15 Free Online Computer Courses For Middle School Students
- Stephen Turban
- 3 hours ago
- 8 min read
For middle school students interested in developing skills in computing, AI, coding, and other related areas, online computer science courses can be a great (and affordable) way to get started!
Virtual computer science courses typically cover the fundamentals of the subject and offer practical learning opportunities through assignments, challenges, and capstone projects. These courses can also help you build a solid foundation in computer science for high school courses and advanced STEM programs.
As a participant, you may also have the opportunity to experience college-level academics, with many universities offering undergraduate courses in a virtual format. The best part is that many online computer science courses open to middle school students are free! Even fee-based options offer scholarships or financial aid, making them accessible options worth exploring. The best online courses involve a combination of traditional teaching methods and hands-on activities. This allows students to develop practical skills, in addition to upscaling their theoretical understanding of various computer science concepts.
To help you find the right opportunity, here are 15 free online computer courses for middle school students. Whether you want to gain programming experience, explore the applications of AI, or design your own app or website, you will find an option here that aligns with your interests.
15 Free Online Computer Courses For Middle School Students
Dates: Varies for each cohort, with multiple sessions running each year
Application deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 – 8
Cost: Varies; financial aid available
Lumiere Education’s Junior Explorer Program is an eight-week online opportunity for middle school students to learn about a field of choice under the guidance of Ph.D. mentors from top universities. For the first four weeks of the program, you will explore and understand multiple fields of study. In the next two weeks, you will pick a single subject to engage in specialised learning and project-based sessions. You can choose from fields like AI, data science, and computer science. In the last two weeks, you will develop a customised project relevant to the field and present it in the form of research reports, presentations, or any other output of choice. Throughout the program, you will have access to one-on-one mentorship, which will help you get additional insights into the chosen subject and come up with a meaningful project.
Dates: June 9 – 20 (Cohort I) | July 14 – 25 (Cohort II)
Application deadline: Varies
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–8
Cost: Varies; need-based financial aid available
Veritas AI’s AI Trailblazers is an online program for middle school students interested in learning the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Over a two-week period or 25 learning hours, you will virtually engage with expert academicians and like-minded peers to explore key AI concepts through practical learning opportunities. The curriculum covers topics like deep learning, neural networks, coding, and data analysis. The program offers access to mentors associated with top universities to guide you through the program and work on a group project. For the project, you will identify a prevalent real-world problem and build an AI project to resolve it. In the past, students worked on projects involving the use of AI for disease detection and CIFAR-10 recognition.
Dates: Starts on April 21 and runs for about six weeks
Application deadline: April 9
Eligibility: Open to all
Cost: None
Stanford University offers free virtual access to content from its flagship CS106A course, which introduces students to programming using Python. In the online course, you will explore concepts like control flow, loops, and conditionals as well as console programs with variables, graphics, lists, and dictionaries through sessions led by programmers, teachers, university students, or other instructors. Additionally, you will work on projects, building games by utilizing concepts you learn during the course. Once a week, you will attend a session with 10 other students to get a more personalized learning experience.
Dates: Self-paced 12-week course with multiple sessions running each year
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Open to all
Cost: Free; $219 to earn a certificate
The HarvardX CS50x Introduction to Computer Science course covers the basics of programming through video lectures. The focus is on helping you develop algorithmic thinking to come up with resolutions for programming problems. The course will introduce you to important programming languages like Python and JavaScript, while also delving into topics like data structures and web development. To keep track of your progress and test your understanding of the subjects, you will work on nine programming assignments.
Dates: Flexible; self-paced course
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Open to everyone
Cost: Free to enroll
Python Basics, offered by the University of Michigan, is an online course designed for beginners interested in learning how to program in Python. This is the first course in the five-course series called Python 3 Programming Specialization. Split into four modules, the course covers topics like strings and loops, sequences and iteration, conditional statements, and sequence mutation. Here, you will learn how to create drawings and engage in debugging. Led by lecturers, the program can help you build a theoretical as well as practical understanding of programming and coding.
Dates: Self-paced; typically, a commitment of four to six hours/week for six weeks
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Open to all
Cost: Free to enroll; $249 to earn a certificate
The Computer Science 101 course offered by Stanford is a self-paced introductory STEM course that covers topics such as coding, loops and logic, digital images, computer security, and computer hardware. You will also explore computer jargon, the basics of the internet, and parts of a computer, and experiment with coding during the course. By the end of the session, you will develop a clearer understanding of the patterns through which a computer operates.
Dates: Self-paced three-week course with multiple sessions running each year
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Open to all
Cost: Free; $299 to earn a certificate
This course offers an introduction to programming using Scratch, a visual programming language, to help you write code by dragging and dropping graphical blocks instead of typing. Here, you will get to learn concepts and techniques to design your own games, animations, and interactive art. The course covers topics like functions, return values, loops, and variables. In the process, you will develop foundational programming knowledge and skills to be able to enroll in advanced coding courses.
