COURSERA: A platform for transforming lives through free/ low-cost, online education

Coursera was founded in 2012. This program provides a world where anyone, anywhere can transform their life by accessing the best learning experience. The program is  provided by the world’s top universities and education providers.  With 148 university partners across 29 countries, Coursera has built a platform where they offer 1,957 courses. The courses have been viewed/studied by 22 million learners. Resulting in 600,000 course certificates being earned.  You may explore course materials for free using the audit option but if you want to earn a course certificate, you have to switch to the paid option. 

The courses, each priced at $29-$99 (approx), allow you to learn a new skill and earn a course certificate in 4-6 weeks .  Courses include: recorded video lectures, auto-graded and peer reviewed assignments, and community discussion forums.  To master a specific career skill, you may join a specialization where you complete a number of courses, tackle hands-on projects, and earn a specialization certificate.  This involves 4-6 months of online study and costs $250-$500. For those interested, online degree programs are offered  for 1-3 years of study. They are available in business, computer science, and data science.

 The categories of courses offered are as follows:

·         Arts and humanities o   history o   Music & Art o   Philosophy ·         Business o   Leadership & Management o   Finance o   Marketing o   Entrepreneurship o   Business Essentials o   Business Strategy ·         Computer science o   Software Development o   Mobile & Web Development o   Algorithms o   Computer Security & Networks o   Design & Product ·         Data science o   Data Analysis o   Machine Learning o   Probability & Statistics ·         Language & learning o   Learning English o   Other Languages

·         Life sciences o   Animals & Veterinary Sciences o   Bio informatics o   Biology o   Medicine & Healthcare o   Nutrition o   Clinical Science ·         Math & logic o   65 sub-categories ·         Personal development o   100 sub-categories ·         Physical science & engineering o   Electrical Engineering o   Mechanical Engineering o   Chemistry o   Environmental Science & Sustainability o   Physics & Astronomy o   Research Methods ·         Social sciences o   Economics o   Education o   Governance & Society o   Law o   Psychology

To explore the Coursera website and identify a course to start the ball rolling for you, please click here.

Posted by Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi 

Free-Ed.Net: A free-education and learning website

Free-Ed.Net, is a launching pad for your future, according to Dave Heiserman (the website founder and administrator). This site is dedicated to  free-education  and free-learning.  The website’s homepage provides a very long list of educational/learning topics that are currently available.  The subject areas covered by  various topics are, (arranged alphabetically) as follows:

·         Accounting & Bookkeeping (5 sections)

·         Administration (see Office Skills & Administration)

·         Advertising (see Marketing, Advertising & Sales)

·         Agriculture (see Food, Agriculture, & Environmental Science)

·         Ancient Studies (see Classical & Ancient Studies)

·         Bookkeeping (see Accounting & Bookkeeping)

·         Building & Construction (2 sections & 12 subsections)

·         Business (4 sections)

·         Classical & Ancient Studies (4 sections) 

·         Computer Science & Information Technology (8 sections)

·         Construction (see Building & Construction)

·         Design (see Visual Arts & Design)

·         Economics (4 sections)

·         Editing (see Writing, Editing, & Publishing)

·         Engineering & Technology (9 sections) 

·         Environmental Science (see Food, Agriculture, & Environmental Science)

·         Food, Agriculture, & Environmental Science (7 sections)

·         Health (see Nursing & Allied Health)

·         Hospitality & Human Services (7 sections & 16 subsections)

·         Industry (see Manufacturing & Industry)

·         Information Technology (see Computer Science & Information Technology)

·         Literature (8 sections)

·         Manufacturing & Industry (4 sections) 

·         Marketing, Advertising & Sales (3 sections & 2 subsections)

·         Mathematics (12 sections)

·         Media Studies (4 sections & 5 subsections) 

·         Nursing & Allied Health (8 sections & 25 subsections)

·         Office Skills & Administration (3 sections & 3 subsections)

·         Performing Arts (3 sections & 10 subsections)

