Millions of students are going back to class this semester getting ready for another grind of homework every night, reading assignments, office hours, and the best part of them all, final exams. A large majority of these students will drop out or fail during the process this semester taking with them a large debt load that they incurred. Instead they should have taken similar courses online for free to determine how well they will do in their paid-for classes thereby increasing their chances later on of passing the real thing.
I have provided a long list of websites that will allow you to sign up for courses online. Some of these websites don’t even require you to register, you can just get on and start learning. Majority of the websites provided are for free and there are some where you will have to pay a fee to use. Before I list all the websites I want to point out a few things to consider before applying.
If you have never gone to college and considering getting a higher level education and you have been out of school for awhile you need to go through some refresher courses to find out how well you still know your basics. You do not want to sign up for a course that requires calculus beforehand, knowing that the last time you took calculus was in high school which was more than 5 years ago. You need to know that you will probably need to retake calculus or sign up for a refresher course before jumping into a higher level math course. Khan Academy is a great place to start to find out where your math skills are.
If you have dropped out of school because of financial reasons you need to know that you can continue going to school and get the education you want online from top universities for free. If you want proof that you passed the course and completed it you can pay for a certificate of completion which many people are collecting now from tons of universities and putting a book together of all their accomplishments, almost like a scrape book. The programming site W3Schools offers certificates of completion for each language you learn so someone with the ambition to learn them all can show anyone they apply with all their certificates as proof. This will show employers that you are still relevant and up-to-date on the market trends.
Do not sign up for a free course with a relaxed idea of doing the work. You need to be aware of the time commitment to the lectures and homework assignments and readings. If you do not have the time for that then be realistic with yourself before signing up. Failing a course you signed up for reflects poorly on your record with the school. If they notice that you are signing up for courses and failing them they will not let you continue signing up for anymore. If the course does get hard then you need to make sure that you drop the course instead of just ignoring it.
Pros
– You can a free education from a top university
– The skills you learn are current and up-to-date
– The information you learn can be used to help further what you want to do
– You only take the classes you want to learn about
– There is no student debt problems later on
– Financial issues won’t slow you down or affect your performance in school
– You can custom build your education piecing together courses from different universities from around the world
– The courses connect you with top professors and researchers in the world
– You might get noticed for the work you do in class by the university or professor
– Chances are people have already networked their way into getting accepting into a top university based on their past performance with that university’s online courses
– Can be taken by middle and high school students to prove academic ability for top universities
– Excellent way to meet and network with other people taking the course online
Cons
– Huge Time commitment
– Very easy to ignore the requirements and class obligations since it is a free course
– You have to make more of an effort to remember to study
– You do not have access to office hours or study groups
– You do not get any official school credit
– Online courses have a higher failure rate and a very very low success rate
– Need consistent high-speed access to the internet
– Limited access to books and research material if not near a major city library
– Difficult to keep up when you fall behind
– You have to stay self-motivated to finish
– There is no professor or TA you can meet with to go over the material in-person
– Not all courses are managed at the same time as the real class
The list provided is taken from an extensive array of websites out there given the proliferation of MOOCs now. Please make sure to take your time going through each one. There are literally thousands of college courses and classes starting this month and the next all over the world. I have written articles on this so if you want to find more resources based on just YouTube and the truth about Education in America then check out my articles, How to Get an Entire Education for free through YouTube and The Cost of Higher Education just went up. There are lots more links to amazing education websites, like this one and this one.
If you have the time and mental abilities, sign up for a normal full-time workload. Challenge yourself to complete the semester with straight As and see how well you do. A smart sophomore in high school that wants to do well in biology would sigh up for an online college level biology course at Stanford knowing that if he passes the course with a top grade he will be able to pass his AP exam with a top score and his college freshmen level biology course with an A as well. Yes, he will still need to take freshman level biology even though he took the AP exam.
Many universities have stopped accepting AP credits just because they do not match the real level of college course work involved at those institutions. That is the reality of AP exams; their not the same thing, even though high school counselors keep telling kids they are.
Enjoy!
