We are seeing
an uptick in online learning lately for several reasons, perhaps most
prominently that there are many children engaged in virtual learning due to the
ongoing pandemic. Whether formally or informally, we are now testing the limits
of our online learning infrastructure and devising new methods to teach and
learn online every single day.
While many of the news stories and
focus are on children and student learning, we should not forget about adult
learners and their interests and needs. Many people have lost their jobs or
some working hours, leading them to consider and pursue a career change or
additional training. Others are finding that they need new skills for a
post-pandemic economy. And like always, some people just want to keep learning,
taking advantage of cheap or free online resources in the process.
Yet, what are the best options, and
where should you start online if you want to learn? Here are 16 of the top
resources for you to review and see if they are for you, divided into three major
categories:
General Knowledge and Learning
This first set of sites is less focused and more a collection of different sites that act as hubs for other more focused topics, or the sites are some of the best at the topics they cover. On each, you will find nearly a lifetime's worth of learning. It will be up to you to determine which ones fit your learning style, preferences in both design and subjects, and budget.
1. Khan Academy
While you might have heard of Khan
Academy as something more specific for kids to learn basic math and science
skills, in truth, it is a website that is good to use for people of all ages
and interests, especially those looking to brush up on skills. While the
courses and videos are meant for people of nearly all ages to understand and
are divided by grade level, they are adult-friendly and generally come with
practice examples for you to work with. Some concepts are generally meant for
college-level or adult learners.
Additionally, the site has expanded
into more subjects in recent years, and you can learn more about history, art,
and even subjects such as economics, all topics that adults could enrich
themselves with at any point in your life. If you are looking for an
entry-level online resource, especially for math topics, you should start by
looking at Khan Academy.
2. TED
Famously hosting talks and lectures
from experts and figures on a range of topics spanning practically all human
knowledge, TED is a fantastic resource to learn new things, get new
perspectives, and hear what the world has to say. You can easily go on the site
for 10 minutes during a lunch break, watch a shorter talk, and gain more from
your lunch break than you thought possible. Alternatively, you could binge all
afternoon and not even get close to bored.
While TED doesn't necessarily have
some of the long-term focused courses of the other resources listed here, you
can watch multiple videos on one subject, look into the speaker's other works
(there is almost always something after a quick Google or YouTube search), or
undertake your own research into your new area of interest. There have even
been recent efforts to create video series and curated playlists for interested
learners on the TED website.
3. JobScout
JobScout, perhaps in contrast to other
entries on this list, is dedicated to fulfilling one primary purpose: to help
you attain the skills necessary to build or find a career, particularly the
online ones. While the site might seem a bit basic by modern standards, that is
perhaps by design so people of all skill levels (even people who have barely
done anything complex on a computer before) can use it, removing as many
distractions as possible.
If you already know precisely what you
are doing with your resume and how to look for a job in your field online, your
time may be better spent elsewhere. Otherwise, you should look into JobScout
and fill in any knowledge gaps you have so you can hit the ground running. It
may even be useful to check the site to see if there is anything you do not
even know you should be doing, considering how quickly the world turns lately.
4. Skillshare
A subscription-based service you might
have heard about from online ads or your favorite online influencers and their
affiliate programs, Skillshare is a hub of various user-created courses on
subjects both broad and niche. With Skillshare, "user-created" does
not mean sub-par, as the course-creators are generally experts in their field,
and the best courses easily rise to the top when it comes to visibility. If you
see a course on Skillshare, there is something to be gained from it, perhaps a
niche skill that would not be covered elsewhere.
There is a monthly cost to the service
and its premium model. However, you can sign up and get started for free for a
time, allowing you to determine whether it is worth it (we think so, especially
if you aren't using other online learning platforms). It may be useful in
different measures depending on your field, and hobbyists will likely find the
most value, but it certainly is a site that the curious mind will delight in.
5. Duolingo
Another site that is one of the best
in its niche for all ages, Duolingo is a language-learning site (that also has
an incredibly effective app) that has grown in popularity to become a staple of
language learning. They encourage daily practice and exercises as a way to
learn languages. They even gamify the process a bit, so you find it easier to
come back every day and help you see that you are making progress.
Currently, with over 36 languages (if
starting from English) and growing, you can expect to learn just about every
major language on the site. If you need to learn a language for work, start
here unless your company provides another program for free. Ultimately,
Duolingo might be the best introductory method online for most languages, the
most well-adapted for mobile, and certainly the best that is affordable by all.
6. YouTube
As expected, YouTube is one of the
best learning resources for adults. Just based on the library's sheer size, it
is one of the best resources online for practically anything. If it is a skill
or basic trick nobody told you about the first time or even deeper concepts in
your field, there is a video explicitly on it. If there is not a video on it,
then it is likely mentioned in another video. There are dozens of channels to
choose from, allowing for all types of learning styles and speeds.
