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Posted on 29-01-2012

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 Educate yourself for free and on your own time with these awesome resources.

Though the years spent from kindergarten through senior year of college may have seemed grueling, they left us with a wealth of knowledge we use in our daily lives (and, hopefully, in our careers). But for many, entering the job market can mean an abrupt end to formal education. Unless you decide to quit your job and go back to school or add hours of night courses to your day, it can be hard to educate yourself on a new topic.

Luckily, there's good news for those with a desire to continue their education: There are many ways you can develop new skills and gain knowledge for free in your spare time. Many universities and other educational institutions offer free online courses, complete with tests, quizzes, reading material, study guides, and even textbooks. An actual degree from a university might cost you a pretty penny and leave you knee deep in student loans, but you can still further your education without dropping thousands of dollars.

Whether you're a painter who wants to learn how to code a website or a programmer who wants to learn more about art during the Age of Enlightenment, there are dozens of online resources. Even current students can benefit as educational resources complement studies open to those who don't have access to them or can't afford private tutoring.

We've rounded up 10 tools that will have you hitting those e-books. Don't wait until you're retired to audit university classes for free; now is the time to educate yourself.

1. Code Year
If learning computer programming sounds way out of your reach, best left to the geniuses of the world, you're wrong. According to Code Year, anyone can learn the basics of computer programming in just one year. Code Year encourages people to make a New Year's resolution to learn enough code to build their own apps and websites. A lot of people seem interested; at the time of publication, Code Year has gained over 355,880 wannabe-programmers—including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg—and more are joining every day. The creators of Code Year, a project of New York City-based startup Codeacademy, think that basic programming is an essential skill that everyone should learn.

Code Year lessons are presented in an interactive format that doesn't necessarily feel like you're learning code. It's certainly the opposite of listening to lectures and reading dry books on programming. Budding programmers start off with JavaScript and move quickly through the subsequent lessons. The first two lessons have already been distributed, but users can still join and catch up with the rest of the program. Oh, and did we mention, it's absolutely free?

2. W3Schools
The largest site on the Internet for Web developers, W3Schools is a fantastic resource for those interested in brushing up on their Web development skills—or learning them for the first time. Want to make your own website? W3Schools offers tutorials and references on a large range of subjects, including HTML, CSS, XML, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, and more. Though not as structured as Code Year, W3Schools is just as thorough. The HTML lessons, for example, are separated by subject, starting off with the most basic instruction and moving into XHTML. W3Schools offers a list of helpful references for each subject. Ever forget a tag name or need to know the color name for the website you're building? W3Schools has it all. If you think you've got your HTML skills down pat, you can test how much you really know (and determine what you need to keep working on) in the HTML quiz.

Those dedicated enough to teach themselves an entire coding language can even receive certification. Users can apply for a certificate by paying an exam fee. The exam is based entirely on the content of W3School's tutorials. Users that score at least 75 percent on the exam (consisting of 70 multiple-choice or true-or-false questions), get certified. Scoring 95 percent or higher adds an Excellency Degree notation to the certificate.

3. TED
We're guessing most of you have seen at least one TED Talk by now. The nonprofit started out as a conference in 1984 with the intention of "bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design." (It even saw one of the first Macintosh computer demos that year.) Fast-forwarding 28 years, TED now features more than 1,114 free, award-winning talks, with more added each week. Released under a Creative Commons license, the videos can be freely shared and reposted. TED speakers discuss a wide array of topics—from technology and design to science and culture—and present them in the most innovative and engaging ways possible within an 18-minute window of time. Past presenters include Microsoft's Bill Gates, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, a number of Nobel Prize winners, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Stephen Hawking, Bill Clinton, and Jane Goodall.

For More  Free Online Education Resources, Visit Page 2 

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source: 10 excellent, free online education resources