Best Places for Free Top-Notch Learning

You may think that free education stops when you graduate from that public high school that is funded by taxpayers. Not so! Free educational opportunities are all around you, no matter what your current station in life is. You may not have gone on to college at all; you may have some college under your belt but never finished; you may have a degree; you may be in mid-life, looking for some mentally stimulating; you may be someone looking to upgrade your skills in order to make a job change or to start your own business. Free education is available to all of you, and this dissertation service will show you the places to go!

MOOC’S

How would you like to take a course from Harvard, MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, or a host of other big names universities? Well you can, through a phenomenal new concept. You may not have heard of MOOC’s, but the term stands for Massive Open Online Courses, and many of the top colleges in the country are offering them for free. All you need is a computer and the ability to “google” the term EdX – this is that platform which most of these schools are using, and you can access their online course catalogues for courses, lectures, video, webinars, and so forth. Here is why these are really worthwhile:

• If you are a student entering college soon and you need to “bone up” on skills and concepts in a specific area of study or master in different styles of writing, you can take a course
• If you are working and want to add coursework in order to qualify for a better position or to make a career change, you can find relevant coursework and enroll. You will not receive college credit for the courses, but you will receive certificates of completion, and add this to the educational portion of your resume. Employers do recognize MOOC’s and are impressed when someone has taken the time to improve skills and knowledge
• If you are someone who is just interested in self-learning for the love of learning, these programs are excellent. Many of us do not do well with self-teaching, and here’s an opportunity to learn from true field experts. Moreover, you can learn literally everything and find unique courses that are not taught in local colleges.

Free Lectures and Programs Offered Locally

Check out Museums, Colleges, and Libraries in your area. You might be surprised at the number of opportunities for free programs and lectures, many of the entire series of lectures on a given topic. If you have always wanted to master a certain subject, this may be your chance. A lot of museums nowadays have special programs for those who want to know more about the history of art and do it for free. Speakers are often real professionals with priceless experience that will be very helpful for you. What is more, you can always come up to them after the lecture and discuss specific questions. And speaking of the library, what a great resource for study – any area at all! Also there is a special atmosphere which will inspire you to study even more and you can meet people who are also interested in the same subject and will help you with difficult questions.

The Internet

What a wealth of great learning opportunities are now available, and not just from conducting a Google search and reading through Wikipedia or other print sources. Here are 4 amazing places to go!

• Google Books: you can find books on virtually any topic whatsoever, as well as video and audio presentations. Suppose you have decided to open a handyman business, and you have some excellent skills in certain areas but not in others. Suppose you need to learn how to hang doors, for example. You will be able to find the resources you need here. It is very useful if you have no access to the printed books or prefer e-books instead.
• ITunes U: This is a relatively new enterprise, but more and more learning resources are added daily for those who have a desire to “know.” Schools and colleges are uploading resources for free, including print materials, slideshows and shares, videos, and audio venues. And a great feature? They’re all mobile compatible!
• TED: These letters stand for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. If you are into self-enrichment and learning, you can download and stream over 1400 “TED talks” on a huge variety of topics. They are engaging and entertaining! You can also watch these mini-lectures on YouTube. They are short and very helpful and you will find something interesting for you for sure.
• Kahn Academy: What a phenomenon. Several years ago, Salman Kahn received a desperate call from his niece who was having real difficulty with her math homework. Through Skype, he tutored her. That’s when the idea hit him. Why not offer an academy for any student who was struggling with anything? His innovation has exploded and is now actually funded by a huge number of foundations (including Bill Gates), and the coursework has expanded far beyond math – history, marketing, computer programming, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, and more. Anyone who wants to may just access the site, go through the catalogue, and begin a course – all taught by phenomenal teachers and professors – just like being in a classroom!

Anyone today can become a learner with some motivation and a computer or transportation. Whatever your purpose is, take advantage of the free educational opportunities from any of these sources. Never stop learning!