Learn Cloud and AI with IBM Badges

 Life-long learning doesn't have to cost a fortune. I've put together a free 'summer study plan' that covers Cloud Native, Docker / Kubernetes, Data Science, Big Data, Blockchain and IoT - and best of all - it's free. Completing the courses will earn you badges on Acclaim that can be easily shared on social media.

My favourite IBM sites for free courses and badges include:

• developerWorks Courses for courses and badges on Blockchain, IBM Cloud / Bluemix, Node-Red, Chatbots, Raspberry Pi, API Connect, Streaming, Docker and Kubernetes. I've completed the entire set - and I can say by far ' Cloud App Developer V2' is my favourite. 21 hours of self-paced hands-on training. The labs are excellent - and highlight the twelve-factor app methodology.
• Data Science and Cognitive Computing Courses on CognitiveClass.AI for learning paths on Containers, Kubernetes and IStio, Big Data, Python, R, Deep Learning, Analytics, Hadoop and Spark. I found "Applied Data Science with Python" to be a fun and exciting course. All the courses have hands-on labs, with tools deployed and available on the cloud through IBM Cloud, Data Science Experience or CogntiveClass Labs!
• CognitiveClass Labs - comes in support of the courses available on CogntiveClass.AI - providing access to data science tools such as OpenRefine, Jupyter Notebook/Lab, RStudio, Zeppelin Notebook, SeaHorse and more.
• IBM Watson Academy for courses and badges such as "Watson and Cloud Platform", "Watson Assistant", "Watson Discovery Service" or "Watson Knowledge Studio".
• IBM Garage Courses for "Garage Method Explorer" and "Garage Method Advocate"- an excellent series on DevOps, Agile, CI/CD, practices and tools.
• Watson IOT Academy - courses and badges on Watson IOT offerings.
• IBM Analytics Product Skills Validation - various analytics badges and courses - that usually build on top of existing learning paths.

Additional free resources:

• Katakoda provides interactive scenario driven labs and excellent courses on topics such as Docker, Kubernetes, Prometheus, Git, Jenkins, Istio, Machine Learning, Tensorflow and more. I highly recommend taking some of the courses here!
• https://www.edx.org - you can 'audit' courses for free, but verified certificates usually cost money. Worth taking a look for courses such as Introduction to Kubernetes from the Linux Foundation or Essential Math for Machine Learning: Python Edition
• http://www.fast.ai - free courses on Deep Learning, Computational Linear Algebra.

If you want to try something hands-on, respond to IBM's Call for Code - and build an application to tackle natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, extreme weather, etc).

This article was originally published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/learn-cloud-ai-ibm-badges-mihai-criveti/