While we will not go into the endless
rabbit hole of which channels you should subscribe to and which videos you
should watch first, you should know that YouTube itself is one of the biggest
search engines in the world and should have a video for just about anything.
Just dive in, avoid the non-educational cat videos and misinformation (which
unfortunately can be a problem), and enjoy, taking note of what you like best
as you go along.
Some of the other sites and resources
listed here have their own YouTube channels. We recommend subscribing to them
to immerse your daily life in learning and expose yourself to potentially
interesting topics.
7. ALISON
ALISON is one of the best online
resources for finding additional resources and brushing up on a wide range of
skills, ranging from career skills to online marketing to photography to
Geography. There is even a popular course on advanced parenting skills.
The site has such a collection that
there seems to be a course for just about everything. ALISON commits to making
this knowledge free and accessible to all, complete with certificates you can
use to bolster a resume or confirm to yourself that you are capable. There are
courses that you pay for and a premium program, but the options are generally
affordable, and there are many free courses to start with.
These courses might be varied, and you
might want to shop around on the site, so to speak, to make sure that you are
spending your time in tune with your most important goals. However, we find
that most time spent learning is time not wasted, so have fun with it.
8. LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com)
Previously known as and still
accessible via Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning is another site that provides a
vast range of general classes and tools for people looking to further their
careers. Having bought the site in 2015, LinkedIn still hosts all of the old
Lynda courses, but there are also many new courses, with more added regularly.
These courses are a bit more expensive
than previously listed resources, at least on average, but you can mostly
expect higher production values (on average). These courses are career-focused,
given the platform's owner, and the courses generally have a corporate feel to
them, which might be different from most of the more personable courses you are
used to. With over 15,000 to choose from, there will undoubtedly be something
worthwhile.
9. Udemy
Udemy is another site that provides
courses on a wide variety of topics, from technology to project management and
more. Still, as opposed to Skillshare and other subscription-based services,
they generally charge per course, making Udemy one of the more expensive
options (outside of an actual university, which also provides a degree).
The courses are generally
high-quality. There are usually checkpoints to go along, and you can go back to
previous materials as needed, making it an excellent choice for some adult
learners.
Udemy's list price on all of their
courses borders on the absurd compared to the discount prices listed. If there
is no sale running on a course, you shouldn't take it as the lower price will
come around soon (we have yet to come across a time where there were no heavy
discounts).
University Resources
For some time now, there have been
several top universities that have been posting lectures online, either on their
websites, on YouTube, or through another program. Whether they are meant as
study aids for existing students, an effective advertisement for the program,
or merely a way for universities to give back to the world, they are there for
your consumption.
While you won't get a degree from watching these lectures, you can learn and immerse yourself in some of the main ideas running through society now or those that will become mainstream in a few years.
We've listed a couple of the top
options here, as well as some websites and tools that more readily collect or
make available these classes and lectures, making it so that you don't have to
search through each university individually and potentially miss engaging
topics. If you look through them all, you might even see some duplicate
content. And if there's another university that you are interested in, do not
be afraid to look them up to see if they have a similar program.
Do you want to find something from a
course at MIT, or are you interested in some of the most interesting ideas
available for free online? If so, you should look at MIT Open Courseware, which
publishes a great deal of MIT course content in one form or another (at the very
least, there are exemplary notes). While not every course has videos for it,
there are nonetheless quite a few offerings, and it is worth it for you to work
through the backlog to see if something sticks with you.
They are continually updating the site
with new material, so you never have to feel left behind. While some of the
material can admittedly be advanced and require a basic degree to begin with,
that might make it even more attractive to adult learners hoping to tackle
advanced topics and determine whether a more specialized field is for them or
not.
For some time now, Yale has been
offering well-done recordings for selected courses online. Most of them are
introductory courses; more advanced studies are currently not available from
them. Still, if you want an introduction to a topic, you'd be hard-pressed to
find a better option than a professor from Yale.
Currently, the site has about 30 to 40
courses listed on a wide variety of entry-level topics. While the offerings
might seem dated at times, you can find more to either enroll in or review on
Coursera, which we shall be talking about shortly. If you are specifically
interested in what Yale can offer in adult education, Open Yale Courses is a
great resource.
12. ItunesU
Most people think of music or podcasts
when they think of Itunes, an application soon to be outdated. But iTunes also
happens to have quite a few other initiatives, and one of the best ones,
especially for curious people, is ItunesU. It has collected courses from many
universities eager to share content and knowledge, including language courses
and even an iPhone app programming course, which became particularly popular.
While not everything listed there is
free, there is more than enough to keep you busy and learning consistently.
There are both video courses and ways to listen to it on audio to educate
yourself while driving or out doing errands.
