Are you in Germany and want to improve your skill and personal life? Or do you wish to study in Germany? Do you want to grow your career beyond the entry level? There are several free online courses available for you in Germany today.
The great thing is that these free online courses issues your certificate at the end of your training.
These online courses, also known as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), help many international students that are denied the opportunity to get a degree in Germany. So, Germany provides free online courses for undergraduate and graduates international students.
Hence, in this article, you will find out all you need to know about Germany’s free online courses and a review of the best 20 free online courses available in Germany this 2023.
Table of contents
- What Are Free Online Degree Courses?
- What Factors Should I Consider When Choosing To Study A Course Online?
- How To Take An Online Course In Germany
- Free Online Degree Courses in Germany with Certificates
- #1 Intercultural Management (Coursera)
- #2 Research kitchen (Coursera)
- #3 Strategic Organization Design (Coursera)
- #4 Computers, Waves, Simulations: A Practical Introduction to Numerical Methods using Python (Coursera)
- #5 Customer-Centric Innovation (edX)
- #6 The Economics of Agro-Food Value Chains (Coursera)
- #7 Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy (Coursera)
- #8 Competitive Strategy (Coursera)
- #9 Advanced Competitive Strategy (Coursera)
- #10 Strategic Management: From Intuition to Insight (edX)
- #11 Organising an Empire: The Assyrian Way (Coursera)
- #12 Learn Basic German
- #13 Conversational German
- #14 Thinking & Acting like an Entrepreneur
- #15 Communication Acoustics
- #16 Flood Risk Management
- #17 Understanding Venture Capitalists: How to Get Money for Your Start-Up
- #18 Der Start-up CFO
- #19 Introduction to marketing
- #20 Innovation Strategies for Electric Mobility: The StreetScooter Case
- FAQs
- Conclusion
- References
- We Also Recommend
What Are Free Online Degree Courses?
Free online courses are online courses that you pay little (for a certificate) or no cost. There are several types of free online degree courses, such as MOOCs, free marketplace online courses, etc.
As discussed earlier, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses for anyone to enroll. Basically, MOOCs provide an affordable and flexible way to learn new skills, advance your career, and deliver quality educational experiences at scale.
So, with the help of these free online courses, you can earn a degree in Germany from the comfort of your home, anywhere in the world.
Like every other distance learning platform, these free online courses learning materials come in various formats. These include educational videos, audio files, images, worksheets, or other documents.
Most online courses in Germany also have discussion forums, community groups, or messaging options, enabling some way for students to communicate with each other and or the teacher.
What Factors Should I Consider When Choosing To Study A Course Online?
As you explore various free online courses, it’s essential to know what you’re looking for and what to look out for.
So, here are some parameters to help you determine the best online school for you.
Accreditation
Accreditation is the primary and most crucial aspect of any online course. This will guarantee that it meets academic qualifications and that other institutions will accept the credits you gain from that degree course.
Taking a free online course without proper accreditation will cause you headaches and ultimately make your future employers question your capabilities.
You also need to check that the accrediting agency is legit.
Degree Programs
Just like on-campus degree programs, you need to study the academic programs on your online certification course and ensure they align with your higher education purposes.
Do they really offer professional certification? If so, do other institutions of higher education acknowledge them? This is important, especially if you plan on continuing on to a four-year university.
Understand the Requirements and Schedule
It is also wise to understand the academic qualifications and the class schedule before you commit to an online degree program.
Generally, these factors can vary from one degree program to another while studying online.
Read this: 20 Free Online Courses in the UK with Certificates
How To Take An Online Course In Germany
Suppose you are considering taking college or university courses online in Germany. In that case, these tips outlined below will help you meet your unique challenges to get the most value from your online program.
#1 Set your learning goals
First, set goals at the beginning of the semester and register weekly. In a traditional classroom, you will often receive verbal or visual reminders of a task’s next due date.
So, ensuring you’ve allotted enough time to complete the task is up to you. You can make the most of these free online degree courses by being organized, proactive, and self-aware.
#2 Manage your time well
The flexibility to create your schedule is often one of the biggest attractions of taking courses online. But that freedom can also be detrimental if you don’t have strong time management skills.
You may be overcrowded before class or turn in poor assignments without them.
#3 Create a fixed study space
Establish a dedicated learning environment for studying. By repeatedly completing your work there, you will establish a routine. Determining what type of environment will work best for you is important.
Setting up a regular office or workspace will also help you stay organized. When setting up your study space, be sure to:
- Have a high-speed internet connection
- Must have the books, materials, and software for the course.
- Have headphones for listening to lectures or discussions (especially important in shared spaces)
#4 Treat an online course with the right attitude
With online classes, you must have the discipline to sit down and work on it, and the determined to continue until you are done with them. Although you can be flexible about when you choose to complete your work during the week, you cannot postpone it indefinitely.
Even if it’s a free online certification course that doesn’t cost you a dime, treat your online classes like a physical class.
