for Web Design Beginners
• Adobe Premiere Pro CC: Beginner Video Editing
• Network Ethical Hacking for beginners (Kali – Hands-on)
• Data Science A-Z: Real-Life Data Science Exercises Included
• [SerTop] Algoritmos e Lógica – I
• C++ Programming Step By Step From Beginner To Ultimate Level
• Java Design Patterns and Architecture
• Facebook Ads & Facebook Marketing MASTERY 2023 | Coursenvy ®
• Python for beginners – Learn all the basics of python
• The Business Intelligence Analyst Course 2023
• Master Microservices with Spring Boot and Spring Cloud
• Learn Android 4.0 Programming in Java
• English Grammar tenses & structures
• Ultimate Google Ads Training 2021: Profit with Pay Per Click
• Learn MySQL – For Beginners
• The Complete Web Developer in 2023: Zero to Mastery
• Become a Product Manager | Learn the Skills & Get the Job
• NodeJS – The Complete Guide (MVC, REST APIs, GraphQL, Deno)
• Photography: Ditch Auto – Start Shooting in Manual
• Python And Flask Framework Complete Course
• R Basics – R Programming Language Introduction
• Learn to Program in Javascript: Beginner to Pro
• The Complete Presentation and Public Speaking/Speech Course
• CSS3 and Bootstrap for Absolute Beginners : 4 courses in 1
• AWS Certified Developer – Associate 2020
• Learn PHP – For Beginners
• How To Create A Website using WordPress (Step by Step)
• C# Basics for Beginners: Learn C# Fundamentals by Coding
• Microsoft Azure – Beginner’s Guide + AZ-900 – 2022
• Terminal Linux
• The Python Programming Comprehensive Bootcamp
• Python Mega Course : Go Beginner to Expert in Python3
• Microsoft Excel – Data Analysis with Excel Pivot Tables
• Complete C# Unity Game Developer 3D
• The Complete Foundation Stock Trading Course
• Microsoft Excel -Basic Excel/ Advanced Excel Formulas
• The Python Developer Essentials 2023 Immersive Bootcamp
• Artificial Intelligence in Web Design + Live Class
• CSS & JavaScript – Certification Course for Beginners
• HTML & CSS – Certification Course for Beginners
• Python And Flask Framework Complete Course For Beginners
• Learning Python for Data Analysis and Visualization Ver 1
• Artificial Intelligence A-Z: Learn How To Build An AI
• Java Programming for Complete Beginners
• Criando Páginas Web com o GitHub Pages
• 30 Days of Python | Unlock your Python Potential
• HTML5 para quem não sabe nada de HTML5
• Foundations of Front-End Web Development
• Master the Coding Interview: Data Structures + Algorithms
• The Complete HTML5 Course: From Beginning to Expert
• Python and Django Full Stack Web Developer Bootcamp
• Graphic Design Masterclass – Learn GREAT Design
• Complete Photography : 21 Courses in 1 [Beginner to Expert]
• Beginner to Pro in Excel: Financial Modeling and Valuation
• Aprenda Unity 5 (2016) – Como criar um jogo de plataforma 3D
• SQL – MySQL for Data Analytics and Business Intelligence
• Learn Bootstrap – For Beginners
• Understanding TypeScript
• Construa seu site em WordPress de forma simples e rápida
• Microsoft 365 Ultimate Guide
• Unreal Engine 4 Essentials – Uma Introdução Detalhada
• Job Interview Skills Training Course
• Content Marketing: Grow Your Business with Content Marketing
• Complete Python Developer in 2023: Zero to Mastery
• CompTIA Security+ (SY0-601) Complete Course & Exam
• Linux for Network Engineers: Practical Linux with GNS3
• Introduction to Finance, Accounting, Modeling and Valuation
• Python for Absolute Beginners

The post [2023] 250 Top Udemy Courses of All Time appeared first on The Report by Class Central.

Introduction

Goldman Sachs has released a series of 10 short courses in their 10,000 Women series. They are also available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Hindi. I have taken three courses so far and here are my reviews.

Fundamentals of Business Finance

This course really opened my eyes to see all my previous losses, what I did wrong and how to improve in my business. The confidence of accountability I have now in my business is a result of this course.

Fundamentals of Leadership

This course made me identify my mission and vision statement, also knowing my core values for my business.