·         Philosophy (4 sections)

·         Publishing (see Writing, Editing, & Publishing)

·         Sales (see Marketing, Advertising & Sales)

·         Science (6 sections & 28 subsections)

·         Services (see Hospitality & Human Services)

·         Social Studies (11 sections & 59 subsections)

·         Technology (see Engineering & Technology)

·         Transportation Technologies (5 sections & 15 subsections)

·         Visual Arts & Design (4 sections & 16 subsections)

·         Writing, Editing, & Publishing (5 sections)

To explore the various sections, subsections, and topics and to see whether there is something there that interests you, please click here.

Posted by Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi

Openculture.com – a goldmine for those seeking free online education

For those seeking free online education, Openculture.com has a lot to offer including:

·         1,200 Free online courses

·         1,000 MOOCs

·         1,150 Free movies

·         700 Free audio books

·         800 Free ebooks

·         200 Free textbooks

·         300 Free language lessons

·         150 Free business courses

·         Free K-12 education

Their 1,200+ free online courses include the following courses. These courses are offered by top universities in the Humanities and Social Sciences (629 courses) and the Sciences (593 courses):

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

·         Archaeology (3 courses)

·         Architecture (5 courses)

·         Art and Art History (13 courses)

·         Classics (15 courses)

·         Demography (2 courses)

·         Design (2 courses)

·         Economics (67 courses)

·         Film (7 courses)

·         Food (11 courses)

·         Geography (10 courses)

·         History (88 courses)

·         Journalism /Writing (7 courses)

·         Language (38 courses)

·         Law (22 courses)

·         Literature (80 courses)

·         Linguistic (3 courses)

·         Media Studies /Communication (16 courses)

·         Music and Performing Arts (12 courses)

·         Philosophy (147 courses)

·         Political Science, International Relations, and Law (30 courses)

·         Religion (34 courses)

·         Sociology (16 courses)

·         Urban Studies (1 course)

SCIENCES

·         Aeronautics (2 courses)

·         Anthropology (5 courses)

·         Astronomy (17 courses)

·         Biology (82 courses)

·         Business (42 courses)

·         Chemistry (29 courses)

·         Computer Science (125 courses)

·         Engineering (Mechanical, Civil, & Electrical) (65 courses)

·         Environment & Natural Resources (29 courses)

·         Math (62 courses)

·         Physics (79 courses)

·         Psychology & Neuroscience (52 courses)

·         Public Health (4 courses)

To check out all that Openculture.com has to offer, please click here.

Posted by Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi 

Scholly – the App Bringing Millions of Dollars to College Students in Need, and Encouraging Educational ‘Opportunity for All’

Christopher Gray found that each year $100 million in scholarships go unclaimed while students drown in debt.  He confirmed that there is a lot of scholarship money out there and through hard work and diligent searching, he landed himself a whopping $1.3 million in scholarships.

Gray came up with the idea for a mobile app to make things easier for other students seeking scholarships. He later teamed up with Nick Pirollo and Bryson Alef to become co-founders of what is now known as Scholly and what will forever be known as encouraging ‘Opportunity for All’.

Gray made an apperance on the ABC’s “Shark Tank” to convince a panel of financiers to back his business and was able to secure $40,000 in capital. Within hours of the episode airing, the Scholly site was bombarded with 80,000 requests. Since then, 850,000 users have downloaded the app—and it has connected students with $50 million in scholarships. 

Gray has met with Bill Gates, been honored by Oprah Winfrey, invited  to the White House twice. As well as Steve Case, the AOL co-founder, awarding a $100,000 competitive grant to Scholly.

Aware of the app’s potential, some users have bought the app for other students. Such as Karen Starks, a teacher who recently used her own money to purchase the Scholly app for all 600 seniors in her school.  Then there are people like Edmund Ford who organized a successful citywide fund-raising drive that enabled Memphis, Tennessee to become the first city in the U.S. to have Scholly for its school system.

