Free Online Courses

Data base of online course offerings — OpenCulture has compiled a list of University free courses. In their list, they identify what form the lecture comes in (iTunes, Web video, YouTube, etc.). In addition to course listings, they also offer lists of free audio books, free textbooks, and free language lessons. This site does not offer its own curriculum, but rather it compiles resources for easy navigating.

Free interactive college classes — Udacity is a digital university that specializes in computer science courses. The web layout is extremely easy to navigate. You are given five-minute video lectures with quizzes and assignments. There are no textbooks required, and everything is free. In addition to the class, Udacity offers an online forum where students can collaborate together, study, and work in groups. They can arrange for you to take a proctored exam to gain credit at participating universities. They even offer to hand your resume to partnering companies. This institution is about helping the student succeed on all levels!

Free K-12 Online Curriculum — This free online K-12 curriculum is offered by state. Currently, only 33 states offer the program. If your state participates, a list will come up of academies that your student can enroll in. K-12 is a network of schools offering education. It is not an independent curriculum developer. There are also private schools that network with K-12, but there are tuition costs.

Free Notre Dame online courses — Notre Dame has an extensive list of open courses available on their site. They are listed with small buttons next to each title, signifying what the course consists of (syllabus, assignments, video, exams, etc.). When you enter the course, a left hand menu bar helps you to navigate through all the different aspects of the course. There are required readings, which may force you to buy textbooks. Overall, it is a highly organized site and easy to navigate.

Free online certified learning — Alison is free online education institution that offers lectures, videos, and class materials in various different topics like nursing and education. In order to enter the course, you must first sign up. Each course has a summary page, which outlines the materials provided, the instructor, a syllabus, and the amount of time it will take to accomplish. The site itself isn’t as easy to navigate as some of the others.

Free online course from MIT — For those looking for courses that will test even the brightest student, MIT is sure not to disappoint. You can download all the course material, which is nearly identical to the course taught at MIT (it even gives you the year and semester it was taught). Since it is an on-demand course, you don’t have any ability to connect with others who are taking it. It is simply an independent study for you to study on your own.

Free online public health courses — The JHSPH open courses are comprehensive. Choose from the list of available topics, and view the materials in a clean and streamlined format. Each lecture comes with slides and an MP3 for download. The classes have a calendar, recommended reading this, syllabus, and a final exam. They also have a place for you to email and give your comments.

Free Online Resources — The Textbook Revolution is a site run by students who want to improve the exchange of free information. There are textbook exchanges, plus lists of online resources and free course offerings. This is a grassroots based organization- having been developed by students for students. This is a great site to use as a resource.

Free Online University Learning — This site is one of the largest website databases for University open courseware. Like EdX, these courses are at a set time (usually lasting for 10-14 weeks). You can access classes from 16 different Universities’ including Princeton, Duke, Stanford, and CalTech. With over 1,000,000 users, Coursera has established itself as the central “go-to” website for free online University learning.

Free tech classes — This website advertises free courses, lessons, and apps. Rather than getting a degree, the classes are tailored to a specific skill like, “Learn Microsoft Word.” The layout is a bit complicated, so it will take some patience to navigate the pages to find what you want.

Free Yale University Online Courses — Open Yale courses offers a great website that is easy to navigate and comprehensive. There are a variety of subjects offered, which can either be downloaded as a zip file, or viewed online. Each lecture has a video (which was recorded during the actual course on campus), plus a transcript and a PDF of slides used during the presentation. Along the side, the video is broken into lecture chapters, so if you can’t finish the whole thing in one sitting, you can come back to it later. There is no need to sign up or create an ID. Yale has made it easy to take their courses.

GED for free — GED for Free is a basic online course offered to students who have not been able to complete high school and need to get their GED. You simply fill out a student profile and begin studying. This site is only designed to teach the students the concepts that will be tested on the GED exam. There are no advanced courses or enrichment activities.

Get college credit for free online courses — The Irvine Courseware offers a variety of classes in different subjects. Unlike other open courseware programs, Irvine does offer a link to information about getting academic credit for some of the courses offered. All the information for the course automatically downloads as a Word documents when you click on the links.

Google Code University — Google Code University offers computer science courses for those interested in coding and languages. You click on the course you’d like to take, and all the materials, videos, and lessons are along the side bar. There is no option to interact with others, so it is essentially an independent study.

K-12 Online Courses — Connections Academy is a free online K-12 curriculum for homeschoolers and other children in non-traditional classroom settings. This academy relies heavily on parent involvement with a stated, 96% satisfaction percentage. Each lesson has an overview, a lesson, review, and assessment. There are tools, textbooks, and other resources to bolster the student’s educational experience.

Khan Academy — This website has a variety of video lessons for free. The course subjects are broken down into particular lessons, which is great for students who are looking to learn one principle without taking an entire course. For example, the biology subject has separate videos for evolution, photosynthesis, genetics, and others. If you prefer reading to watching, this site may not be for you as the lessons are all video based.

Library of Congress Resources — While this is not an online education site, the government has created a library of files pertaining to America’s history, literature, towns and cities, technology, war, and other important topics. These files are free to access and read, and can bolster a student interested in the social sciences.

Online degree database — Academic Earth is a website that helps students find a degree program of their choice. They do offer free lectures, but that is not their main focus. Instead, it is geared towards matching students with the right online degree program.

UC Berkeley Webcasts — Webcast Berkeley has a very simple model. You simply watch a recording of the class that a professor taught on campus. There are no sign in ID’s, assignments, or other resources. It is simply something you watch and absorb. Some of the classes only offer audio lectures. If you are looking for a bit more structure, this school isn’t for you.