I am a huge fan of Massive Open Online Courses, also known as MOOCs. I have participated in quite a few MOOCs. Some good, some bad, and some downright ugly. It is a great way of being exposed to new ideas as well as learning new skills. The huge explosion of online courses and demand for them will only increase as more and more of our lives are relegated to the online world.

The concept that anyone in the world can have access to a world-class education via the internet is perhaps revolutionary. If it weren't for the help of MOOCs, I would not be where I am today. I wanted to transform myself into this "data skilled" and "data knowledgeable" person. Online courses helped me to do that. I have outlined a few of my favorite courses that helped me along the way.

Coursera:

Python for Everybody Specialization

Dr. Chuck really is an excellent professor. His passion for programming and teaching comes through. It was truly challenging but enjoyable at the same time.

Excel to MySQL: Analytic Techniques for Business Specialization

These series of courses focus on using data to answer business challenges. If you complete all the courses in the series, you will be well on your way of becoming a business analyst.

Last but not least:

Data Science Specialization

This is a ten (10) course series including the capstone project. I personally, have completed 4 of them. These courses are not for the faint of heart. They are tough and sometimes maddening; however, the Johns Hopkins courses are thorough. If you get through them, you are a beast! My suggestion is to take a general programming and statistics course before tackling these courses as they will make your life a whole lot easier.

EdX:

Data Analysis: Take it to the MAX()

Excellent course if you want to become really good at Microsoft Excel and all you can do in a spreadsheet right now is add two numbers together. You will be completing nested formulas and using pivot tables in no time. The instructor is using Excel for Windows in this course but if you are using Excel for Mac, you will need to be aware of the differences between the two programs.

Foundations of Data Analysis - Part 1: Statistics Using R

Foundations of Data Analysis - Part 2: Inferential Statistics

A 2-part statistics course that gives you a good statistical foundation. A very well thought out beginners course in statistical analysis using R. If you have no prior programming or statistics knowledge, these courses are for you. There are many more courses I would like to take and very little time but I'll get to them eventually.

Online education is the way of the future.

What's a MOOC?