“Education is not a filling bucket, but a lighting fire“
– William Yeats
Every new year people make a list of resolutions that they intend to keep (or maybe not) during the following months.
This time, instead of going for the usual things, I decided to learn as much as I can in order to improve my skills and acquire new knowledge. This is in preparation for the Master’s degree that I dream about but have not yet signed up for. I sure hope it will be in the very near future 🙂
I have already shared with you the fact that I am a foreign languages teacher and that I am a voracious book reader. I am also an enthusiastic student who will attend all kinds of conferences, webinars or broadcasts and download lots of books (Thank you Kindle)!
During the holidays I spent some time looking for excellent and inspiring education sites that offer college level, online classes from the top schools and universities. Best of all? They are FREE, gratis, gratuit, frei!
Here are the Top 5 Free Online Education Sites
that you need to check and register to!
Academic Earth
Established in 2008 and modeled after the very successful Open Courseware offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, better known as MIT, Academic Earth has curated more than 750 online courses as well as over 8500 individual online lectures which allow anyone, anywhere in the world to have access to college education level courses.
The best part is that you select any of course from Arts and Sciences to Humanities to Social Science. You can go at your own pace and no one is looking over your shoulder. I personally am more inclined towards languages and writing (no surprise right?) 😉
Coursera
Coursera offers access to high education from the top universities absolutely free of charge.
What is very interesting is that the universities are not only North American but from around the world, from Scotland to Germany to Singapore!
As you know I am a polyglot and I love anything that has to do with Foreign Languages, from their roots to their actual usage.
I have signed up for an upcoming course “Introduction to Linguistics” by a Dutch University. One of my dreams is to go for my Masters in Applied Linguistics. So I am preparing for it by reading and learning as much as possible.
Ah by the way, you can earn a verified certificate so what’s not to love about that? 🙂
Edx
EdX offers online interactive courses and there are so many subjects to choose from the highest ranked universities!
The site was originally created by Harvard and MIT, two of the best and most prestigious learning institutions in the world.
What course did I pick? The Art of being a Teacher 🙂
Now it may be for beginner teachers but hey, as I said I am always willing to learn something new, so I never say no to an opportunity to improve my skills!
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an excellent site offers many courses for everyone, from beginner to advanced. You can browse by subjects, sign up via a social media account or email and then start acquiring knowledge!
I already have my eyes on a few topics and they revolve around Ancient Art Civilizations!
That is like traveling through time and find out more about what happened during that period 😉
University of the People
A tuition-free Online University? Who came up with that brilliant idea?
Well it sure does exist and I am beyond thrilled to have found it!
The University of the People is an accredited university that offers high quality education from the most renowned universities, allows students to study anytime, anywhere.
Some programs even lead to an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree!
The only thing I noticed is that there are some small application and examination fees to pay which does not make it completely free but it is only a fraction of what you’d otherwise pay at a regular school.
I’m still undecided as to which course or degree to pursue but trust me it will be worth the investment.
Bonus:
MIT Open Courseware.
I simply couldn’t forget to include it since it’s is one of the best free online course material websites EVER!
MIT offers so many choices and the cool thing I found out is that they even have some translated courses which make my heart skip a beat! The more, the merrier right?
Now you know that how much I love studying and reading, so I know where to go if I am in search of inspiration and motivation!
So there you have the Top 5 Free Online Education Sites.
I definitely invite you to go and check them out. If you sign in for a course let me know how it goes!
Now over to you,
Tell me…
Have you ever taken a free online class? If so where?
Are there any other sites I should add or visit?
Always remember this…
Until next time,
All the best, Tashi Delek!
K
Traveller Soul 