Dates: June 16 – 27 (Session I) | July 7 – 18 (Session II)
Application deadline: March 20
Eligibility: Students in grades 8–11 who have completed an algebra course
Cost: $3,080+ $65 registration fee and other course-specific costs; financial aid available
Stanford University offers pre-college courses in various subject areas, including computer science. Its introductory course on C++ will cover key areas like basic syntax, control statements, recursion, data types, functions, and the interaction between hardware and compiler. You will also learn how to construct an algorithm to address an issue and compute the solutions of real programming problems. During the two-week session, you will attend two-hour live video tutorials from Monday to Friday and spend three hours after class on homework, assignments, and projects.
Dates: July 14 – August 1
Application deadline: TBA
Eligibility: Students, ages 12–14
Cost: $2,699, subject to change at regular intervals; scholarships available
Data Science: The AI Journey by Berkeley Coding Academy is a three-week program covering the world of big data. Through virtual sessions and instructions from expert faculty, you will explore concepts like data visualization, neural networks, machine learning, and data analysis. You will also develop an artificial intelligence project that focuses on solving real-world problems. In the process, you will get some exposure to peer review. You will present your end product through a medium of your choice.
Dates: September 9 – November 25
Application deadline: August 12
Eligibility: Students in grades 7–11
Cost: $1,850; financial aid available
The Coding and Creating with Arduino course by Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth is a 12-week live online course that offers exposure to the applications of the open-source electronics platform Arduino. With a focus on the use of Arduino microprocessors in the latest technologies, the course will delve into the role, working, and scope of digital prototyping platforms. You will explore concepts like pseudocode, comments, and actual code, and explore existing prototypes. You will also learn how to modify code and create a working prototype with an Arduino microcontroller.
Dates: June 16 – 27 (Session I) | July 7 – 18 (Session II)
Application deadline: March 20
Eligibility: Students in grades 8–11 who have completed an algebra course
Cost: $3,080+ $65 registration fee and other course-specific costs; financial aid available
This introductory course on Java Programming, also a part of Stanford’s pre-collegiate summer courses, covers Object-Oriented Programming using the Java language. Through two-hour live video lectures spread across 10 days, you will learn key concepts like data sets, graphical user interfaces, abstract data types, searching and sorting algorithms, and basic syntax. You will work on daily problem sets to understand the practical applications of the programming concepts you learn during the course. You will also learn about developing algorithms and computing solutions to solve real programming problems. Project work and homework are key parts of the course.
Dates: June 23 – August 1
Application deadline: June 11
Eligibility: Students in grades 8–12, ages 13–18
Cost: $1,990; scholarships available
The MehtA+ Machine Learning program is a six-week program covering concepts like coding in Python, reinforcement learning, natural language processing, Chat GPT prompt engineering, and text editors. As a participant, you will engage in collaborative work and conduct interdisciplinary machine learning research within a group. The program will also introduce you to the mathematics behind various AI, machine learning, and deep learning models and data preprocessing techniques. In the process, you will learn how to train your own AI models from scratch. You will also present your research at the annual MehtA+ Machine Learning conference.
Dates: Self-paced; typically lasts seven weeks
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Open to all
Cost: Free; $299 to earn a certificate
Harvard’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python is another computer science course designed for learners interested in exploring the basics of AI/ML. You will commit between 10 and 30 hours each week to virtual sessions led by Harvard instructors. The curriculum delves into topics like neural networks, natural language processing, logical inference, algorithms, and probability theory. It also offers insights into the application of artificial intelligence in game-playing engines and handwriting recognition.
Dates: Flexible, can be set according to a self-paced schedule
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Open to all
Cost: $1,599; financial aid available
Berkeley Coding Academy’s 1-to-1 customizable classes offer varying levels of computer science instruction. The course syllabus can vary based on your interests and experience level, allowing you to get a personalized learning experience. During the program, you will access 12 hours of 1-to-1 instruction time to explore various computer science basics, from Python to deep learning. You can also customize the structure to work on a project.
Dates: Multi-length courses throughout the year; check the details for upcoming sessions here.
Application deadline: Typically, one week before the session starts
Eligibility: Students who are 13 or older
Cost: $1,795 for enrichment course | $3,995 for college credit course; need-based scholarships available
Georgetown University offers virtual courses in various subject areas. Its Cybersecurity course explores cyberthreats and the impact of technology, economics, and society on cyberspace. FBI and CISA professionals will offer instruction and cover cybersecurity concepts. The online course is available in two formats—the Enrichment Course, which involves 20 to 30 hours of instruction, and the College Credit Course, which offers 128 hours of instruction. Through a combination of hands-on activities and traditional learning, you will learn about cyberattackers and their tactics, the impact of artificial intelligence on cybersecurity, and ethical dilemmas focused on the balance between profit and security. You will work on a final capstone project, in which you will investigate a simulated school ransomware attack and deliver a video presentation to share your insights on the ideal response, while considering ethics, legality, and budget.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program in which students work one-on-one with a mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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