If you like a bargain you've probably been waiting for the Black Friday to Cyber Monday period to make all sorts of hardware purchases. We've discovered there are also substantial savings to be made on training courses from edX.

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edX has announced a Cyber Monday 20% discount starting on Black Friday and lasting throughout the weekend and until the end of Monday December 2nd. This applies to 2500 courses from 140 institutions and is available to existing alumni as well as newcomers.

As I can never resist a good offer, this started me wondering which of the many edX courses I've not had time to start over the past few years would be my top picks.  

The Algorithms & Data Structures Micro Mastersfrom University of California San Diego heads the list alphabetically. As reported previously this consists of eight graduate-level courses, the final one of which is a Capstone, described as a "big data challenge" that covers the entire MicroMasters program. It is self-paced and can be competed in 9 months at 8-10 hours per week.  

The MITx Statistics and Data Science MicroMasters which as reported when it was launched last year takes as its remit to go:

From probability and statistics to data analysis and machine learning, master the skills needed to solve complex challenges with data.

Taking one year and four months and with assignments and exams due on specific dates, it consists of four 13-16 week courses requiring 10-14 hours effort per week plus a final 2-week Capstone exam that pull together everything learned.

There's is now another option -  Data Science MicroMasters from UC San Diego. It requires 10 months study at 9-11 hours per week and has four courses:

Machine Learning Fundamentals - Understand machine learning's role in data-driven modeling, prediction, and decision-making.

Python for Data Science - Learn to use powerful, open-source, Python tools, including Pandas, Git and Matplotlib, to manipulate, analyze, and visualize complex datasets.

Probability and Statistics in Data Science using Python - Learn statistical and probabilistic approaches to understand and gain insights from data.

Big Data Analytics Using Spark - Learn how to analyze large datasets using Jupyter notebooks, MapReduce and Spark as a platform.

You may be noticing that I'm selecting MicroMasters - and the reason is to maximize my potential savings. Enrolling on a whole MicroMasters at the outset represents a saving of 10% compared to purchasing each course. It also has to be remembered that while you can audit individual courses for free, if you want to do the graded exercises and have the courses count to an overall credential then you need to upgrade to the paid-for option. According to the rubric having purchased the program, you’ll have 24 months to select a session for each course. 

If you are not yet ready for graduate-level study, an edX Professional Certificate might be what you are looking for to get into a developer role or improve your job prospects.

Introduction to Java Programming is at beginner-level and requires a total of 4 months effort at 6-8 hours per week. From UC3Mx - the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid - it consists of three self-paced courses that can be audited for free if you don't want certification. 

Starting to Code in Java -  Learn to program with Java in an easy and interactive way! Goes from basic programming concepts, such as values and expressions to developing simple programs in Java meeting the OOP paradigm along the way.

Writing Good Code - Detect and correct common errors. unit testing, program efficiency and ethical considerations

Fundamental Data Structures and Algorithms -  Learn about arrays, lists, stacks, queues and trees, and meet algorithms for inserting, deleting, searching and sorting information on these data structures in an efficient way.

The rubric states:

Emphasis is put on immediate feedback and on having a fun experience. Programming knowledge is not only useful to be able to program today’s devices such as computers and smartphones. It also opens the door to computational thinking, i.e. the application of computing techniques to every-day processes.

It also states that this course is designed to prepare learners for the Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science A exam. 

If you want to take advantage of the 20% discount, enroll in the course or program of your choice between November 29th and December 2nd and use the code CYBER20. 

More Information

Algorithms & Data Structures Micro Masters

MITx Statistics and Data Science MicroMasters

Data Science MicroMasters

Introduction to Java Programming

Related Articles

Algorithms & Data Structures MicroMasters

Statistics & Data Science MicroMasters on edX

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