Free It Software Courses & Certifications

The Networks Illustrated: principles Without Calculus course is offered by Princeton University and is taught by two top educators with a background of Electrical Engineering. This is a beginner-level programme and takes approximately 24 hours to complete. This course has around 12 modules, with extensive videos and quizzes. Besides, you will get practice assignments and exercises within the curriculum.

The Online Networks Illustrated: Principles Without Calculus Programme by Coursera explores answers using simple language and addresses fundamental questions about the social and technical network systems by summarising theories. The course proceeds with illustrations, anecdotes and analogies and mathematics as elementary as addition and multiplication. 

Coursera’s Networks Illustrated: Principles Without Calculus, is a course which explores the theories behind the social and technical connections. Networking Courses usually involve a lot of mathematical details for better understanding of the algorithms and systems behind the social and technological networks. However, to fully understand networking, you need to look more into the main ideas behind how the networking systems function. 

The Network Security course thoroughly covers all the aspects of network security such as network auditing, intrusion detection, evidence collection, and even contingency planning against attacks. The meticulously designed course content very lucidly explains how to prepare for network attacks using numerous pattern-proof strategies and also teaches how to defend against network attacks from a wider perspective.

Network Security by edX very thoroughly discusses various vulnerabilities in networks and systems. Through this course, candidates get to understand how to identify when attacks are happening inside the networks using strategically presented course material and lectures. The 8-week self-paced Network Security training empowers the candidates with ample time and opportunity to thoroughly understand various topics and aspects of network security, its impact, and various guidelines related to it. The candidates also get to explore the concepts and principles of wireless and wired data network security. The Network Security programme also discusses physical layer mechanisms, applications, filters, and encryption. 

There are 2 tracks namely the audit and the verified track offered by edX which are self-paced. The candidates may choose any of these tracks that can be enrolled. The main differences between these 2 tracks are the access timing for the course materials and obtaining the certificate of participation. During the audit track, the access is limited and no certification is given whereas during the verified track, access is unlimited and a certification is also offered.

In this era of globalisation and mongering threat of cybersecurity attacks, developing secure and efficient computer systems and the regime has become inevitable for every organisation touched by the digital revolution. Information Security - 5 - Secure Systems Engineering by SWAYAM discusses everything one needs to know about information security and the engineering of secure systems to build a strong conceptual idea of the same.

The syllabus deals with various challenges and issues in systems and mechanisms by which they can be mitigated. The first part will cover such security threats which can hamper the system health and can lead to major cyberattacks. To understand them in-depth, the course will also discuss how such vulnerabilities could arise from simple programming flaws like a buffer that overflows to complicated application runtime characteristics that are demonstrated through side-channels like the power consumption of the device and execution time. 

It will also deal with the case analysis of recent cyberattacks like Heartbleed, Stagefright, and Meltdown and Spectre. The course will be taught by adopting multimedia technology and aims to reach every person looking for quality education at minimal to no cost. It will be taught by a faculty from IIT Madras.

The Networking and Security Architecture with VMware NSX online programme is provided by the online education provider website, Coursera, and developed by the cloud computing and virtualisation company, VMware. This online certification course is for eight weeks and with the content duration being twenty hours in total. Chris McCain who is the Director of product and management in networking and security will be the course instructor giving his valuable inputs for this Networking and Security Architecture with VMware NSX programme. 

This intermediate-level training course is a study about the software-defined approach to networking with a knowledge of IT techniques of routing, switching, firewalling, disaster recovery, business continuity, and the concepts of cloud and security. The experimental teaching methodologies and the learning sessions will enable the candidates to comprehend the techniques involved in the working of VMware NSX and its applications in the field of virtual networking. This Networking and Security Architecture with VMware NSX allows the students to learn at their own speed and convenience

The key connection between the hardware of a device and the programmes that run on it is given by operating systems [OS]. This enables us to write programmes without thinking a lot about hardware. It also guarantees that the resources of the computer, such as its CPU, memory and hard disc are used sufficiently. In this programme, it is concentrated on how the OS is able to do all this effectively. For candidates with previous computer organisational experience, this is an introductory programme. The Introduction to Operating Systems programme will focus on an OS called xv6, which is similar to the Linux operating system in many aspects.