This course really made me read and understand what I actually want in a business, how I want my environment to be, and how I intend to make my staff feel while working for me. This course is everything any business owner needs to go through.

With this course, you will have the need to get to actually know your staff: how to place them and rate their performance as they work for you; Giving them room to discuss and showcase their talents and their opinions really matters in a business. I always have this slogan I use when advising business owners: “The way you treat your staff will determine the rate at which they will help to grow your business. 75% of staff will always want positive results for their employer’s business while 25% will just want to work and earn a salary not minding how the business succeeds.” Treating your staff right can help save your business in the sense that nobody wants to lose the job they value and get treated right.

To conclude, every business owner needs to embark on self discovery to find their purpose and they should also work on their expectations.

Grow Your Business

This course will make you see the need for growth in your business and work towards it. You will source for funds to expand your business in all areas.

I came across this course and decided to go for it because the little business I run doesn’t get a good turnover so I needed to generate more ideas for growth. Having an opportunity in the business helps maximize your growth potential. With this course, you will be able to select a growth opportunity alongside preparing you to generate ideas for more growth opportunities.

What’s next

I plan to take more courses in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women series.

The post Review of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Courses appeared first on The Report by Class Central.

In this guide, I’ve selected the 10 best free and paid Japanese online courses for you from the 40+ Japanese courses on our catalog by following a well-defined methodology that you can find below.

But if you want to jump straight to the results, here are my top 10 picks. You can click on a course to jump to the corresponding section:

What is Japanese (Language)?

Japanese (日本語, Nihongo) is the native language primarily spoken by the people of Japan where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family.

Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji

The Japanese language uses three scripts: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Let’s take a quick look at each of them.

Hiragana is used to write functional words and particles. Hiragana is like the basic Japanese alphabet and consists of 46 characters.

Katakana is used to write foreign words and names. Katakana is almost exactly the same as Hiragana with 46 characters except that it is written slightly differently.

Kanji is used to write native Japanese words or words of Chinese origin. Kanji characters represent an idea or concept and act more like entire words than individual letters. There are over 2,000 Kanji characters!

Japanese Proficiency Test: JLPT

The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), offered by the Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services, is the largest-scale Japanese-language test in the world. It is held worldwide to evaluate and certify proficiency in Japanese of non-native speakers. Language proficiency is tested on the basis of reading and listening, as well as vocabulary and grammar.

The JLPT has five levels, N1, N2, N3, N4 and N5, the level of difficulty increasing from N5 to N1. Below is a summary of the linguistic competence required for each level as described by JLPT.

Why are Japanese Skills Important?

Among the many reasons to learn Japanese there are a few that stand out: Being able to communicate with over 125 million native speakers (Japanese is the 8th most spoken language in the world), enjoying one of the most popular cultures in the world with its unique cuisine, music and movie industry, and most importantly, animes in their original language. These are more than enough reasons to convince any language aficionado to get started learning Japanese. 

In addition to that, Japan is also known for its tech and automobile industry, bringing to the world a number of large Japanese companies (such as Nintendo, Toyota, Canon, Sony, etc.) that carry in their core a strong culture attached to Japan roots.

And lastly, if you want to open up to a number of opportunities as a Japanese translator or interpreter to your own language, there are hundreds of job openings on Indeed, Upwork and LinkedIn. You can also work as a language instructor or even diversify your reach as a tour guide and help Japanese travelers visiting your country.

What is My Experience with Japanese?

I’ve learned a bit of Japanese mainly from anime, J-pop and Japanese movies. As my interest grew, I started learning more about Japan in general, so I became familiar with how Japanese actually works in the real world. Hearing real people talk gave me more enthusiasm to learn the language and explore the country as well.

Besides that, I am a Guided Project Instructor and a Beta Tester at Coursera, having tested many courses before they’re officially launched. I have taken over 50 online courses in various subjects.

My experience as an online learner and teacher has given me some perspective on what to look for in an online course. I used my experience to evaluate each course in this list.

Course Ranking Methodology

I built this ranking following the now tried-and-tested methodology I used in previous rankings (you can find them all here). It involves a three-step process:

1. Research: I started by leveraging Class Central’s database with 100K online courses and 200K+ reviews. Then, I made a preliminary selection of 40+ Japanese courses by rating, reviews, and bookmarks.
2. Evaluate: I read through reviews on Class Central, Reddit, and course providers to understand what other learners thought about each course and combined it with my own experience as a learner.
3. Select: Well-made courses were picked if they presented valuable and engaging content and they have to fit in a set of criteria and be ranked accordingly: comprehensive curriculum, release date, affordability, ratings and enrollments.

The end result is a unique selection of courses that combines a decade of Class Central data and my own experience as an online learner to try to get the best of both worlds. So far, I’ve spent more than 10 hours building this list, and I’ll continue to update it.

Course Ranking Statistics

Here are some statistics regarding this course ranking:

• Combined, these courses have accrued over 197K enrollments.
• 5 courses are free or free-to-audit and 5 courses are paid.
• The most-represented course provider in the ranking is Udemy, with 5 courses.
• 8 courses are in English and 2 courses are in Japanese (subtitles available).
• The Japanese subject is followed by over 2.4K learners on Class Central, and accounts for over 40 courses in Class Central catalog.

So without further ado, let’s get to my picks for the best Japanese online courses.

1. Easy Japanese (NHK WORLD-JAPAN)

My first pick for the best Japanese online course is a collection of free courses Easy Japanese | NHK WORLD-JAPAN, offered by NHK WORLD-JAPAN.

Easy Japanese is a free, 48-part series offered in 18 languages that teaches Japanese communication skills through fun conversations that form a story. There are 7 characters in this story who will help you learn handy and easy-to-use phrases for self-introductions, shopping, etc, as well as tourist information and Japanese culture and manners.

What You’ll Learn

You’ll learn how to understand basic expressions in everyday conversations, conduct simple daily conversations on familiar topics such as asking for directions, presenting yourself, talking about friends and family, buying things, basic travel conversation, food related expressions and vocabulary, talking about your health, asking for permission, and much more.

How You’ll Learn

Each lesson includes a minute long conversation, 3-minute long video explanation, 10-minute long podcast, transcript for all audio-visual content, vocabulary, practice activities, interactive quiz, one kanji, culture and trip tips. You can track your progress as well.

One Thing to Note

This series is designed for JFS A1-A2 level learners. A1 learners can understand basic expressions in everyday life and engage in very simple daily conversations. A2 learners can conduct simple daily conversations on familiar subjects.

Fun Facts

• NHK has a total of 10 Japanese courses from Elementary to Intermediate, you can check their full catalog here.
• This course was originally recorded in English.
• When selecting a different language, you will access a dubbed version of the skits and explanation besides all the resources in the selected language.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the courses and how to enroll here.

2. Complete Japanese Course: Learn Japanese for Beginners (Udemy)

My second pick for the best Japanese online course is Complete Japanese Course: Learn Japanese for Beginners on Udemy.

If it’s your dream to travel to Japan and communicate with the locals, then this comprehensive course is for you! Packed with elaborate lessons and lots of practice opportunities, this course will help you master the basics of Japanese fast. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to pronounce words correctly, structure basic sentences and make daily conversations with ease.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn useful vocabulary words and phrases for everyday situations, Japanese pronunciation, how to put basic sentences together, read and write in Japanese, order foods and drinks, and pronounce words correctly without hearing them first.

You’ll also learn how to greet people and introduce yourself both formally and casually, get around in the public transport and in the airport, and the building blocks of Japanese grammar.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 12 sections. Each section involves about 2 to 10 hours of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of video lectures and practice video exercises.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

3. Japanese Language Lessons (JapanSocietyNYC)

My third pick for the best Japanese online course is the free course Japanese Language Lessons, offered by JapanSocietyNYC on YouTube.

This is the shortest course on this list. Within a matter of just a couple of hours, this free course will teach you the basic elements of Japanese conversations such as words, simple phrases, basic grammar, sentence connections, and much more with an interactive instructor.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn Japanese greetings, numbers, particles, verbs, adjectives, invitations, conjugations, simple phrases, sentence connections, different forms, and many more.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 24 videos. Each video involves about 5 to 10 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only.

Fun Facts

• According to the JapanSociety.org, “Japan Society was founded on May 19, 1907 by a group of prominent New York business people and philanthropists, many of whom shaped the policies of exchange and collaboration that guided the Society until the outbreak of World War II. After the war, activities slowly resumed, and the stewardship of John D. Rockefeller 3rd from 1952 to 1978 led to a unified vision, a firm financial foundation, and a revitalized mission that continues to inspire and sustain the organization today.”
• Founded in 1972, Japan Society’s Language Center is the premiere venue for learning Japanese in New York City.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

4. Online Japanese N5 Course(All 15 lessons) (Udemy)

My fourth pick for the best Japanese online course is Online Japanese N5 Course(All 15 lessons) on Udemy.

This comprehensive course will teach you JLPT N5 level vocabulary, expressions, grammar and entry-level business Japanese. There’s also a generous amount of practice quizzes throughout the course. By the end of this course you’ll be able to comprehend Hiragana and Katakana, as well as read common phrases and sentences written in N5 level Kanji.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn the basics of writing and pronunciation of Japanese vocabulary, expressions and grammar related to the JLPT N5 level, basic greetings used in daily life, Hiragana and Katakana, common phrases and sentences written in N5 level Kanji, and short simple conversations in daily life.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 16 sections. Each section involves about 1 to 1.5 hours of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos, readings and quizzes. Downloadable resources are also provided.

One Thing to Note

Even though the medium of instruction of this course is Japanese, in-built English subtitles and translations are provided.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

5. Japanese Course for Absolute Beginners (Letters, Alphabet) (Udemy)

My fifth pick for the best Japanese online course is Japanese Course for Absolute Beginners (Letters, Alphabet) on Udemy.

As its name suggests, this course is made for absolute beginners starting out with Japanese learning. This course is designed to teach you Hiragana and Katakana, as well as make basic conversations in Japanese. You’ll build a strong foundation in elementary Japanese, use common everyday Japanese phrases, and learn about Japanese culture.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn Japanese characters: Hiragana and Katakana system, Japanese writing system, elementary Japanese, pronunciation and intonation system in Japanese, most commonly used phrases for greetings in daily life, and Japanese culture and daily life.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 14 sections. Each section involves about 15 minutes to 1 hour of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos and downloadable resources.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

6. Learn Japanese for Beginners: The Ultimate 100-Lesson Course (Udemy)

My sixth pick for the best Japanese online course is Learn Japanese for Beginners: The Ultimate 100-Lesson Course on Udemy.

Consisting of 100 lessons, this course will give you step by step guidance on speaking, writing and understanding Japanese. Moreover, you’ll be able to sound like a native with pronunciation lessons, and also acquire Japanese listening comprehension skills. There’s also a dedicated amount of quizzes throughout the course after each lesson to test your understanding.

What You’ll Learn

1. Introduction to Japanese (5 lessons): Japanese grammar, writing and phrases.
2. How to Write in Japanese – Hiragana and Katakana (20 lessons): Hiragana and Katakana characters and how to write them.
3. Ultimate Japanese Pronunciation Guide (25 lessons): Perfect Japanese pronunciation, common mistakes and how to avoid them, and nuances of natives.
4. Basic Japanese (25 lessons): Common vocabulary and phrases, useful conversational phrases, and the basics of Japanese.
5. Japanese Listening Comprehension for Absolute Beginners (20 lessons)
6. Japanese Listening Comprehension for Beginners (20 lessons)

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 6 sections. Each section involves about 30 minutes to 3.5 hours of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos, quizzes and downloadable resources.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

7. N1文字語彙 vocabulary for JLPT (日本語の森)

My seventh pick for the best Japanese online course is the free course N1文字語彙 vocabulary for JLPT (日本語の森), offered by 日本語の森 on YouTube.

If you’re already quite skilled in Japanese and want to take it to the final JLPT N1 level, then this free course is for you. Even though this course is fairly short, it will teach you the vocabulary needed for JLPT N1. Within a matter of a couple of hours, you’d have improved your Japanese vocabulary for JLPT N1 with a fun instructor.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll improve your Japanese vocabulary for JLPT N1. You’ll learn Japanese words, letters and Kanji.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 10 videos. Each video involves about 15 to 20 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only.

One Thing to Note

The medium of instruction for this course is Japanese. So you need to be familiar with Japanese in order to take this course (which is expected since this course is for JLPT N1).

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

8. Japanese for beginners based on MISJ WELCOME PROGRAM (Udemy)

My eighth pick for the best Japanese online course is Japanese for beginners based on MISJ WELCOME PROGRAM on Udemy.

Another fairly comprehensive course on this list, this course is ideal for beginners with no prior experience in Japanese. Whether you’re planning to visit Japan or start your life there, this course will help you gain enough Japanese speaking, reading and writing abilities. You’ll get to learn from a very experienced Japanese instructor and practice with quizzes.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn basic Japanese pronunciation, writing and reading of basic Japanese characters: Hiragana and Katakana, basic grammar for creative speech and writing, sentence-based daily and practical conversation skills, and Japanese background culture.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 30 sections. Each section involves about 30 minutes to 1.5 hours of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos, quizzes and downloadable resources.

Fun Facts

• Iwasaki graduated from Tokyo Women’s Christian College Mathematics BA.
• She made three e-learning programs and one TV program, “Meet & Speak” broadcasted by NHK WORLD.
• She also supervised making a textbook for the TV program NHK EDUCATIONAL broadcasted from 2014 to 2016.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

9. Nihongo Master

My ninth pick for the best Japanese online course are the courses offered by Nihongo Master.

Nihongo Master is a great platform where you can find free podcasts, community, blogs and paid lessons (7 day free trial) for learning Japanese. This site will help you read, write and speak Japanese at a very low cost. Once you’ve subscribed, you can get access to hundreds of Japanese lessons, quizzes and tools to help you get started with Japanese.

What You’ll Learn

There are four difficulty levels that you’ll progress through:

1. Introductory – Read and write Hiragana and Katakana, proper Japanese pronunciation, simple greetings, how to ask questions
2. Beginner – Basics of Japanese grammar, write common Kanji, more Japanese vocabulary, read simple Japanese text
3. Intermediate – More Japanese grammar rules, use Japanese in regular conversation, more than 800 Japanese words and over 200 Kanji
4. Advanced – Improve Japanese fluency, advanced grammar rules, 5000 words and over 2000 Kanji, read, speak and write Japanese in most situations

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 100+ lessons. Each lesson involves 5 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through lessons, quizzes and tools.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the courses and how to enroll here.

10. JLPT N5 (Japanese Ammo with Misa)

My tenth pick for the best Japanese online course is the free course JLPT N5, offered by Japanese Ammo with Misa on YouTube.

This free course will help you get started and learn the necessary grammar and vocabulary for JLPT N5, N4 and N3.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn JLPT N5, N4 and N3 grammar, including adjectives, conjugations, tenses and verbs, as well as vocabulary, Kanji, reading and listening exercises, and much more.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 24 videos. Each video involves about 15 to 30 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only.

Fun Facts

• Misa is an enthusiastic multilingual ninja, eager translator, manga lover, and happy world traveler!
• You can check out her website for more free Japanese lessons.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

The post 10 Best Japanese Courses to Take in 2023 appeared first on The Report by Class Central.

WhatsApp. Cisco. GoDaddy. IBM. Heroku. What do they all have in common?

They all use Erlang in their technology stack!

Erlang is a programming language specifically designed for building scalable, fault-tolerant systems that can run smoothly in a distributed environment. Its unique approach to concurrency and message-passing makes it ideal for building real-time, high-traffic systems like WhatsApp’s messaging platform, Cisco’s networking equipment, GoDaddy’s hosting services, IBM’s cloud offerings, and Heroku’s platform as a service. In fact, 90% of all internet traffic goes through Erlang controlled nodes.

Want to find out and learn more about this (kind of) unknown yet powerful language? Continue reading to see my picks for the best Erlang courses. Click on one to skip to the course details:

What is Erlang?

Erlang is a general-purpose functional programming language and runtime environment developed by Ericsson, a Swedish telecommunications company, in the 1980s. The team needed a programming language that can handle telephone switching — a very difficult endeavor that requires high levels of concurrency and zero downtime (I’m sure you can imagine why).

After experimenting with dozens of different languages, they came to a stark conclusion: no such language exists! Instead of giving up or settling for compromises, they instead decided to create their own programming language.

Hopefully that brief history lesson gave you some context for why Erlang is known for two things: its practical concurrent programming and its robust virtual machine.

Erlang is a functional programming language for all the right reasons — scalability and concurrency. It has a lightweight threading model (which Rust also uses) and a powerful process-based runtime system. Companies like WhatsApp and Heroku are able to scale and handle millions of concurrent connections in real-time thanks to Erlang.