The Master List
Website Learning
KhanAcademy – All Purpose Learning – www.khanacademy.com
CK-12 – All Purpose Learning – www.ck12.org
Saylor Academy – All Purpose Learning – www.saylor.org
Open Learn – All Purpose Learning – www.open.edu/openlearn
YouTube Education – Video Learning from Various Areas – www.youtube.com/education
Video Lectures – Broad Spectrum of Topics – videolectures.net
Wikiversity – Online Collaboration for Learning – en.wikiversity.org
Learners TV – Video Collection of Lectures on all major college topics – www.learnerstv.com
Free Lectures Online – Collection of College Course Lectures – www.onlinecourses.com
Pedago – Mobile Learning with Short Lessons – pedago.com
Boundless – All Purpose Online Learning – www.boundless.com
Crego – All Purpose Learning with memory guide – cerego.com
WhizzPast – Learn about the past with amazing stories – www.WhizzPast.com
Open Culture – Educational Website with Many Resources – www.openculture.com
University of Reddit – Learn educational content provided by users – ureddit.com
No Excuse List – List of Online Resources for Learning by Category – noexcuselist.com/testing
Allversity – Take free video courses to improve skills – www.allversity.com
World Mentoring Academy – Learn a Degree Program online – worldmentoringacademy.com
Gooru – K-12 Learning Customized by Teachers/Community – www.goorulearning.org
CourseWorld – Get a complete Liberal Arts Education for Free – www.courseworld.org
Curriki – Global Education Community with Free Resources – www.curriki.org
My Education Key – Complete Education Lessons K-College – www.myeducationkey.com
CosmoLearning – Learn from a variety of topics for free – www.cosmolearning.com
Edventis – Learn anything with educational videos by topic – www.edventis.com
Universities
Harvard Open Learning – Check Available courses
Yale Open Courses – Check Available Courses
Brown University – Brown Open Courses
Princeton University – Check Available Courses
University of Pennsylvania – Check Available Courses
Cornell University – Check Available Courses
Stanford University – Available Courses – OpenClassroom – Engineering – Entrepreneurship
MIT – Check Available Courses
John Hopkins University – Check Available Courses
Berkeley University – Check Available Courses
Carnegie Mellon University – Check Available Courses
1100 Free Online Courses from Top Universities
MOOC Aggregators (Browse the many courses starting soon)
Udemy
Coursera
Udacity
Edx (Schools and Partners)
Coursesite Catalog
Class Central
MOOC List
Academic Earth
Open 2 Study
Canvas Network
NovoED
Iversity
Future Learn
CourseTalk
OpenLearning
RedHoop
Open Course World
SlideRule
MOOCs from Great Universities
Teach or Learn Anything (Paid and Free Learning/Teaching)
Skillshare – Classes created by everyday people for everyone – www.skillshare.com
TakeLessons – Find your next local class by local teachers – takelessons.com
SkillFeed – Video Course to keep your skills current – www.skillfeed.com
Peer 2 Peer University – Online Learning Community – www.p2pu.org
Learn to Be – Provide Free Tutoring to students all over the world – learntobe.org
Learnist – Share what your know with the world – lerani.st
E-180 – Create Brain Dates for people wanting to learn – www.e-180.com
TED Talks – Learn from the Best & sign up to be a local TEDx Speaker – www.ed.ted.com
Floqq – Create Courses and Teach to anyone/Learn Anything – www.floqq.com/en
Creative Live – Creative Classes from Top Experts – www.creativelive.com
Curious – Learn anything – curious.com
DIY – Classes on variety of topics – diy.org
Instructables – DIY projects you can teach or learn from – www.instructables.com
eHow – Discover interesting & useful stuff – www.ehow.com
wikiHow – Learn how to do anything you want – www.wikihow.com
Learn Programming
CodeAcademy – Learn Computer Programming – www.codeacademy.com
KhanAcademy – Learn & Create Programs – www.khanacademy.com
W3Schools – Learn Multiple Languages – www.w3schools.com
Programmr – Learn Multiple Languages with practice modules – www.programmr.com
Hour of Code – Multiple Sites for Coding Practice – code.org/learn
LiveCoding – Learn Code by watching Programmers – Livecoding.tv
Code Combat – Learn coding by playing video games – codecombat.com
Light Bot – Learn basics of programming syntax – lightbot.com
Try Ruby on the Rails – Introduction site to Ruby – TryRuby.org
Rails for Zombies – Learn Ruby on the Rails with Zombies – railsforzombies.org
Ruby – Download & Learn Ruby – www.ruby-lang.org/en/
Learn Org – Learn Multiple Languages by Method – www.learn-js.org
Python Tutor – Get Help Learning Python – pythontutor.com
CodingBat – Practice Fixing Java & Python Problems – codingbat.com
The Code Player – Learn cool tricks with coding from scratch – thecodeplayer.com
HTML5Rocks – Various HTML Tutorials – www.html5rocks.com
Web Fundamentals – Tools for Developers by Google – developers.google.com/web/
Web Site Starter – Created Multi-Device Website tool kit – developers.google.com/web/
SitePoint – Learn Programming with short lessons – www.sitepoint.com