To determine the various scholarships that a student is eligible for, Gray’s app asks for simple background information on the student's : 1) gender, 2) race, 3) current location, 4) citizenship, 5) GPA, 6) grade level, 7) degree sought, 8) preferred colleges, 9) major/ field of study, 10) whether application is based on need, and/or merit, and 11) miscellaneous – a list of multiple questions to find out background, health, and other factors (e.g., whether a veteran dependent) that could make a student eligible for some of the many scholarships out there.

To access the “full story” on Gray’s app, please click here and also here; and to check out the app and confirm that the needed investment (the one-time fee now stands at $2.99) is worth it, please click here.

Posted by Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi

The Big List: 153 Places To Educate Yourself Online at No Cost

Marc and Angel Chernoff are truly amazing people who share a great passion for inspiring others to live to their fullest potential. They have shared over 800 self-improvement articles on the internet, with regard to education, Marc has compiled a list of places on the internet where anyone can educate himself or herself for free – 153 websites altogether, divided into 13 sections as follows:

·         Science and Health (21 websites)

·         Business and Money (12 websites)

·         History and World Culture (14 websites)

·         Law (10 websites)

·         Computer Science and Engineering (13 websites)

·         Mathematics (9 websites)

·         English and Communications (8 websites)

·         Foreign and Sign Languages (6 websites)

·         Multiple Subjects and Miscellaneous (19 websites)

·         Free Books and Reading Recommendations (20 websites)

·         Educational Mainstream Broadcast Media (9 websites)

·         Online Archives (8 websites)

·         Directories of Open Education (4 websites)

Those who have viewed Marc’s list referred to it as “great, super, very useful and helpful, fantastic,brilliant, priceless, invaluable,absolutely amazing,” etc.  A viewer wrote that Marc now has no need to do another good deed for humanity as his “list” has got him covered.  Another viewer commented that the currently available options for free education leaves us with no excuse to remain ignorant. To view and explore Marc’s list, please click here.

Posted by Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi 

“No Excuse List” – A website that composes lists offering free education

“No Excuse List” suggests that anybody with internet access has no excuse for remaining unskilled or for not having any academic training.

The “No Excuse List” website is a doorway that leads online explorers to other doors offering free education.

The various sections of the “No Excuse List” include:

·         Academics – List of twenty (20) websites covering a great number of courses offered by various universities, colleges, and other institutions

·         Art – ten (10) websites

·         Computer Programming / WebDev – ten (10) websites

·         Cooking – eight (8) websites

·         eBooks – eight (8) websites

·         How To + DIY – eight (8) websites

·         Languages – eight websites

·         Music – seven (7) websites

·         Other – seven (7) websites

To explore the “No Excuse List” and confirm that you really do not have any excuse, please click here.

NOTE

Link to University of Reddit (not your usual university), under Academics section of the “No Excuse List”, may not be working. Please enter University of Reddit by clicking here.

Posted by Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi

The Best Websites for Free Online Courses, Certificates, Degrees, and Educational Resources

How To Geek has presented the 14 websites below as “the best websites for free online courses, certificates, degrees, and educational resources.” Please check them out:

(1)   MIT OpenCourseWare offers free lecture notes, exams, and videos from classes at MIT. OpenCourseWare (OCW) was proposed by the MIT faculty in 2000.  They have been publishing educational materials from their courses freely and openly on the Internet since the first proof-of-concept site in 2002, containing 50 courses. By November 2007, MIT had published almost the entire curriculum, over 1,800 courses in 33 academic disciplines. No registration is required to take advantage of these educational materials.

(2)   The OpenCourseWare (OCW) Consortium is a no cost and openly licensed digital publication for high quality college and university‐level educational materials that is organized in course form. These courses often include  planning materials and evaluation tools and are accessible to anyone, anytime online

(3)   EdX is a joint, not-for-profit partnership between The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. This program offers MIT and Harvard classes online for free to millions of people around the world. Founded by Harvard and MIT in 2012, EdX is an online learning destination and MOOC provider, offering high quality courses from the world’s best universities and institutions to students everywhere.