Also, the Erlang virtual machine (BEAM) is legendary for its fault-tolerance. The language has built-in support for handling failures, like automatically restarting processes and recovering from crashes. For mission-critical systems, you can be rest assured that your applications will continue running 24/7 even when things eventually go wrong.

In addition to its concurrency and fault tolerance features, Erlang is also a highly expressive language that allows you to write concise and elegant code. It has a simple syntax and a rich set of libraries, like the Open Telecom Platform, making it easy to learn and use.

Unfortunately, there are not enough developers in the world that know Erlang, even though Erlang developers are highly sought after. That’s why Erlang is the second highest paying programming language to learn (after Clojure) according to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2022. So why not become one of them? Whether you’re building a web application, a real-time messaging system, or a distributed database, Erlang is a worthy choice for building reliable, scalable systems.

Best Courses Guides Methodology

I built this ranking following the now tried-and-tested methodology used in previous Best Courses Guides (you can find them all here). It involves a three-step process:

1. Research: I started by leveraging Class Central’s database with 100K online courses and 200K+ reviews. Then, I made a preliminary selection of Erlang courses by rating, reviews, and bookmarks.
2. Evaluate: I read through reviews on Class Central, Reddit, and course providers to understand what other learners thought about each course and combined it with my own experience as a learner.
3. Select: Well-made courses were picked if they presented valuable and engaging content and they have to fit in a set of criteria and be ranked accordingly: comprehensive curriculum, affordability, release date, ratings and enrollments.

Course Ranking Statistics

Here are some aggregate stats about the ranking:

• Around 100 people are following Erlang Topic on Class Central
• Five of the courses in this ranking are free.
• All except for one course do not require any Erlang or functional programming experience whatsoever.
• Some programming experience with other languages is required to take the courses in this ranking.

Without further ado, let’s go through the top picks.

1. Erlang Tutorial (Erlang Tutorial)

My #1 pick for the best course to learn Erlang is the Erlang Tutorial playlist.

I chose this course as my top pick because it is both recent and comprehensive. Plus, the video tutorials teach Erlang through interactive programming and examples. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll have a well-grounded understanding of the Erlang programming language.

Some prior knowledge of programming is required to take this course.

What You’ll Learn

In this tutorial, you’ll start by learning the tools and vocabulary of the Erlang programming language. You’ll write a simple “Hello, World” module and compile it to get a feel for the Erlang syntax and structure. You’ll then delve into common programming concepts such as data types, control structures, and functions, but with a functional and concurrent twist specific to Erlang.

One of the key features of Erlang is its use of processes to execute code concurrently (fun fact, millions of processes can run at the same time!). You’ll learn how to spawn and manage them. Other functional programming concepts will be explored too, such as recursion, anonymous functions, and higher-order functions. Along with other concepts like atoms, comprehensions, and pattern matching, you’ll have the skills to write efficient and scalable code.

In addition to these foundational topics, you’ll study more advanced constructs in Erlang. You’ll learn how to use maps and processes together to build a simple key-value database that can perform basic data operations. You’ll also learn about error handling in Erlang, and how to design your code to continue running even when errors occur. And to give you some practical examples, you’ll implement a palindrome checker and Conway’s game of life in Erlang, giving you the opportunity to apply your knowledge to real-world problems.

How You’ll Learn

This course is 8–9 hours long. You’ll learn by watching the lecture videos and following along with the instructor as he codes interactively using the Erlang shell.

Fun Facts

• Mysteriously, I’m not able to find any information on the author of the playlist, apart from that his name is Michal and that he is Polish.
• He cites Programming Erlang on various occasions in this course.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

2. Erlang Master Classes (University of Kent)

My 2nd pick for the best Erlang course are the Erlang Master Classes from the University of Kent.

This free course comprises three master classes taught by esteemed Erlang programmers (one of them even helped invent Erlang). Each class focuses on different aspects of Erlang — functional programming, concurrent programming, and larger-scale programming with OTP — are used to solve complex real-world problems through case studies and examples. By the end of the course, you’ll know how Erlang is used practically.

The course assumes you have some basic familiarity with Erlang (watch the first video of the first masterclass to know more).

What You’ll Learn

The first master class focuses on language processing in general, with a focus on processing arithmetical expressions in Erlang. This will include how to interpret, compile, and run the expressions on a virtual machine, as well as simplifying and converting them to and from a textual form.

In the second master class, you’ll understand how Erlang does concurrent programming in Erlang through the ‘share nothing’ concurrency model. You’ll learn how to make sequential code concurrent and how to build systems using communicating processes. You’ll also cover Erlang’s famous approach to fault tolerance and how errors can happen while still keeping the program running.

Erlang has a wide ecosystem of tools and libraries — that’s what makes Erlang great. But, the most important tool for servers is arguably the The Open Telecom Platform (OTP). Hence in the final master class, you’ll explore OTP in depth, taking a look at its generic behaviors (such as a generic server) and how it can be used to build complex systems quickly and reliably, in addition to packaging and releasing systems.

How You’ll Learn

The master classes are presented by Joe Armstrong, Ericsson AB and KTH, Stockholm, and one of the inventors of Erlang; Francesco Cesarini, CTO and founder of Erlang Solutions Ltd; and Simon Thompson, functional programming teacher and researcher at the University of Kent. Each Master Class ends with a discussion between the three presenters on some of the issues raised by the Master Class.

Fun Facts

• This MOOC was created to celebrate the university’s 50th anniversary. It highlights the university’s successes and points to where it might go in the future.
• Joe Armstrong is one of the “gang of three” Erlang inventors, and a champion of the Erlang approach to programming large complex systems. He has worked for Ericsson, as well as in startups, and is also professor at KTH, Stockholm.
• Francesco Cesarini is the founder and Technical Director of Erlang Solutions Ltd, the company focused on building scalable, reliable systems based on Erlang / OTP.
• Simon Thompson is a professor of Logic and Computation at the University of Kent. He has been a teacher and researcher in functional programming for most of his career.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

3. Introduction to Erlang Programming (CodeRed)

My third pick for the best Erlang course is Introduction to Erlang Programming.

This paid course is an excellent introduction for programmers looking to master the Erlang language. By the end, you’ll be able to build a system that uses functional concurrent programming to achieve scalability and reliability while still being easy to understand, debug, and maintain.

You’ll need basic programming knowledge and a MacOS or Linux system to take this course.

What You’ll Learn

The course starts by introducing you to the Erlang Shell, where you can get hands-on experience with the language by evaluating expressions and compiling modules. Then, you’ll delve into the world of functional programming in Erlang, including concepts such as pattern-matching and recursion. You’ll see how these functional programming techniques can be combined with concurrent programming to take advantage of Erlang’s efficient concurrency model using message-passing processes.

Next, you’ll cover how to handle errors in your Erlang program, both sequentially and concurrently, to ensure that it can continue running smoothly even in the face of unexpected issues. You’ll also learn about OTP that provides a powerful library and tools for building distributed systems. Finally, the course explores modern Erlang development practices and introduces you to Rebar3, a popular build and package management tool for Erlang.

How You’ll Learn

This course is 4 hours long. You’ll learn by watching the lecture videos chapter-by-chapter, with each chapter ending with a summary.

Fun Facts

• Brujo Benavides Rodriguez is a long-time Erlang developer and trainer. He is a maintainer of multiple open-source projects and a member of the Education Working Group at the EEF. He has also worked as a trainer for 5 years at Inaka and Erlang Solutions, delivering Erlang lessons to individuals and teams around the world.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

4. Learn You Some Erlang for Great Good! (Frederic Trottier-Hebert)

Learn You Some Erlang for Great Good! is a free comprehensive text-based Erlang tutorial, based on another well-received tutorial of similar name, Learn You a Haskell for Great Good!.

It is for people who have basic knowledge of programming in imperative languages but are unfamiliar with functional programming. You’ll explore how Erlang is very pragmatic in its approach to functional programming, and how it results in robust, concurrent, distributed systems.

What You’ll Learn

You’ll start by exploring the basics of the language, like variables, data types, and conditional statements. And since the language follows the functional paradigm, you’ll learn how to solve problems the functional way, using concepts like recursion and higher order functions.

Next, you’ll delve into the concepts of concurrency in Erlang and learn how to use processes, message passing, and other techniques to build concurrent systems. You’ll also learn about OTP (Open Telecom Platform), a set of libraries and tools for building distributed and fault-tolerant systems in Erlang. And this fault-tolerance can only be resolved through smart error and exception handling.

Data structures and algorithms appear everywhere in software, and Erlang is no exception. You’ll use them to solve common problems. You’ll also learn about working with sockets and networking, along with event handlers and supervisors.