Stack OverFlow – Get Help from fellow programmers – stackoverflow.com
Google Code – Coding Library of common actions – code.google.com
Aquent Gymnasium – Take Free Coding Courses – gymnasium.aquent.com
C++ Institute – Learn the Languages of C/C++ for Free – www.cppinstitute.org
Teaching Tree – Get Clearer Meaning on CS/Math Terms – teachingtree.co
How to earn a Bachelor’s in Computer Science Online
How to get an MIT CS Education for $2000
Learn Foreign Language
Duolingo – Learn Foreign Language – www.duolingo.com
Foreign Services Institute – Learn a Foreign Language from people – fsi-languages.yojik.eu
Live Mocha – Develop your skills for a Foreign Language – livemocha.com
Babbel – Discover a new language and learn it – www.babbel.com
Memrise – Learn A Foreign Language, Culture, Facts & More – www.memrise.com
Lingualy – Learn a language using news, sports, & entertainment articles – lingua.ly
(How To) Pronounce – Pronounce words correctly – howtopronounce.dafterapps.com
Hello Talk – Meet Native Speakers & Improve Fluency – www.hellotalk.com
Forvo – Learn Proper pronunciation of languages – www.forvo.com
Chineasy/Chinese Class – Book and App to learn Chinese – App/Website
Lang-8 – Get Immediate help on writing foreign languages – lang-8.com
Music Training
Justin Guitar – Hundreds of Free Guitar Lessons – justinguitar.com
Guitar Lessons – Learn Different styles of Guitar – www.guitarlessons.com
Zebra Keys – Learn Piano with step-by-step lessons – www.zebrakeys.com
Furmanczyk Academy of Music – Music Lessons on various areas – youtube.com/user/Lypur
Lessons on the Web – Online Piano & Music Lessons – youtube.com/user/LessonsOnTheWeb
Investing
Investopedia – Encyclopedia for all things investing – www.investopedia.com
Stock Market Simulator – Learn how stocks work by trading online – www.stocks-game.com
Paid Training
Lynda – All Around Learning Platform for Software Training – www.lynda.com
OpenSesame – Job Training for Common Business Practices – www.opensesame.com
PluralSight – IT Training for Professionals and Developers – www.pluralsight.com
Code School – Learn Programming Languages – www.codeschool.com
Say Something In – Learn a Foreign Language – www.saysomethingin.com
Busuu – Learn a Foreign Language – www.busuu.com/enc/
Mango Languages – Learn a foreign language w/ movies – mangolanguages.com/individuals
Hour School – Community Created Classes to learn anything – www.hourschool.com
Mixenergy – Learn from Proven Entrepreneurs – mixergy.com
Coder Vox – Coding Bootcamp Training – www.codervox.com
Tuts+ – Video Courses to help improve your skills – tutsplus.com
Apna Courses – Courses taught by Experts in various subjects – www.apnacourse.com
Grovo – Learn the digital skills you need for the workplace – www.grovo.com
Simplilearn – Get Certified Training in Business/CS Courses – www.simplilearn.com
Learnable – Learn programming skills on various languages – learnable.com
Team Treehouse – Learn Web Design, Apps, & More – teamtreehouse.com
General Assembly – Learn Tech, Design, & Business – generalassemb.ly
Eduson – Learn all aspects of business with online videos – www.eduson.tv
The Great Courses – Various College Courses w/ Video Lessons – www.thegreatcourses.com
Online Accreditation
Open Badges – Acquire verification of skills – www.openbadges.org
Credly – Acquire credit for skills – www.credly.com
Degreed – Get your skills and knowledge verified – www.degreed.com
Smarterer – Skill Verification Website – www.smarterer.com
Study Tools
Quizlet – Create Flash Cards and share with anyone and groups – www.quizlet.com
Anki – Create Flash Cards for studying – ankisrs.net
Open Study – Create Study Groups online – www.openstudy.com
LearnStream – Book mark and curate internet websites – learnstream.com
Google Bookmarks – Bookmark anything on the internet – google.com/bookmarks
Delicious – Discover, share, and store content on the internet – delicious.com
Course Hero – Study Resources, Find Tutors, & Share – www.coursehero.com
Freelance Teacher – Structured college course material – www.freelance-teacher.com/videos
Online Challenges
xPrize – Cash Prize for solving extremely difficult challenges – www.xprize.org
Venturesity – Gain Credit & attention for solving puzzles – www.venturesity.com
Rosalind – Use your programming skills to solve biology problems – rosalind.info
Free Audio Books/eBooks
630 Free Audio Books
700 Free eBooks for iPad, Kindle, & Other Devices
Free Children’s Books
200 Free Textbooks
Project Gutenberg
The Harvard Classics – Charles W. Eliot, past Harvard president, made a frequent assertion: If you were to spend just 15 minutes a day reading the right books, a quantity that could fit on a five foot shelf, you could give yourself a proper liberal education. That’s when he created the Harvard Classics – Internet Archive Link, Bartleby Link, GutenBerg Link
Bartleby Books
Miscellaneous
FreeRice – Help Feed less fortunate by answering questions – freerice.com
The Art of Manliness – Improve your manliness knowledge – www.artofmanliness.com