#5 Get rid of distractions
You will face many distractions that can easily derail your studies, especially from social media. However, the best online students know how to lessen these distractions and set aside time to focus.
Free Online Degree Courses in Germany with Certificates
Now you understand what to look for when taking an online certification course.
So, it’s time to reveal the top 20 free online degree courses with certificates in Germany available for you.
#1 Intercultural Management (Coursera)
This free online course explores different aspects of intercultural management, including teams, leadership, Human Resource Management, marketing, and negotiations.
When you complete this MOOC, you will have a richer understanding of the concept of culture and how culture influences how individuals behave. In this free certification course, you will learn more about how culture shapes management practices in international organizations.
#2 Research kitchen (Coursera)
Research Kitchen is a free certification course online, and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany, created this course. It is a unique format that developed extra curious learners interested in competitive strategy and organization design, yearning for a first glimpse into the world of research.
It is also voluntary and comprises brief paper sessions rather than modules. For a change, you will experience the instructor Tobias Kretschmer on the whiteboard of his institute at LMU Munich.
Here, he summarizes key findings of recent research papers on topics relating to the three courses Competitive Strategy, Advanced Competitive Strategy, and Strategic Organization Design.
#3 Strategic Organization Design (Coursera)
Strategic Organization Design introduces new topics and modules with even more real-world examples and opportunities for student interaction than its predecessors, Competitive Strategy. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany, also produces this free online course.
And this certification course covers other elements that govern the interaction between units and individuals, such as formalization and centralization, the reward system, and task division.
This also serves as a practical guide to combining all the above aspects in the planning process from foundation to firm maturity.
#4 Computers, Waves, Simulations: A Practical Introduction to Numerical Methods using Python (Coursera)
This free certification course provides a basic introduction to applying methods like the finite-difference method, the pseudospectral method, and the linear and spectral element method to the 1D (or 2D) scalar wave equation.
The course targets anyone who aims at developing or using numerical methods applied to partial differential equations and is seeking a practical introduction at a basic level.
The methodologies discussed in the free online course are widely used in natural sciences, engineering, economics, and other fields.
#5 Customer-Centric Innovation (edX)
In this course, you learn to take on the competition by creating successful and innovative ideas for your business through a thorough understanding of your customers’ needs.
Addressing your customers’ needs is the core factor of successfully managing innovation. Exactly this is the first stage of an innovation project.
So, in this online course, you will learn about key concepts and methods of generating customer-centric business ideas and innovative concepts.
After you complete this course, you will improve your career qualifications as a Product Manager, Engineer, Process Manager, and Marketing Manager. Learners from the industries of Product Management, Engineering, Innovation Management, and Customer Relationship Management already completed the course Consultants and Entrepreneurs.
#6 The Economics of Agro-Food Value Chains (Coursera)
In this online course in Germany, you learn how the Agro-food value chain approaches the challenge of constantly improving its competitiveness by producing high-quality food and products and aiming to attain greater sustainability.
This certification course is taught by a group of international experts from Universities in Italy, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands.
And, each of them will give you insights into a specific topic related to food quality and the organization of the Agro-food value chains.
#7 Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy (Coursera)
Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy summarize the latest research findings and international recommendations on various nutrition-related aspects and outcomes of pregnancy.
Ensuring a healthy nutritional status and lifestyle before and during pregnancy is one of the best ways to help support the healthy growth and development of the unborn child.
We will look at how a healthy diet and lifestyle should ideally be achieved before conception and provide recommendations for pre-conception counseling of women.
Check this: 30 Free Online Courses with Certificates in India 2023
#8 Competitive Strategy (Coursera)
In this six-module course in Germany, you will learn how businesses and organizations behave in situations in which strategic decisions are interdependent, i.e. where my actions affect my competitors’ profits and vice versa.
Using the basic tools of game theory, we will analyze how businesses choose strategies to attain a competitive advantage.
This free online certification course is one of Europe’s leading research universities, LMU Munich.
LMU covers a broad spectrum of disciplines, ranging from the humanities and cultural studies through law, economics, and social studies to medicine and the sciences.
#9 Advanced Competitive Strategy (Coursera)
Advanced Competitive Strategy will look at how companies can build and maintain their customer base by increasing switching costs and facilitating strategic customer lock-ins.
We will find out how firms can increase their profits by pursuing suitable price discrimination and product differentiation strategies.
#10 Strategic Management: From Intuition to Insight (edX)
Learn how to design effective strategy processes and spot fundamental market and technology changes in your industry. You can help your organization prosper in times of transition by engaging in rigorous strategic analysis to complement your intuition with the deep insights needed.
This foundational certification course enables you to analyze shifting industry structures and develop new capabilities in industry transition by covering different parts of the strategy.
#11 Organising an Empire: The Assyrian Way (Coursera)
Discover the mighty kingdom of Assyria, which became the world’s first great empire three thousand years ago.
From the 9th to the 7th centuries BC, during the imperial phase of Assyria’s long history, modern-day northern Iraq was the central region of a state reaching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf and incorporating what is now Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, and half of Israel, and wide parts of south-eastern Turkey, and Western Iran.
This online course explores the methods the Assyrian government employed to ensure unity and maintain loyalty across vast distances, using traditional and innovative strategies.
And some of these imperial techniques have marked parallels in how modern multi-national corporations operate; others will strike you as profoundly alien.
This course will summarize the world’s first superpower’s political, social, religious, and military history.
It will give you insight into the geography and climatic conditions of the Middle East and contribute to your understanding of the opportunities and challenges of that region.
#12 Learn Basic German
Make learning basic German vocabulary and grammar fun and easy with this Basic German Language Skills online course.
This free online German language course from Alison will introduce you to basic German vocabulary and grammar, taking you one step closer to your first perfect German conversation.
Germany is internationally recognized as the industrial and economic powerhouse of Europe, so a working knowledge of German is essential for professionals in areas such as business, finance, economics, and politics.
This certification course will make learning German a little easier and more rewarding.
#13 Conversational German
This free online German language course focuses on teaching you the vocabulary and grammar required to discuss using the phone to pastimes and holidays in German. It will teach you the phrases and vocabulary needed so you can hold conversations in German over the phone and take or leave messages.
It will also teach you how to make weekend plans, book hotels or hostels, and more. This certification course online lasts for 2-3 hours.
#14 Thinking & Acting like an Entrepreneur
This course helps you to turn your idea into a real-life business and make it a commercial success.
For this reason, you take real-life examples of the entrepreneurial process to help you understand how it differs from established companies and how you can apply it for your purposes.
A series of homework exercises, tutorials, and case studies will enable you to develop a perspective that goes beyond the theoretical scope to prepare you for actual situations.
#15 Communication Acoustics
In this free engineering course, we will cover all aspects of communication acoustics, which is how sounds travel from a source through a channel to a receiver.
This course also looks at the different system components involved in acoustic communication, including those between humans, between humans and machines, and between machines.
After completing the course, you will have gained a broad understanding of the involved sub-domains and will be ready to pick a specialization for future in-depth study.
#16 Flood Risk Management
This flood risk management course aims to prevent the loss of properties, assets, and life caused by floods. The MOOCs focus on aspects of flood risk management, forecasting, and protection measures.
You will learn which concepts exist to protect people from floods by looking at the catchment, the rivers, and the settlements at risk.
Following the so-called flood risk cycle, prevention, protection, and preparation it shows measures. So, this course is for anyone interested in flood risk management. It offers basic chapters and possibilities for a deeper view.
Also, read this: Free Medical Billing and Coding Online Courses With Certificates
#17 Understanding Venture Capitalists: How to Get Money for Your Start-Up
Introduction to Venture Capital will teach you how to get the money needed to run your startup. You will learn who venture capitalists are, how they think and gain an understanding of their motives, investment strategies, and what they’ll expect from you.
Besides lectures, you will get firsthand inside knowledge from experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists on what it takes to acquire money for your startup successfully!
#18 Der Start-up CFO
In this German introductory course on entrepreneurial finance, you will learn exactly that: you will learn which financing strategies and sources of funding exist and which investors are relevant for start-ups.
You will also learn more about the role and importance of a CFO in young companies.
The tips in this course help you with the first steps of financing your company and give you practical advice on what to look out for.
#19 Introduction to marketing
In this course, you will learn the basics of a company’s marketing’s strategic and operational design. You will also get an overview of the methods required for effective marketing decisions.
This is how you learn to examine the use of these methods critically. The course also includes critical reflection on companies’ social and ethical responsibility when planning and implementing their marketing measures.
#20 Innovation Strategies for Electric Mobility: The StreetScooter Case
In this German course, you learn about the tools and methods that can understand and identify customer needs and the processes that companies can implement to foster and launch successful technological innovations.
We will emphasize analyzing how companies can benefit from entrepreneurial thinking to innovate more successfully and on understanding how they can build entire ecosystems around their products and services.
The theoretical knowledge will be transferred and applied to a recent, highly successful technological innovation from Germany: The Street scooter, an electric delivery vehicle of Deutsche Post DHL.
FAQs
Online courses are good because one of the major benefits of an online course is its affordability. Students earn while the school.
Here are some benefits of online classes include;
Career advancement.
Flexibility in learning
Reduced debts and fees to pay, etc
Of course, it is possible to get a job using online courses. Online courses are sometimes better than traditional courses. In the sense that you gain ample practical experience while schooling.
Conclusion
There is no excuse for not achieving your dream. Being a nation that advances the learning system is well equipped to handle many online certificate programs that can help you climb the ladder of career success.
You need to get on your computer and explore the available Free Online Courses with Certificates in Australia to advance your career.
References
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