Finally, you’ll learn about testing and debugging in Erlang, including how to use tools such as EUnit to test your code and how to release and deploy Erlang applications.

How You’ll Learn

This tutorial consists of 36 chapters. You’ll learn by reading through the many chapters and implementing the code given in the course on your system.

Fun Facts

• Frederic Trottier-Hebert is a French-Canadian working as a site reliability engineer at honeycomb.io. He owns a blog.
• He has also written other books / tutorials like ‘Erlang in Anger’ and ‘Property Based Testing with PropEr, Erlang, and Elixir’.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

5. Erlang University (erlang.org)

Erlang University is the official Erlang course from the Ericsson OTP Team. This free text-based course covers Erlang from its history, to the basics parts of Erlang as well as to the advanced.

However, this course is quite bare, so be sure to supplement this course with other courses, the course’s own exercises, and Erlang’s discussion forums.

Programming experience is needed to take this course.

What You’ll Learn

This course is divided into 5 modules.

First, you’ll take a short look at the history of Erlang to understand and appreciate the motivations and design principles behind its creation. Then, you’ll start with the basics of sequential programming which follows the style of many other languages where code is run on a single thread. This will include learning basic programming concepts as well as Erlang’s functional programming capabilities.

Next, you’ll get to the exciting part of Erlang: concurrent programming. You’ll understand how to use processes, lightweight concurrent units of execution that can run alongside other processes. You’ll also learn how errors can propagate through processes and how to handle them when they occur. Lastly, the course ends by covering a few tricky topics and quirks in the Erlang language.

How You’ll Learn

According to the course description, this course will take 4 days to complete, but that can vary depending on your current skill. You’ll learn by reading through the course modules and completing the exercises to help you put into practice what you’ve learned.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

6. Modern Erlang for Beginners (Roberto Ostinelli)

Modern Erlang for Beginners is a paid Udemy course that provides a simple and concise introduction to Erlang.

To take this course, you should have some experience with another programming language.

What You’ll Learn

You’ll begin by installing and setting up Erlang on your PC, using the IntelliJ IDE. Then, you’ll learn Erlang basics, especially how to think in Erlang, like variables, control structures, data types, and data structure, as well as taking a careful look at functions, guards, and patterns in the context of functional programming.

Erlang is known for its ability to handle concurrent processing, and you’ll learn how it achieves this through processes, messages, and other techniques to build distributed systems. To further illustrate these concepts, you’ll examine a real-world example of a bank system. Finally, you’ll explore how to improve the bank example using the tools and libraries provided by the Open Telecom Platform (OTP) and learn best practices for Erlang development.

How You’ll Learn

This course is 3–4 hours long. You’ll learn by watching the lecture videos, taking notes of the code examples, and completing the course exercises.

Fun Facts

• Roberto Ostinelli is an experienced software developer with over a decade of professional experience using Erlang. He provides training to developers on how to build massively scalable systems using Erlang and Elixir, with a focus on TDD and agile methodologies.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

7. Erlang (Exercism)

Exercism is an excellent resource for improving your coding skills in Erlang. It is a free online coding platform that not only offers a variety of programming challenges and exercises for all skill levels, but it also provides a free mentoring service where you can request personalized feedback from experienced Erlang programmers for a particularly challenging exercise.

What You’ll Learn

The course consists of three difficulties: easy, medium, and hard.

Easy exercises consist of tasks like determining the geometric type of a triangle, finding the prime factors of a number, and implementing basic lists operations.

For medium difficulty exercises, you’ll calculate the date of meetups, add numbers to a  minesweeper board, and detect saddle points in a matrix.

Hard exercises include creating a zipper for a binary tree, returning a square matrix of a number in spiral order, and making a chain of dominoes.

How You’ll Learn

This course is self-paced, so you can take all the time you need to complete the 70+ hands-on programming exercises. Each exercise comes with automatic feedback of your code as well as personal mentoring to help you understand your code’s strengths and flaws.

Fun Facts

• Exercism provides exercises on 50+ programming languages like Python, Kotlin, F#, and even WebAssembly.
• Their mission is to help everyone get really good at programming, regardless of their background, share the love of programming, and help people upskill as part of their upward social mobility.
• Around 60 people have contributed towards the Erlang syllabus and exercises, with over 60 mentors available at the time of writing.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

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