The Free Learning Vault (FREE) with Raghu Datta

Good learning material is free today: IIT professors on NPTEL, Harvard's Python course, Microsoft's own Excel videos, Khan Academy's SQL lessons. What is scarce is a finish. This free guide gives you the links, organised by goal, and a plan to finish what you start.

Inside: the whole method on one page (goal, source, slot, show); three questions to judge any free course, with NPTEL worked through; SWAYAM credit in your degree; the vault of nine free resources for four goals (first office job, data, coding, degree credit), each with what to finish with; Office, Notion, Figma and GitHub free with a college email, and what to do without one; the two-job-posts method for choosing what to learn next; how to finish a course, with dates written down, a fixed slot and if-then rules; 14 copy-paste AI prompts grouped by job; a four-week plan; and a printable checklist.

Free, 48 pages, phone friendly, drawn illustrations throughout, every link checked on 27 September 2026.

What you'll learn:

Nine free resources, by goal: Excel, typing, SQL, Python, web, Git, NPTEL and SWAYAM, sorted into four goals, each from the tool's maker, a university, the government or a nonprofit, with what to finish with.

How to judge a free course: Three questions: who teaches it, how it tests you, and what exactly is free. NPTEL worked through, and how SWAYAM courses can count for credit.

Four paid tools, free for students: Office 365 Education, Notion, Figma and the GitHub Student Developer Pack: what each gives, how to claim it, and what to do if your college has not given you an email.

Choose what to learn next: The two-job-posts method with a worked example: the one skill both posts ask for is your next course.

A plan to finish: Course dates on paper, one fixed time slot, small complete sessions, and if-then rules for the days it goes wrong.

14 AI prompts and a checklist: Copy-paste prompts to choose, check, plan, learn, get unstuck and show what you learned, plus a four-week plan and a printable wall checklist.

FAQs:

Are the courses really free?

Yes, the learning is free for every resource listed, checked on 27 September 2026. Some, like NPTEL and SWAYAM, charge a fee only if you want the proctored certificate exam.

Which AI tool do I need for the prompts?

Any AI chat assistant works: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot or another. The free versions are enough.

Do I need a college email?

Only for the student tools. The courses in the vault need no college email, and the guide explains what to do if your college has not issued one.

Is the guide itself free?

Yes. Download it, use it, and share it with a classmate.