Unfortunately, ItunesU's immediate
future is in question, given how Itunes was for all intents and purposes
discontinued and split into new entities. If it is still available by the time
you read this, we suggest a look, as the library of knowledge and video courses
available is impressive. As of the time of this writing, ItunesU is slated to
be discontinued at the end of 2021 and perhaps moved into another program.
13. Coursera
Another up-to-date site that collects
hundreds of courses from more than 200 leading universities and other
organizations, Coursera is another top resource for people looking for online
courses in skills both new and old on a wide range of topics. They keep course
quality top-notch across the board, and as you might expect, there is a clear
academic focus.
They also note that many Coursera
courses can be used for degrees, certifications, and more. Professional
development is key to them, and so if you are seriously considering further
formal education, Coursera might be able to help you get a jump start before
you dive completely into the pool.
14. edX
Another excellent site that collects
courses and makes them easily available to the public, edX has proven extremely
popular (hundreds of thousands of learners each day). Most users are thrilled
with the quality of the courses they take. A non-profit organization, edX, was
founded by Harvard and MIT with the hope of fostering learning online and
provide knowledge to as many people as possible.
Certificates are available for many
courses, but there are steps involved in that process, so if you're hoping to
gain credits or certifications, you might want to look carefully. If you're
simply hoping to learn something new, there's no reason not to look into
everything edX has to offer.
Coding and Technology
Whether you are looking for a career change, a new skill to add to your resume or a new hobby, there are plenty of sites and resources online set to teach you about various technology, computing, and coding topics. While there are an endless amount of niche tutorials and plenty of forums and communities of coders, you might find that the following are the best starting points:
15. Microsoft Learn
Being one of the largest tech
companies in the world (if not the outright largest), Microsoft naturally has
online resources for people to learn to code, use technology more effectively,
and use their programs more effectively. While there is undoubtedly a bit of
self-interest in providing this information on their programs, there is also
too much well-presented information to ignore. Much of what you can learn will
let you do your job much more easily and become qualified for plenty more jobs
if you're looking for work.
On it, you can become Microsoft
Certified in a wide variety of topics, including development, data science,
security, and more. Most of these programs are worth your time, and we
encourage you to take a closer look once you get a chance.
16. CodeAcademy
One of the premier sites on the
internet to learn coding, CodeAcademy offers people the chance to learn coding
from the ground up, generally offering tutorials and practice opportunities for
a wide variety of programming languages, including Javascript, R, C++, and
nearly a dozen others. Most people interested in coding for a particular reason
will find their needs met there, and there is a lovely community to get to know
on the site as well.
CodeAcademy has a wide range of
programs and various courses available, including those related to web
development, data science, computer science, and more. If you want to learn
more about computers, the internet, and how it comes together, you will not
find a better site to start out with.
Do Not Forget Tools to Make Learning Easier
If you are hoping to improve your
online learning experience in general or are taking online courses, do not
forget the importance of learning the ins and outs of the tools you use most
often to make the most of your time and most likely money.
Think about the tools and programs you
use most often online. Perhaps they are simple web browsers, word processing
programs or services, or something else entirely. Nearly all of them have
advanced functions that allow you to hold and save data more easily, use them
more efficiently, and perform functions you previously would not be aware of.
We recommend starting with office suite programs (Microsoft Word, Google Docs,
Excel, etc.), the video call programs you use most often, and whatever online
platforms you use for formal online education.
And while some of these programs may
change or get fazed out of use over time, your knowledge of searching out and
learning advanced functions will remain, making learning new tools a breeze.
That is one of the most valuable tech skills of all in today's job market and
society.
Use These Tools as You Go Along
One last word of advice before
concluding this piece: use these tools in conjunction with projects or learning
goals you want to achieve if you want the skills and knowledge to stick. Want
to learn to code? Have a goal in mind and program your idea as you use some of
the sites listed above to teach yourself. Want to learn more about Russian
literature? Get a stack of books and read them in tandem with online courses
about it. You do not learn how to cook by just watching cooking videos and
thinking about them.
So while you can still passively watch
and take in the courses, that will only do so much. The best resources and
tools listed above will have a practice or active component and help you engage
with the material. Even a simple quiz after an online lecture can help you
determine if you have grasped the material to help you stay accountable to your
learning goals. And while the pandemic might limit things in some ways now,
there is always a way to learn and practice if you can find the time and space.
Conclusion
There are so many interesting websites
and helpful tools online that we could have easily listed hundreds of resources
here and only barely scratched the surface. That being said, most of them are
niche and perhaps best for after you have explored the sites listed above. If
you're wondering which one to pick or where you should head next, do not think
about it and instead just dive right in, knowing that you will be satiating
your curiosity in one way or another moving forward.
