5 free STEAM courses to study online

Caught up in the COVID-19 lockdown and need a few online courses to help sharpen your knowledge?

That’s where these courses come in handy as they offer accessible, free and ready to use content to keep your brain buzzing during social isolation.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics whereas STEAM refers to a curriculum where the arts are integrated.

While both STEM and STEAM focus on the same scientific concepts, STEAM does it through inquiry and problem-based learning methods used in the creative process

It’s a more active and engaging way of learning.

Want to discover your own “aha” moment? Check out these free online STEAM courses below:

Science: Ask the bigger questions

Science is more important than ever during the current COVID-19 climate. Source: Thibault Savary / AFP

edX takes your science lessons the extra mile with its online beginner, intermediate and advanced courses.

To stop yourself from clock-watching, find out how to feed the future world population without depleting our planet’s resources with their Sustainable Food Security: Crop Production course.

It will make you ask the bigger questions such as: How much food will be available for humankind in the future? 

And as we are facing a global pandemic, this free course could be a real eye-opener!

Tech: Top up your knowledge on IoT

Instructables is a website that you didn’t know you needed but is worth checking out. Source: Frederic J Brown/ AFP

Have you ever heard of a website called Instructables? 

Since 2006, the site has grown from a handful of projects and classes to over one hundred thousand.

With so many online classes to keep you entertained, you could create your first Internet-connected electronics project with this Internet of Things (IoT) class from the comfort of your room.

Instructables is all about learning new things, so if you have the time – why not try this practical tech class and learn IoT too?

Engineering: Think about sustainability

Countries around the world are engineering healthcare solutions to help with the current crisis. Source: STR / AFP

Coursera’s full course catalogue is now free to use by students at every university that has had to close down.

That means you can enrol in sustainable engineering courses like Solar Energy Basics and identify the critical components needed in a basic photovoltaic (solar panel) system.

And if you’re a first-time engineer, then Coursera has an array of courses to spark your interest in other engineering areas.

Art: Start creating characters

What keeps you creative during social isolation? Source: Oli Scarff / AFP

Are you trying to keep your creative spirit alive while stuck in your room?

If so, head on over to OpenLearn where they have a free course on writing fiction. 

By embarking on this course, you’ll have the freedom to create characters for your own stories and develop a daily habit of self-reflection to keep the downsides of social isolation at bay!

Mathematics: Dive into data science

Maintain your mathematical knowledge while on lockdown. Source: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP

If you like to keep busy by crunching numbers, then Coursera also has a wide selection of free maths-based courses that will appeal to you.

Those that like to mix mathematics with data science will enjoy this course as it covers crucial fields like discrete mathematics, calculus, linear algebra and probability.

The course also adds a practical element in by pairing mathematics with real-world problems arising in data science and shows you how to solve them in Python.

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