Develop Your Professional Skills: Online Courses, Certificates and Self-Paced Learning

This guide provides a list of Emory-based, local, and online resources for building technical and professional skills.

Purpose of Guide: Alternatives to LinkedIn Learning

Emory's subscription to LinkedIn Learning will end on March 1, 2026.

This guide lists high quality alternatives to LinkedIn Learning for professional development and training. Emory and most public libraries license a variety of resources to build your skills in data visualization, generative AI, R, Tableau, ArcGIS, team building, leadership, and more. In addition, there are many other free and low-cost online resources that you may want to explore.

Available through Emory Libraries

O’Reilly Database

O’Reilly includes includes videos, courses, audiobooks, and ebooks focused on generative AI, project management, content creation, data visualization, and more.

Watch video case studies in O’Reilly help you “learn how to avoid mistakes from the pros who made them first” covering Pinterest, Spotify, Slack and more
Take short courses (1-6 hours) on project management, building financial models, and python fundamentals
Prepare for your interview with career courses such as Your First 90 Days – Five Strategies for Career Success
Read ebooks on generative AI and data visualization such as Generative Artificial Intelligence: Exploring the Power and Potential of Generative AI and Everyday Data Visualization

To access O’Reilly’s content, select "Emory University" from the drop down list on the O’Reilly database homepage page, and then enter your emory.edu email when prompted. For further information about the O'Reilly Database, see the Goizueta Business Library's blog article, Develop Your Technology, Business, & Soft Skills: O'Reilly Database.

Emory Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS)

ECDS offers a variety of live, asynchronous, and self-paced courses on topics including coding and text analysis, AI, and R. Enroll in as many courses as you like; you can skip or repeat any lesson depending on your own interest and availability.

Start here to explore the courses.

Public Library Resources

Public Libraries Near You

Your local public library may offer free remote access to resources like LinkedIn Learning or other online course platforms. You’ll just need a library card and meet residency requirements.

To locate a library that offers LinkedIn Learning, try an internet search for:

“linkedin learning” public library (ga OR georgia) – for public libraries throughout the state
“linkedin learning” dekalb public library (ga OR georgia) – for county-specific public libraries

What if your public library does not license LinkedIn learning,but it does offer a credible alternative? Use this search strategy to locate a list of all the databases your public library licenses:

dekalb public library databases (ga OR georgia) – for specific county public library list

You can also use Libweb to locate a library near you.

Fulton County Public Library System (FCLS)

All current Emory students, faculty and staff are eligible for a free FCLS library card. FCLS licenses a variety of resources for self paced learning such as:

Peterson’s Test Prep – includes full length practice tests for GRE, LSAT, MCAT and others
Universal Class – an alternative to LinkedIn Learning, this includes over 500 self-paced learning. Search for python, entrepreneurship, and more. You may search class content without registering
Mango Languages – learn dozens of languages with games, quizzes and lessons

Learn more about Fulton County’s library databases, such as business newspapers, journals and target company list databases.

Other Emory Resources

Emory's Career and Professional Development Pathways Center supports all Emory students and alumni with career coaching, job and internship resources, career fairs and campus recruiting events, interview practice, resume help, and more. See the CPD web page for more information about their services.

The Center for Faculty Development and Excellence (CFDE) supports Emory's faculty, graduate students, and staff in the areas of teaching, research, and professional development with funding opportunities, programs, and resources.

Some examples of CFDE workshops and events are:

Designing the Accessible Classroom
What Happened to Reading?
Leading Change
Feast of Words: Annual Celebration of Emory Faculty Books Published in the Previous Year

The CFDE's upcoming free webinars, workshops, opportunities, and resources are posted at https://cfde.emory.edu/

Emory Continuing Education (ECE) offers a wide range of courses for personal enrichment and professional development. Some examples are:

AI Essentials: A Practical Guide for Professionals
Paralegal Certificate
Introduction to Project Management
Knitting Basics

ECE courses are open to the public and do require tuition fees. Emory students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other affiliates may be eligible to receive a discount. Additional discounts on programs and certificates are offered to all registrants periodically. Explore ECE's upcoming courses here.

More Online Resources

1.Open Educational Resources (OER)
OER are free, publicly available learning resources that can be adapted and shared.

MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
- Content: Publications of virtually all MIT course content, freely available to the world. Includes lecture notes, exams, and videos for thousands of courses.
Open Culture
- Content: A curated collection of free online courses, movies, and language lessons from universities around the world.

2.Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) Platforms
Many top universities and companies offer courses on these platforms for free (often with an option to pay for a certificate).

edX
- Content: Offers university-level courses from institutions like Harvard, MIT, University of California Berkeley, and leading companies. Subjects include computer science, data science, business, engineering, humanities, and more.
- Cost Model: Many courses can be audited for free, which includes access to all course materials (videos, readings, quizzes). Certificates require a fee, but the core learning is free.
Coursera
- Content: Courses, Specializations, and Professional Certificates from universities and companies like Google, IBM, Meta, and many others. Covers tech, business, data, arts, and personal development.
- Cost Model: Many individual courses offer a "Full Course, No Certificate" or "Audit" option for free, granting access to course lectures and materials.
FutureLearn
- Content: Courses from top global universities and organizations, covering a diverse range of subjects.
- Cost Model: Many courses are free to join and offer limited-time access to the course content.

3.Tech and Job-Specific Skills
These platforms often focus on the most in-demand technical and job skills.

Khan Academy
- Content: A non-profit offering high-quality, free courses that is particularly strong in math, science, and computing. It also has content for test prep and personal finance.
- Cost Model: 100% free
W3Schools
- Content: W3Schools offers tutorials, quizzes, and other resources for popular coding languages.
- Cost Model: The core W3Schools learning resources, including its tutorials, reference materials, and basic interactive editor, are free. W3Schools also offers paid plans for additional features like an ad-free experience, more advanced tools, and certifications.
freeCodecamp
- Content: Offers a vast curriculum for learning to code, including full-stack development, data analysis, and quality assurance.
- Cost Model: Entirely free and you can earn certifications upon completion of the required projects.
Google's Grow with Google/Google Digital Garage
- Content: Offers various free courses and professional certificates in high-growth fields like Data Analytics, Project Management, UX Design, IT Support, and Digital Marketing.
- Cost Model: Many courses are completely free, and some certifications are either free or have pathways for free access.
HubSpot Academy
- Content: Offers free certifications and courses focused on inbound marketing, sales, content creation, social media, and customer service.
- Cost Model: Completely free certifications.

Related Resources

Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Emory

Credits

This guide's content has been adapted from the following sources:

Emory University Goizueta Business Library scholarblogs article, "Develop Your Technical and Professional Skills: Online Courses, Certificates and Self-Paced Learning," posted on October 23, 2025, https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/gbsl/online-courses-and-certificates-expand-your-technical-and-professional-skills/