One of the major reasons why some people
aren’t able to get a higher education degrees despite being smart, is the lack
of money. Some feel that they are too old to get into this at the current stage
of their lives, as they’ve started families, jobs to take care and have a lot
of other responsibilities on their plate. However, even if you missed “the
time” for getting a college degree, there are many other options available.
In the present world, acquiring knowledge is
easier than it was in the past. There is no need to dig through libraries and
find books that might, or might not be available. The biggest reason for this
freedom of information is the rapid evolution of technology in the past decade,
as today anybody who is interested in learning only needs a stable Internet
connection.
There is no clear line today that shows what
type of knowledge and education are valid, as everyone can make the most out of
numerous options to educate themselves and get better jobs, and improve what
they do or develop new skills.
Here are the top 5 ways you can educate
yourself without attending a college.
1. Blogs
One of the oldest online learning methods, which was initially developed without this particular goal in mind, is blogging. Today there are millions of active blogs that you can find online and although some might focus on things which are not that educational, there are others that are done by professionals who have a lot of knowledge and experience and are willing to share them.
There is such a wide range of blogs out there
that you can use to acquire knowledge about a variety of topics or subjects
like physics, market, economy and so on. If you like to learn by reading, then
this is probably an option that you should consider.
Still, it’s important to find someone who is
not primarily a blogger, but works in a certain field and has established
himself as an expert. Everyone can write online today and claim that they know
a lot about a particular subject, so it is important to find reliable sources
before you start learning from them.
2. Online
videos
One of the best ways you can learn online is to watch various educational videos and although there are many choices out there, the best resources for this type of online learning are TED and Youtube. TED is an inspirational resource that has a lot of top notch authors, scientists and entrepreneurs who share their theories and ideas.
Watch TED talks each day and find authors who
talk about the things you are interested in. What’s really great about TED
videos is that apart from containing useful information, they are also quite
entertaining and they can keep people engaged for a long time, which is very
important for learning.
Youtube is also a great resource and you only
need to find good channels which focus on education. Simply type in what you
are looking for and you will get many channels with highly educational videos.
3. Online
learning courses
Given the fact that there are so many new options powered by the Internet, today you aren’t limited to learning in a classroom. There are various online training software solutions and learning management systems which are built and designed to allow people to learn as efficiently as possible.
Interactive online training software appeals
to people and there are many who are willing to learn using these platforms.
You simply have to sign up for an online learning course, depending on the
subject, topic or skill that you want to learn.
There are simple online courses that can teach
you basic knowledge, but there are also advanced ones which can give you
in-depth knowledge on a particular subject. You can consider those online
learning management systems (LMS) that offer free courses.
4. Keep
track of the news
A good way to educate yourself online is to
follow news sources that constantly share information about the latest
happenings and important events that have taken place around the globe. No need
to subscribe to some newspapers and pay for them when you can find all of this
information online.
If you sign up for their mailing lists, these
online news sources will send you important stories with automated emails every
single day. By investing only around 40 minutes every day to go through the
news that you picked, you can become well-informed on a variety of subjects and
keep up with the current events in a certain field.
There are various news sources that focus on
different topics and they try to deliver objective and relevant information to
you. Depending on what your interests are, choose the adequate portals that you
will follow.
5. College
curriculums
A lot of traditional universities are starting to offer free curriculum's to people who want to learn from them online. This trend has slowly been growing ever since MIT first offered these programs, even though their tuition's overall cost a lot of money and not everyone is privileged to be able to afford them.
However, by using open courseware everyone can
suddenly access valuable MIT education if they want. There are various courses
that focus on management, architecture, engineering, science and many other
areas. This move by MIT has shaken the education community and chances are that
many other colleges will follow their steps.
Even Harward has started offering various free
online courses that can help people get real information about a certain field.
And I’m sure that you can find even more colleges that create free courses for
online consumption.
Conclusion
Education has changed a lot since 2000 and it
is still changing. The traditional
learning methods are becoming only one of the ways you can acquire world
class knowledge. The line between formal education and individual learning is
becoming very thin and the availability of information has shown us that
learning and knowledge prevail, not degrees and prestige.
Author Bio: Kamy Anderson is an ed-tech enthusiast with a passion
for writing on emerging technologies in the areas of corporate training and
education. He is an expert in learning management
system & elearning authoring tools - currently associated with
ProProfs.
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