Classcentral Course Series

Class Central’s Best Online Courses of All Time (2015 Edition)

Class Central is a search engine and review site for online courses. It aggregates courses from many providers to make it easy to find the best courses on almost any subject, wherever they exist. They have served millions of learners all around the world, and are the one of the most credible sources on e-learning.

Every year, Class Central publishes the ranking of the Best Online Courses of All Time, based on thousands of reviews written by Class Central learners.

 

Best Online Courses of 2015

1A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment
Indian School of Business via Coursera
What are the determinants of a happy and fulfilling life? This is surely one of life’s biggest questions, and a question that has interested many of our ancestors. This course, based on the award-winning class offered both at the Indian School of Business and at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, developed by Prof. Raj Raghunathan (aka “Dr. Happy-smarts”) draws content from a variety of fields, including psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral decision theory to offer a tested and practical recipe for leading a life of happiness and fulfillment.
★★★★★ (124 ratings)

2Introduction to Programming with MATLAB
Vanderbilt University via Coursera
This course teaches computer programming to those with little to no previous experience. It uses the programming system and language called MATLAB to do so because it is easy to learn, versatile and very useful for engineers and other professionals.
★★★★★ (82 ratings)

3The Great Poems Series: Unbinding Prometheus
via OpenLearning
The Unbinding Prometheus MOOC investigates both what Shelley’s words have meant over time, and what his words might mean for us today. NO previous background in literature is required–simply the patience and persistence to read poetry, discover beauty and find meaning in a community of learners.
★★★★★ (17 ratings)

4Marketing in a Digital World
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign via Coursera
Review the foundations of marketing and discuss how they are being shifted by new digital tools.
★★★★★ (107 ratings)

5Fractals and Scaling
Santa Fe Institute via Complexity Explorer
This course is intended for anyone who is interested in an overview of how ideas from fractals and scaling are used to study complex systems. The course will make use of basic algebra, but potentially difficult topics will be reviewed, and help is available in the course discussion form.
★★★★★ (13 ratings)

6What is a Mind?
University of Cape Town via FutureLearn
Explore the most pertinent scientific and philosophical concepts for understanding our own minds. This free online course will bring together learners and practitioners interested in how the mind works. It aims to build bridges between traditionally antagonistic approaches to understanding the mind.
★★★★★ (17 ratings)

7Algorithms for DNA Sequencing
Johns Hopkins University via Coursera
Learn computational methods — algorithms and data structures — for analyzing DNA sequencing data.
★★★★★ (13 ratings)

8. Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance
Monash University via FutureLearn
Learn mindfulness techniques to reduce stress and improve your wellbeing. This practical six-week course explores the science, practice and philosophy of mindfulness. You will learn how to incorporate mindfulness practices into your life to reduce stress, improve mental health, and enhance your personal and professional life.
★★★★★ (14 ratings)

9Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)
University of Michigan via Coursera
This course aims to teach everyone the basics of programming computers using Python. It cover the basics of how one constructs a program from a series of simple instructions in Python. The course has no pre-requisites and avoids all but the simplest mathematics. Anyone with moderate computer experience should be able to master the materials in this course.
★★★★★ (10 ratings)

10CS100.1x: Introduction to Big Data with Apache Spark
University of California, Berkeley via edX
Learn how to apply data science techniques using parallel programming in Apache Spark. This course will attempt to articulate the expected output of Data Scientists and then teach students how to use PySpark (part of Apache Spark) to deliver against these expectations. The course assignments include Log Mining, Textual Entity Recognition, Collaborative Filtering exercises that teach students how to manipulate data sets using parallel processing with PySpark.
★★★★★ (31 ratings)