(4)   The Open Yale Courses website provides free and open access to a selection of introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University. The lectures are recorded in the classrooms and are available in video, audio, and text transcript formats. You are not required to register for online classes. However, you will NOT receive course credit, a degree, or a certificate.

(5)   The Open University (OU) provides high-quality university education online to anyone. Nearly all of the undergraduate courses they offer do not require prior qualifications or experience.  The OU has developed their own style of distance learning called “supported open learning.” That means  the student can work wherever you chose and plan your studies around your other commitments. You will receive support from a tutor or online forum and have contact with other students in your own region or online. You also have access to student advisors and study facilities in your own region.

(6)   FreeEdNet is a collection of various courses, tutorials, and learning materials available on the web, including some that people at FreeEdNet are developing themselves. The courses are free and, normally, there is no sign-up. Simply find a course you are interested in studying and begin.  FreeEdNet is not intended to replace your formal education at a reputable, degree-granting school. Use FreeEdNet to review material you previously learned in school, prepare for a job, school placement exams, extend your vocational skills, or even learn more theoretical information about your work, hobby, or special interest.

(7)   ALISON (Advance Learning Interactive Systems Online) provides high-quality, engaging, interactive multimedia courseware for certification and standards-based learning. This education is  free to the individual learner. You can learn anywhere using their interactive, self-paced multimedia.  Nominal fees are charged for the use of the ALISON Manager.This service allows teachers, trainers, tutors, and HR managers to easily and effectively oversee, manage, and report  the online learning of groups of students. However, if you are an individual learner, you do not need to create a group or become a member of a group. Simply begin your study by clicking on a course of your choice.

(8)   The Online Education Database (OEDB) has compiled 200 online courses from big universities, such as MIT, Yale, and Tufts. You can take classes from these universities without having to submit an application or pay any tuition.

(9)   Annenberg Learner provides free multimedia resources to help teachers increase their expertise in their fields and assist them in improving their teaching methods. Sharpening and advancing excellent teaching skills  in American schools. The professional development of K-12 teachers is supported through the distribution of educational video programs with coordinated web and print materials

(10)  University of the People is a tuition-free, non-profit institution that provides online education to individuals all over the world. The University does not charge you to take classes, any reading and other study materials, or for annual enrollment.  In order to remain sustainable, the University of the People does charge small processing fees for application and examination.

(11)           The webcast.berkeley is a central campus service offered by UC Berkeley for recording and publishing course and campus events for students at UC Berkeley and learners around the globe. Since 2001, webcast.berkeley has now made over 16,000 hours of content available on the site for UC Berkeley students and for students around the globe.

(12)           Open Culture is a website that focuses on educational media collected from other sites. The user may download free courses from universities in MP3 format, as well as language lessons in podcast format. There are a  variety of other podcasts that cover subjects such as technology, travel, music, science, and more. You can also find audiobooks, movies, and eBooks on the site.

(13)           GCFLearnFree provides free, quality, innovative online learning, in over 750 different lessons, for anyone who wants to improve their technology, literacy, and math skills. You can learn what you want, when you want. View one tutorial or complete a whole class.

(14)           Google Code University has gathered a large collection of educational materials to help you learn how to program computers.  Whether you want to learn how to program in C++, Java, or Python, or program your website using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. There are also course contents contributed by other industries and academic institutions to help teach subjects such as Android programming and Web programming worldwide. You can find tutorials and introductions, courses on advanced or specialized topics, recorded video lectures, and courses with problem sets and exercises at GCU

Additional Support For Your Study from How-To-Geek

How-To-Geek has some awesome apps and resources to help you get textbooks, software you might need, online tools, and even how to start a blog to help fill your portfolio. If you’re attending college in person, they have some tips on how to email your professor and get a quick response . Whether you’re taking free classes online or attending college, you can keep track of your homework assignments using their online service, called Soshiku.

Posted by Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi