Below is the link to a site that someone sent me, and the introduction on their front page, they have links to sites with tutorials on the following subjects:
About U is a collection of free online courses from About.com.
Each online course is sent to you via email on a daily or weekly basis and is designed to help you learn a specific skill or solve a particular problem. There are no grades or degrees, only a whole lot of free online learning.
When studying an online course, I find it helpful to study a topic from a few sources, or supplement a course I'm taking with additional material. For example, I'm currently studying to be a Certified Professional Trainer in a free course offered by ACT. ACT's certification is quite revolutionary as they offer it free of charge as long as you complete their 300 page textbook and pass their online exam (see previous post: Get Certified).
However, as a suplement to what I'm learning in Physical Training I'm watching lectures on General Human Anatomy from Academic Earth, a website that offers sets of lectures from various universities on a host of different subjects.
I think this is one great way to get a well rounded and (in this case) free education, find your desired course ( I prefer those that offer a diploma or certification at the end), and then supplement your studies with university courses on that subject, you'll be sure to get a well rounded education in that field.
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Universities offering Open Course Ware
There are a host of courses available from universities online. I found some of it led to a lot of time spent looking at lecture notes, parts of classes, courses that do not offer any university credit, and in many cases not getting anything that would bring me from A-Z as far as "real life" goes.
For example, if I wanted a career as a musician, I would look for music courses. However when you find music courses under university open course ware, you'll often find the course to be something like, "Universe of Music, investigating the role of instruments, culture, myth and science in the evolution of music." (real example used) Which is something I don't have the time or desire to delve into.
However, others may find these helpful in their development so I'm posting some of the main universities offering open course ware online, remember that these courses will not earn you university credit, it's purely for learning.
Carnagie Melon University - Open Learning Initiative. You'll find courses on topics like Chemistry, Statistics, Modern Biology, Logic & Proofs and Physics to name a few.
University of California - Irving I liked this site and the open course ware it offers. Seems quite complete and on topics like Social Sciences, Engineering, Biological Sciences, Education, Business Management, etc.
UC Berkeley’s OpenCourseWare webcasts can be found on three websites: Webcast.Berkeley, Berkeley on YouTube, and Berkeley on iTunes University.
Weber State University Available Departments in open course ware are: Automotive Technology, Criminal Justice, English, Health Promotion and Human Performance, Information Systems & Technology
Capilano University offers open course ware in Anthropology, Art History, Business, Chemistry, Computing Science, English, Geography, Mathematics & Statistic, Philosophy and Studio Art.
University of Utah. You have to create an account to access their courses. Categories of learning are: Art & Art History, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Educational Psychology, English, History, Math, Pharmacotherapy, Physics, Teaching & Learning, Computer Science.
The Universities with open course ware that I wouldn't bother perusing
University of Notre Dame. This site had topics that I found interesting such as Africana Studies, Peace Studies, Latino Studies, etc. They had alot of the material as "reading assignments' and only provided the references. This would mean time spent looking for the material, which for me isn't worth it.
Michigan State University offering courses on: Food Safety, Horse Management, International Business, Planning and Zoning. Somehow - except for International Business - those topics don't seem relevant to me.
Tufts University this is a list of all open course warethey have to offer, I looked at a few subjects and some didn't seem comprehensive, but they do have a very wide array of subjects so it might be worth a try if you're interested in something as random as epidemiology and biostatics.
John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health this university course ware is health; from infectious diseases to mental health. I'm sure that will appeal to some people.
MIT University - Open Course Ware. This university turned up alot whenever I searched for courses, however in looking at their courses I wasn't able to find anything very straight forward and conclusive.
University of Massachusetts Boston This site seemed to mainly offer lecture notes for its courses.
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This is a course that I'm taking on Entrepreneurship. It's quite informative and the audios and videos make it enjoyable. It's developed by My Own Business Inc., a non-profit, and doesn't cost a cent.
You have to sign up for the course but it's a simple process and smooth sailing after that.
Check it out at myownbusiness.org
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These courses will not give you an official diploma or certification. However, many of them are professionally produced and are informative and useful. You can include them in your resume and they will definitely assist in your personal and educational development.
PS: When perusing the sites below, many times clicking on a course seems to lead to a "dead-end" with only a write up and no further links on the page, often the links to the actual course and its materials will be in a menu on the left side, or sometimes in a link in the corner somewhere, just look around and you'll find it.
General Courses
School for Champions has 73 Courses (Yes, I counted) in categories of Academic, Life Issues and Professional.
A collection of online courses in 35 topics under the categories of Liberal Arts, Science, Technology, and Business. Each of the 35 topics have further links to several courses from a variety of sites and organizations. Take your pick. I found this one helpful.
GCF Free Learning is a site offering courses on microsoft applications like Excel, Access, Powerpoint and Word.
Courses in Business
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
This is a large collection of free, entrepreneurial training with 90 Online Learning Programs. You do have to register, but these are good courses on a variety of topics relating to the business field and have tests at the end to measure your comprehension and mastery.
Small Business Training Network
Free courses in Finance & Accounting, Business Planning, Surviving a Slow Economy, Marketing & Advertising, Business Management, Starting a Business and, Government Contracting. Free Registration is required
Courses in Math
Online Math and Statistic Courses offered by top Universities
This is a listing of over 20 free math courses from basic math to trigonometry being offered by universities. There are assignments, quizzes and exams that are included with each course. These help you to gauge your comprehension of the material you studied.
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Here are some of the sites that offer free language courses. If I was to pay for a course, I would probably choose a program or local course to attend.
The Master List of Free Language Learning Resources. This is a very useful site with links to 1000s of free language learning sites, courses, podcasts and more.
A variety of foreign language lesson podcasts
Good site for learning Arabic
Latin and Classical Greek
Good courses for learning Greek, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, English, & Portuguese.
A free language School
BBC’s basic language courses, with certificate
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http://diplomaguide.com/articles/Online_Math_and_Statistics_Classes_Offered_Free_by_Top_Universities.html