Lifelong Learning: So Many Opportunities, So Little Time

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:

o   The Science of Wellbeing

 

·      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!