Posted by Got an hour to spare? (or two?) Then you have the time to brush up on or pick up a new skill. The pace of the workplace isn’t just fast, it has shifted. Today’s rat race is not without its stressors. With more people entering the workforce, more opportunities to be seized, more chances to stand out amongst the rest, we could all use an edge.
In this case, that edge is mastering something new, fine tuning a skill you already have or to gain insight into the bigger picture. We’ve selected 20 online classes that run for under 2 hours (the majority of them are free) just for you.
Who said anything about going back to the classroom? You can do your learning on the couch. It’s the age of digital learning after all.
1. Photographers 01: Filmmaking Essentials
Instructed by Eduardo Angel
Class/course duration: 37 minutes, 53 seconds
Eduardo Angel, an Emmy-award-winning filmmaker, teaches you how to progress from taking still photographs to videos on your DSLR. Tune in for essential video production techniques which include understanding the 5C’s of cinematography, setting up the frame, lighting, incorporating sound and camera movement and things to consider for post-production.
2. 7 Scientifically Proven Steps to Increase Your Influence
Instructed by Vanessa Van Edwards
Class/course duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Do you ever sit and think about how you interact with the people around you? Vanessa Van Edwards shows you seven steps to help increase your influence in the working world or social scene. If you’ve been a wallflower all this while, consider coming out of your shell enough to take this class.
3. Mobile Cyber Security Awareness
Instructed by Eric Schwartzman
Class/course duration: 38 minutes
How much do you know about your security online? In 38 minutes, you will learn about identity theft, how fraud happens via your personal devices (smartphones, laptops, and tablets) and how to stop data breaches from happening.
4. Social Media 101
Instructed by Buffer
Class/course duration: 2 minutes a day, 7 days total
Do you have a plan for your social media presence? Through a series of emails, Buffer will teach you how to choose the social network that’s right for you, how to establish a voice and tone, determining the ideal frequency for your posts and how to analyze everything.
5. Moz Advanced SEO: Tactics & Strategy
Instructed by moz.com
Class/course duration: 1 hour
What role does SEO play in your organization’s marketing strategy? In this class, you will learn how to develop your own SEO strategy and about the tools you use for analysis and implementation.
6. AdWords 101: The Beginner’s Guide to AdWords
Instructed by Jeffrey Lane
Class/course duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Curious as to how Google AdWords can work for you? This beginner’s course is just what you need! You will learn how to setup your AdWords account, how to optimize your settings, setting up your first campaign and measuring its performance.
7. Process Improvement Fundamentals
Instructed by Chris Croft
Class/course duration: 1 hour 36 minutes
Improving your processes in the workplace can make a world of difference. Chris Croft explains the best practices from frameworks like Six Sigma and Lean in a way that will help you not only analyze the core of what your business does but measure it and implement ways to do it better.
8. Agile at Work: Building Your Agile Team
Instructed by Doug Rose
Class/course duration: 1 hour 4 minutes
If you work with fast moving projects, you probably would have heard about the ‘Agile’ approach. It is said to be the preferred project management approach, especially for those that rely on speed. Before you can start work on your Agile project, you need to set up an Agile team. Expert Doug Rose teaches you how to do just that.
9. Building Customer Loyalty
Instructed by Jill Griffin
Class/course duration: 43 minutes, 10 seconds
How much would it take to keep your customers in today’s wired world? Insight from an expert in customer loyalty and best-selling author is a good place to start. In under an hour, Griffin will outline a three-step process to understanding your customers and keeping them loyal.
10. Design the Web: Styling Form Elements
Instructed by Chris Converse
Class/course duration: 39 minutes, 34 seconds
All it takes is a little over half and hour of paying attention during Chris Converse’s class and you should be able to use CSS to add your own style (and custom graphics) to HTML forms. There are free exercise files for you to practice one as you learn.
11. Python Generators
Instructed by Josh McQuiston
Class/course duration: 44 minutes, 23 seconds
Improve your coding abilities with Josh McQuiston’s class on Python Generators. Here, you will learn how to build a generator function, how to use generator expressions and see how they work behind the scenes. There’s even a Fibonacci sequence generator challenge thrown in!
12. UX Design Techniques: Ideation
Instructed by Chris Nodder
Class/course duration: 22 minutes, 33 seconds
Watch your creativity flow after you sit in for this class on Ideation in UX design. Nodder explains that the more ideas you and your team generate, the higher the chances are that there will be a solution for your users’ pain points. This is the part of the process where you look at all possibilities and narrow down the practical options.
13. UX Design Tools: Photoshop
Instructed by Justin Putney
Class/course duration: 53 minutes, 24 seconds
Another class to improve your user experience design by Justin Putney. In this session, he explores the power of Adobe Photoshop to help you get through the early stages of your UX creative processes. In this class, you will learn how to build layer comps, using Smart Objects to group elements, how to use layering effects and how to export artwork amongst other things.
14. UX Design Tools: Illustrator
Instructed by Justin Putney
Class/course duration: 1 hour, 11 minutes
An animator, author, designer, developer, entrepreneur, speaker and Adobe Community Professional, Justin Putney takes you through using and the reusability of symbols, organizing your artwork into layers, design wireframes for multiple screens and how to export those wireframes to share with others (developers and/or clients).
15. Social Selling Foundations
Instructed by Hannah Goldberg
Class/course duration: 54 minutes 38 seconds
In less than an hour, you will learn about creating a professional brand, customizing a profile that is customer-centric, understanding what your buyer values and knowing when your prospect is ready to make a purchase. Hannah Goldberg will also be sharing useful templates and teaching you how to measure your social selling success.
16. Sales Fundamentals
Instructed by Jeff Bloomfield
Class/course duration: 1 hour 1 minute
To ace the sales game, you’ve first got to have a genuine desire to help others solve problems. Founder of Braintrust, and Genentech senior leader, Jeff Bloomfield takes you through the core sales strategies to help you understand your customers’ needs, connect with them and position your service or product as the solution.
17. Email Marketing Basics
Instructed by John Arnold
Class/course duration: 56 minutes, 58 seconds
If you have been wanting a refresher course in email marketing basics, this is the class for you. John Arnold takes you through everything you need to know, from building an email list, collecting email addresses, deciding on a format, creating effective email subject lines and first lines, as well as evaluating email click-through data.
18. Master Microsoft Excel
Instructed by Jason Zhang
Class/course duration: 43 minutes
Do you think you know everything there is to know about using Microsoft Excel? Probably not. This course gives you the inside scoop on how to make Excel easier to use in your office. Expect formula hacks, the basics of conditional formatting, how to use format painter, tips and more. Fair warning, this course is fast paced.
19. Learning Art Direction
Instructed by Bonnie Siegler
Class/course duration: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Do you have the foresight to handle the vision of an entire design project? Do you know about the business aspect of design? From concept, look, feel, imagery, the message, and editorial direction, art directors have their work cut out for them. Learn more about an art director’s role in a project from designer/art director, Bonnie Siegler.
20. Lean In Presents: Centered Leadership
Instructed by Joanna Barsh
Class/course duration: 1 hour
Centered Leadership consists of five parts: Meaning, Framing, Connecting, Engaging, and Energizing. From the LeanIn Foundation (founded by Sheryl Sandberg), Joanna Barsh is the Director Emeritus at McKinsey & Company and the instructor of this e-class. By the end of it, you will have identified your strengths, your areas of improvement and you will learn applicable leadership strategies.
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