Lizard Point – Knowledge based questions for learning for kids – lizardpoint.com
Unplug The TV – Random Educational Video – unplugthetv.com
LifeHacker – Learn about simple tricks on how to improve your life – lifehacker.com
Infographics Good – Random Infographs on various topics – community.good.is/infographics
MathRun – Math games for kids – mathrun.net
Cooking for Engineers – Cooking for analytical Minds – www.cookingforengineers.com
Metal Floss – Thought inspiring Articles to make you smart – mentalfloss.com
Letters of Note – Read Letters of Importance at one point in time – www.lettersofnote.com
Engineer Guy – Bill Hammack takes complex ideas & makes them easy – engineerguy.com
Arts & Letters Daily – Collection of Higher Education Articles – www.aldaily.com
Wizur – Find out about DVDs/audiobooks on various topics – www.wizur.com
Take your time going through all of these resources because there is a lot to learn. Someone with a fast internet connection, fast computer could easily acquire more knowledge using just this one page of resources than someone going to school for one degree in four years. Think about that for a moment. On top of all these amazing resources in this list the internet still offers way more if you know how to use it correctly.
If after learning all this material you want to turn around and become a teacher then there are websites you can use to create your own online program with. You can create an account and either record and upload, or livestream your programs so that way people have to be there in order to get the material. Many people have started to do this, in addition to writing their own books, whereby they can create another source of income. They piece together programs and create hybrid curriculum in order for people to get the most out of their education. If you feel that the material you create would be the same quality as something found on a MOOC then you can create your own courses on Udemy.
Here are a few streaming sites to help you get started to becoming an online instructor.
YouTube
YouNow
UStream
LiveStream
Bambuser
I hope this list helps someone out there realize the potential online education has now. Even if you just take one class at a time or download a free book/ audiobook you will still be bettering yourself in the long run. There are so many resources available now to help people learn. If you want to take full advantage you can do what Scott Young did with his MIT CS education and complete all the lectures from a four year education in less than a month and then complete the homework assignments right afterwards. It all depends on your level of motivation to want to learn.
In addition to learning I want you to understand that the American Education system is very broken because of poor politics and unions interfering with learning. If you feel that school is getting hard find out why that might be considering that most classrooms in the US have more technology than most higher performing countries elsewhere, like Finland and South Korea. To learn more about the education problem happening in America read the book, “The Smartest Kids in the World,” and learn how other countries are able to produce smarter kids with less money and resources. Learn why Finland’s schools raise some of the smartest kids around and why their classrooms are so successful. That book will tell you the secret of what it takes to get a real education and learn and why so many kids in America just don’t care about learning. You can read more about the problem with education in America in my past article, “American’s care little when it comes to education.” I listed a few books down below for anyone that would like to read about what it takes to motivate, inspire, and raise children to become critical thinkers and innovators.
Books
How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough
Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World by Tony Wagner
World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students by Yong Zhao
Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative by Ken Robinson
The Broken Compass: Parental Involvement with Children’s Education by Ken Robinson
The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need—and What We Can Do About It by Tony Wagner
The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by Susan Wise Bauer
Hacking Your Education by Dale J. Stephens
Don’t Go Back to School: A Handbook for Learning Anything by Kio Stark
The Education of Millionaires by Michael Ellsberg
The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything . . . Fast! by Josh Kaufman
The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman
College Without High School: A Teenager’s Guide to Skipping High School and Going to College by Blake Boles
How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens by Benedict Carey
Learning how to Learn by Joseph D. Novak
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day by Michael J. Gelb
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli