Did you know there are several ways you can learn to code for free, and many of these are online?
Our oldest son has been dabbling in coding for the past couple of years, and we’ve searched out resources far and wide for him to continue to learn in this area. Coding is such a valuable skill to learn!
In a recent conversation, someone else mentioned to me that they’d learn to code online and even landed a job as a software engineer — because they were persistent in searching out resources so they could learn to code online from home. Wow! I was amazed!
We live in a day and age where there are so many opportunities for learning outside of the traditional classroom, and it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune.
This school year, our son joined a local homeschool IT group that meets one night a week. Software engineers from our city sit down with these teens and teach them how to code, and at the end of the school year they’ll all participate in a programming competition at one of our state universities. This opportunity may not have been available to us if our son hadn’t learned some coding basics online beforehand.
Truly, you can learn to code online and it doesn’t need to cost you a penny! Here’s a running list of web sites and resources you can click and investigate further. See if any of them are what you’re looking for!
Learn To Code For Free Online
This is the one my son has used the most, and it’s perfect if you’re just starting to learn to code. Besides learning online, he’s also been able to find local free classes in Scratch, once at a local summer camp and also downtown at a coding co-op for kids. I love that it’s run by MIT. There’s also a Scratch Jr. version available.
WhiteHatJr offers live online coding classes. Most classes aren’t free, but you can sign up for the free trial offer and then cancel before it expires. With over 2,500,000 registered students, they’re seeing explosive growth among students who want to learn to code online.
Here’s another great way to learn to code for free. Start with their HTML & CSS classes, then move on to their JavaScript classes. From there, you can choose to learn Python, SQL, and more.
This powerful program is another place you can learn to code for free. It’s a game engine. A bit challenging but some really cool games have been created with Unity! Tons of tutorials and videos can be found on their web site.
We haven’t used this one, but they say they’re the world’s largest web development site. Worth checking into more.
A place to learn to code and help nonprofits, too.
There are some really helpful videos on YouTube, like this one for learning how to get started with Scratch. There are also some amazing learn to code videos from Harvard professor David Malan. You’ll also want to check out coding videos by Derek Banas.
If you prefer to read about coding, there are also tons of free programming books online. If you don’t mind buying a book, here are some great ones on Amazon.
Don’t Forget To Check On Local Workshops…
Many bigger cities offer free classes and workshops on occasion, such as LaunchCode (St. Louis and a few others) and PyCon (Cleveland). Your local library may also have information for you. Don’t forget to investigate the hidden gems your city has to offer!
Have you discovered additional ways to learn to code for free? Share them in the comments!
They also have coding courses free (at least at the moment) on MOOC apps like Coursera, Udamy, Udacity, and EdX. A really popular one is “Learning Python for Everyone.” I really like the professor. He’s a stand up dude.
Thanks for the tip!