I’m several years into retirement and always looking for new things to learn. Not for credit or working towards a degree or certificate; just for the pleasure of new knowledge. They say learning new things keeps dementia at bay; I just say it’s fun.
Here are some examples of free and low-cost learning platforms for people of every age:
· Open Yale Courses, introductory courses taught by Yale faculty, free. Example online classes:
o Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics
o Introduction to Ancient Greek History
o Financial Theory
o Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature
· And my favorite, a course I’ve taken and learned a lot from:
· Harvard online courses, courses taught by Harvard faculty, free. Example online classes:
o Introduction to Computer Science
o New Ideas for Nonprofit Leaders
o Contemporary China: The People’s Republic, Taiwan and Hong Kong
o Fundamentals of Neuroscience
· Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes, classes offered for seniors (50+) through local universities (often professors as instructors), varying costs. Check here to see if your local university hosts an Osher Institute. Example online classes:
o Basic Watercolor Introduction (offered through University of Utah)
o Yoga for Movement and Flexibility (offered through University of Utah)
· Smithsonian Associates, classes offered through the Smithsonian Institution (the world’s largest museum, education and research complex), varying costs. Example online classes:
o Achieving Balanced Compositions in Photography ($45-55)
o Frida Kahlo: Her Art and Life ($25-30)
o George Washington in Barbados: A Remarkable Journey ($20-25)
o Inside Smithsonian Libraries: the Cullman Library ($40-50)
· One Day University, offering hundreds of videos of past in-person lectures by university faculty, membership at $8.95/ month or $139/year. Example videos:
o President Ike: The Legacy of Dwight D. Eisenhower
o New Class/New Images: The Remarkable James Webb Space Telescope
o The Amazing World of Frequency: From Bad Vibes to Good Vibrations
o The Universal Timekeeper: Reconstructing History Atom by Atom
Just do a little googling on your own and you’ll be surprised how many different learning opportunities you’ll find online. Enjoy!