For the Introduction to Operating Systems programme, SWAYAM is not charging any learning fee. Candidates can learn the programme for free but to get a certificate they have to pay a fee. Candidates will get an e-certificate with the logos of NPTEL and IIT Madras.

The curriculum of the Introduction to Operating Systems programme is designed by experts of IIT Madras and it will be containing all necessary details for a candidate. The programme will be having 8 weeks of duration and candidates will be able to learn from any where.

The Digital transformation of megapolises: from zero to #1 in UN digital e-government ranking online course is offered by the online educational platform Coursera and the course is developed by the HSE University. The course materials and assessments are designed to be completed within eighteen hours in their entirety, the students own the liberty to take the course at their own convenient speed. This online programme is instructed by the course educator Artem Ermolaev and Andrey Belozerov who are experts in the field. 

The Digital transformation of megapolises: from zero to #1 in UN digital e-government ranking online training is about understanding and analysing the strategies of transformation management. It helps one explore the practical ideas related to raising funds for digital projects in a city aiding the process of digital transformation. This course is about discovering the strategies involved in the formation of smart cities and the gaining skills required to promote government projects.

The Traditional and Non-Traditional Optimization Tools training is designed to explain the optimization process and its principles in depth. You will study traditional optimization tools during this course, including their subgroups, namely - direct search and gradient search methods, steepest descent, random walk method, etc. You will become aware of the significance of optimization to develop the most efficient product at the lowest cost.

The Traditional and Non-Traditional Optimization Tools online program also provides insights into non-traditional tools of optimization such as the genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization, simulated annealing, etc. It is an eight-week-long course with 20 hours of video lectures, where these methods will be explained along with relevant numerical examples.

The Traditional and Non-Traditional Optimization Tools certification course teaches working principles of multi-objective optimization. These include goal programming, distance-based Pareto-GA, weighted sum approach, and more. You will also understand techniques to handle constraints, benefits, and drawbacks of GA. This elective course also provides a completion certificate when you fulfill certain criteria. 

The course Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is designed by the Google Cloud team. Here, you are going to learn every fundamental detail about sensors, devices, and analysis. However, even though you will get to learn about sensors and devices the main focus will be on the cloud side. This course is designed in a different way from many other Coursera courses as here your major learning is going to be through quizzes, projects, and labs.

You will learn about the nuances of scaling, device communication, and processing streaming data. And as mentioned before you will learn the cloud side of IIOT through simulated lab devices. 

Some skills that you will learn here that will help you grow in your career includes the cloud side of IoT, Cloud IoT Core, Pub/Sub, and Dataflow, implement a pipeline from their device to BigQuery and Dataprep, store data on Cloud Google storage and use BigQuery and Dataprep to gain insights into IoT data.

Throughout, you will get to practice these skills in almost 7 labs. After that, you will get a chance to test yourself in a Capstone lab using Cloud IoT Core Inspector.

The Introduction to Uncertainty Analysis and Experimentation certification course will begin with fundamental subjects on the study of complexity and its applications and offer an outline of exploration. This course would learn from professional engineers, scholars, and engineering students at UG, PG, and Ph.D., from many disciplines. The course is divided into different segments as per the week's scheduled curriculum that will intellectually focus on every particular module and sub-chapter in a more comprehensive manner. 

The Introduction to Uncertainty Analysis and Experimentation training will be given more importance to promote analytical learning in the course. The subjects include the method of experimentation, measurement errors, measurement and outcome uncertainty, the transmission of uncertainty, pre-and post-test uncertainty analysis, set-up configuration uncertainty analysis, and regression and correlation. The approach would adopt the "performance test code" of ASME and the ISO "Guide to the expression of measurement uncertainty." The Introduction to Uncertainty Analysis and Experimentation certification will provide a brief structure of the field and each core segment that is essentially included in the particular major. A selection of practical applications and the use of national and international principles relating to engineering and research and their importance to education will be addressed in the programme.

Data analysis is very critical in biology and one of the key skills of biologists for academic research and industry. Data Analysis for Biologists can guide you on the possession of data analysis needed for biology practitioners. The online course is an 8-week long program. Data Analysis for Biologists Certification Course will walk you through the concepts of data analysis and its application in biology as well as the concepts of linear algebra, statistics, and the whatnot. 

Data Analysis for Biologists Certification is offered jointly by Swayam and IIT Guwahati which can be enrolled by the learners without paying any fee. However, the certificate of completion will be provided to those who sat for the exam by paying the fee. The course is meant for undergraduate and postgraduate level learners who are from the background of biology and biotechnology.

The Database Management System online course throws light on the backbone of all major applications used today, i.e. databases and their models, design paradigms, and structured query language (SQL), to name a few. Students get the opportunity to closely examine the file organizations, data structures, database designs, implementation, models, and more!

IIT Kharagpur has curated the Database Management System certification syllabus so that learners get familiarised with a wide array of concepts. These range from relational data models and SQL to entity-relationship modeling, database designs, and data normalization. Moreover, learners will also work on weekly assignments to explore query coding practices using MySQL or any other open platform. 

The Database Management System training is spread over eight weeks. Students will be undertaking this curriculum with Professor Partha Pratim Das and Professor Samiran Chattopadhyay as their instructors, who have years of academic teaching experience. With their combined professional expertise, students can be assured of being trained by some of the country’s best minds!

The Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks certification is a multidisciplinary course which can be pursued by graduate or postgraduate students. Students who decide to pursue this course will get to know about fuzzy clustering, fuzzy reasoning, neural network, etc. The programme does not have any limitations regarding the admission process and can be joined by the interested students throughout the year without having to pay any amount. The course is provided as well as mentored by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. The teachings of the course are in online mode throughout the Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks certification syllabus of the course.

The Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks programme is conducted by the platform of Swayam which is a government-initiated platform and gives free courses to all the students across the country. The duration which is needed to complete the course is 2 months. Candidates can learn from the programme as per their schedules since this is a self-paced course. The online training authorizes the students to be a certified user of the programme by obtaining the certificate through the mode of an exam fee followed by the offline exam. The Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks online course also provides interactive sessions through case studies and discussions which can be done through the discussion groups created for the user of the course.

The Advanced Computer Architecture certification is offered under the Department of Computer Science and engineering. Swayam offers this program in association with IIT Guwahati. Participants who take admission in this course come to know about high-end microprocessors, cache memory, cache optimization using gem5, etc. The course does not ask the students to pay any fees to access the course. The Advanced Computer Architecture training given through this program is completely online and there is no requirement of attending the video sessions at any specific time. The video lectures can be joined by the students at any time. Similarly, candidates can leave the sessions too according to their requirements. 

Students also get the chance to acquire a verified certificate for the online course which can be availed by paying the registration amount as exam fees and qualifying for an in-person exam. The approximate time which will be taken by the mentor of the course to complete the Advanced Computer Architecture certification syllabus is 8 weeks. Students can also learn from the course on their own if they want to choose a longer period of time than 8 weeks. The program is available on the website throughout the year so that students can apply to the course whenever they feel the need. 

Data mining is the study of algorithms. It finds patterns in large data sets. It is an interdisciplinary subject that involves machine learning, algorithms, and databases. The Data Mining program will provide a comprehensive and holistic view about this integral subject of modern industry. 

Participants of the course will learn about basic algorithms like classification, data pre-processing, visualization, association rules, and sequence mining. With regular assignments and case studies, participants are offered a well-rounded understanding of the subject of this course. 

Data Mining is an eight-week program presented on the online learning platform Swayam. The course syllabus is designed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Professor Pabitra Mitra will be teaching this course. It is an undergraduate course in the field of computer science and engineering. Candidates can also opt for certification, for which they will have to sit for an offline exam.

The Internet is the world’s largest network. It connects everybody, from machines to people, in all life areas, be it stock exchange or art. But have you ever wondered how it all really works? Well, with the iLabX – The Internet Masterclass by edX, you will understand all the underlying internet mechanisms, along with creating a network of your own.

Every module in the iLabX – The Internet Masterclass curriculum starts with the historical background of all the Internet’s mechanisms and tools. The modules will be delivered to you through videos, texts, and other diverse interactive learning elements. You will also work on a unique vLab virtual Internet laboratory, to create an internet of your own.

The iLabX – The Internet Masterclass online programme also features many practical exercises to consolidate the concepts learnt. Moreover, you can also opt for a certificate if you wish to gain employment benefits after completing the programme. All you need is enough curiosity to learn about the Internet. There are two options for learners to enrol for the online course programme; verified and audit modes. In the audit-free mode, the candidates can access the programme only for a limited period of time.

The Distributed Systems online course is an 8 weekly program offered by Swayam. A distributed system is a computerized system in which multiple components placed on computer networks communicate and coordinate their operations through the transmission of messages. Multiple components collaborate with each other to attain a common purpose.

Distributed applications or software that operate concurrently on numerous computers in a network and can be saved in the database or in the cloud. This Distributed Systems training gives an in-depth overview of the fundamental ideas and models underpinning distributed computing theory, methods, and systems.

The Distributed Systems syllabus covers some of the emerging topics such as distributed hash tables, peer-to-peer computing, google file system, spark, HDFS, security in distributed systems, and sensor networks. students who complete this course will have a thorough understanding of how things function in a distributed setting.

The Design and Engineering of Computer Systems certification course is an eight weeks online course offered on the platform of Swayam. During this course syllabus, the candidates will learn the ways of designing computer systems operating systems, computer networks, and architecture. This programme is jointly taught by the initiatives of IIT Bombay, and NPTEL. 

The Design and Engineering of Computer Systems training shall be fully accessible to people who have a basic knowledge of the concepts of computer programming. The candidates will have to register for the final exam, and then complete the exam to secure passing marks in the assignments and the final examination to secure 2 credit points on completion.

In the Front End Frameworks online course, the students will be studying the process of building single-page applications in various front end platforms that include Front End frameworks. In the session on Front End Frameworks by Udacity, the students will be taught and exposed to the usage of the Ember application.

Upon taking the eight weeks programme, the students will be studying the key techniques and architectural designs that will further help and strengthen the working of the framework. In the course curriculum, the students will be studying complex web applications more easily by incorporating the framework of JavaScript in the programme module. 

Courses on Coursera are taught by instructors from worldwide universities and companies. These courses provide access to on-demand video lectures, quizzes, homework exercises, projects, and community discussion forums. Coursera has come up with this course along with Google Cloud to give the learners an opportunity to make more reliable business decisions.

The framework of the Site Reliability Engineering: Measuring and Managing Reliability course by Coursera has been tailor-made for learners who wish to gain knowledge about Site Reliability Engineering and start off their career in that direction. The course intends to equip the participants with the skills required to measure and manage reliability. 

This course will provide the participants with a detailed understanding of the different components of Site Reliability Engineering, Customer Reliability Engineering and Service Level Objectives. They will also learn about the usage of Service Level Indicators while making business decisions for better reliability. It will familiarize the participants with the various practices and theories of managing and measuring reliability.

The course is offered by edX in association with the Delft University of Technology which provides a verified certificate of completion to candidates who meet all requirements and complete the course. The Next Generation of Infrastructure certification is duly signed by an instructor and has a logo of the institute which makes it of great merit value. The course revolves around infrastructure wherein candidates get an opportunity to examine and analyze the hardships that arise from the social science and engineering perspective. Next Generation of Infrastructure by edX course will also talk about the hardships that such systems pose for management, governance, and decision-making. Along with this, on the social science front, candidates will also study the ethical considerations and security, analytical tools, lack of infrastructure, etc while learning the drawbacks of such systems. The key method of studying will be evaluation and analysis to study the interdependencies of these fields. 

The Next Generation of Infrastructure certification program is 7 weeks long and candidates are advised to devote around 6-8 hours to it per week to complete it successfully. This course is an intermediate-level course, so students must have some prior basic knowledge. The candidates may learn at their own pace but they will have limited access if they have chosen the audit mode. If the candidates have selected the verified track they will surely receive unlimited access to the course materials.

TARS is a new-age distributed microservice applications framework developed to support multiple programming languages like C++, Java, Golang, PHP, Node.js, and Python, allowing enterprises and developers to quickly build reliable and stable applications that run at scale. This Building Microservice Platforms with TARS course is an introduction to the TARS framework and microservices for beginners.

The Building Microservice Platforms with TARS programme by edX will show you why an increasing number of companies and developers have opted for TARS to build their services. The course is ideal for enterprise managers who wish to explore internal technical architectures, as well as engineers working in microservices. Besides, anyone interested in software architecture will benefit significantly from this course.

Moreover, Building Microservice Platforms with TARS online programme also offers a certificate experience for those who wish to put their skills to work and make a career in it. The programme is offered by edX in collaboration with The Linux Foundation. According to the preferences, candidates will be able to select either the verified track or the audit track. For free limited access, the candidates can pick the audit mode whereas for the unlimited but paid version, the candidates can pick the verified track.

Trust is broken on the internet. The advice is always the same – when you go online, ensure that you know what’s behind every button before clicking it. In this Introduction to Hyperledger course, you will look at three Hyperledger open-source projects – Aries, Indy, and Ursa. Moreover, you will get to know about the tools, reusable components, libraries attached to the projects.

The Introduction to Hyperledger programme will also teach you how to use these platforms to build applications. You will also learn how these technologies make the internet a safe place for everyone. The course is catered towards a wide-ranging audience, preferably those in the Business Administration or technology discipline.

The Introduction to Hyperledger online training is delivered by edX and developed by The Linux Foundation. Expert faculty from this institution will mentor the video lectures. A certificate option is also available if you’re looking to pursue a career path in a related field. According to the preferences, candidates will be able to select either the verified track or the audit track. For free limited access, the candidates can pick the audit mode whereas for the unlimited version, the candidates can pick the verified track.

Knowledge-Based AI: Cognitive Systems training is a core programme in artificial intelligence offered by the Udacity learning platform. Since this is an advanced-level course, it involves significant independent work, readings and challenging assignments and projects. 

Moreover, the Knowledge-Based AI: Cognitive Systems curriculum covers the structured knowledge representations, knowledge-based problem-solving methods, along with planning, learning and decision-making. The syllabus includes nine lessons that are further divided into multiple topics. 

The Knowledge-Based AI: Cognitive Systems programme has been designed to fulfil three learning goals. The first goal is teaching the methods, concepts and prominent issues related to knowledge-based Artificial Intelligence (AI). The second goal is to teach the specific abilities and skills required to apply the concepts to designing knowledge-based AI. And the third goal is to understand the relationship between knowledge-based AI and human cognition. 

Additionally, the Knowledge-Based AI: Cognitive Systems online course is a free-to-learn course that will run for an approximate duration of seven weeks and allow you to learn at your convenience, pace, and from the comfort of your home.

Offered by edX, this is a 7 weeks online course in which students have to contribute 1-2 hours of weekly effort to be able to complete the Business Considerations for Edge Computing training. The computing programme is free of cost but with an additional fee of the specified amount, the candidate can secure a Verified Certificate from the institution. LinuxFoundationX has come up with the Business Considerations for Edge Computing certification course at an introductory level for students who are keen on learning about digital transformation. 

The course will help candidates study what Edge is and how it has been a huge player in digital transformation in the world. Along with studying Edge, students will also study its relationship with and the rise of its ancillaries such as 5G, IoT, and AI. Candidates and faculties will together analyze data security and privacy so they can share examples and methods of how they can encourage more innovation with Edge under the Business Considerations for Edge Computing online course. The candidates will get free audit track access for a limited period only whereas the verified track gives unlimited access to the course. Both these tracks can be learned in the self-paced mode.

The Data Science Tools certification course from IBM provides you with a background on popular data science and data visualisation tools, including RStudio IDE, Jupyter Notebooks, and Watson Studio. Learn about the proper usage of each tool and how data scientists utilise these tools today. You will also get to understand what programming languages the data science tools can execute and what limitations and features they possess. 

The seven-week-long Data Science Tools programme is introductory and belongs to the Data Analysis and Statistics domain. Besides, the tools will be hosted in the cloud, and you will learn to follow instructions and test the tools to run simple code in R or Python. For finishing the training, you will complete a final project on IBM Watson Studio with a Jupyter Notebook on Cloud.

Moreover, you must demonstrate your expertise in writing Markdown, preparing a notebook, and sharing your work with peers. This hands-on Data Science Tools training will familiarise you with some of the most in-use, greatest, and latest data science tools. The course curriculum, divided into six modules, allows you to learn through lab sessions, assignments, graded quizzes, practice exercises, and more.  

Learners may choose any track from the two mentioned ones: audit and verified. These tracks are self-paced and offer limited and unlimited accessor audit and verified tracks respectively.

Cybersecurity for Critical Urban Infrastructure by edX is for professionals willing to learn about the risks and threats that cybersecurity poses to our critical urban infrastructure today. The course is a detailed study on the various ways hackers target the critical infrastructure of any city, like the waste management, communication systems, energy, transportation and other health and emergency services and try to extort money, terrorise or pose threats to the city. Cybersecurity for Critical Urban Infrastructure training by edX details further on how the hackers in recent times have used ransomwares for encrypting the city data of critical services and demand public agencies money in return for their own data. It will help candidates who are looking to understand cyberattacks on the cities to gain an insight into the cyberattack and how to fight it.

The Cybersecurity for Critical Urban Infrastructure classes course will prepare candidates willing to work for different government agencies about the vices of cyberattacks and the latest technologies involved in these attacks on the critical infrastructures. The course details the methodology of attacks, protective measures, security requirements, prevention measures etc. for providing a deeper understanding of the functioning cybersecurity in the city. Through various detailed video lectures, the Cybersecurity for Critical Urban Infrastructure online course offers case studies and key take away surveys for students to timely evaluate their understanding of the topic. The course syllabus is best suited for candidates who wish to find employment in agencies and government offices and wish to develop an outlook from the cybersecurity perspective. Cybersecurity for Critical Urban Infrastructure certification will equip candidates with the latest cyber security measure and more.

This Cybersecurity Roles and Operating System Security online course gives you the necessary background in essential cybersecurity. You will learn about the roles that system security professionals engage in, from security analysts to chief information security officers (CISO). You will get acquainted with basic system concepts, essential terminologies, and tools of the cybersecurity field through this Cybersecurity Roles and Operating System Security training course.

The Cybersecurity Roles and Operating System Security programme will also cover important operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. Finally, the course will touch upon virtualisation and Cloud computing, cloud computing governance, the security it offers, and its benefits. The programme is mentored by Coreen Ryskamp, who is a programme manager with IBM Security Learning Services.

Besides, the Cybersecurity Roles and Operating System Security course also offers a course completion certificate if you opt for the certificate track. Otherwise, you can also audit the training materials for free. The programme spans four weeks and requires about four to eight hours of commitment per week for effective learning. The candidates will be asked to enrol on the course either by choosing the verified track or the audit track. The audit track is free but access is limited to the course materials. Again, if the students want to learn the course and have unlimited access then they may opt for the verified track which is payable.

The program will help the applicants to learn in detail about the theoretical foundations that pertain to choice modelling and at the same time describe all the steps that are involved in operational modeling. 

The rudimentary focus of this course is on the various methods that are involved in the process of prediction of behaviour using the existing mathematical models and functions. In the Online Certification Programme on Introduction to Discrete Choice Models by edX, the students will be exploring the choices present in modelling in order to retain disaggregate demand models. The exercise that is incorporated in the program has to be solved using the software- “Biogeme”. The studies further will deal with case study modules for creating a stronger and more concrete base.  The program will emphasize more on- the `logit model” will look over the specifications of the said model and also estimate its parameters and the process of this validation. 

EdX provides two options to join the course, namely, by paying the fee and free of cost. While taking it free of cost, the learners will be given access to the course only for a limited duration.  

A course in Computer Science, Secure Software Development: Implementation aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how to develop secure software and counter the problem of constant security attacks. It is a self-paced course of seven weeks duration.

The Secure Software Development: Implementation syllabus comprises a detailed explanation of the software development basics. While focusing on practical approaches, this course dives deep into how you can improve information security even with limited resources. 

The course is the second course in the three-part Secure Software Development Fundamentals Professional Certificate programme. It has been developed by the Open-Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), a Linux Foundation project. 

If you enrol through the 'Verified Track', you will have to take a final exam to earn the course completion certificate. You can also benefit from graded assignments, shareable certificates, edX support, instructor support, and finally, unlimited access to the course content. Students can choose their paths from among the ones stated on the Edx website. These are called the audit and the verified track which are both self-paced. The verified track is payable but offers unlimited access and the audit track is completely free but offers only limited course material access.