Smart List | 40 Ways to Learn Almost Anything

Where do you go when you want to learn something, but it’s not a simple question that Google will be able to quickly answer for you? There are a million places to look, but significantly fewer promising options. To pair it down a bit, and help you get on board with our July theme of “anytime, anywhere learning,” today we are recognizing 40 open resources for K-12, postsecondary, and anytime learning.

Free & Open Education Resources, K-12

• CK-12: Flexbooks, FlexMath, and more
• Curriki: Big community around big library
• Gooru:  Blends open learning resources with assessments and analytics
• Khan Academy: 6000 videos and practice problems on math & more
• Learning.com: Curriculum tools to help organize OER
• NROC: High school science & math
• OER Commons: Dedicated to innovation in open education content & practices
• OpenEd: Big Core-aligned catalog, now part of ACT
• OpenUpResources: Nonprofit developer of free, standards-aligned Math and ELA curricula
• PowerMyLearning: Grade level collections

Postsecondary OER

• Academic Earth: Free online courses from the world’s top universities
• BetterLesson: Lessons created by “Master Teachers” on a range of subjects
• Connexions: Open library from Rice
• iTunes U: View a course, make a course
• MIT OpenCourseWare: Web-based publication of almost all MIT course content
• Participate: Continuous learning platform with chat archives, resource collections and courses
• PhET Interactive Simulations: From the University of Colorado
• Saylor: 95 courses across 13 subject areas
• Washington State’s Open Course Library Project: Resources for 42 courses
• Wikipedia & WikiEducator: Collaboratively developed knowledge and education resources
• Writing Commons: Freshman English from USF

Anytime Learning

• Alison.com: International-friendly collection of free online courses
• Canvas.net: Open online courses
• CodeAcademy: Learn to code interactively, and with certifications, for free
• Coursera: Over 2000 of the world’s best courses for free (pay for specialization or degree)
• Daily Bits Of: Bite-sized lessons straight to your inbox
• edX: Non-profit created by Harvard and MIT
• General Assembly: Learn from experts on business, tech & design
• LearnZillion: Great instructional resources for teachers
• Lynda.com: Video courses for business skills, now part of LinkedIn (which is part of Microsoft)
• MentorMob: Education search engine
• Skillsoft: World’s largest corporate training providers
• Udemy: Online courses from expert teachers
• Udacity: IT and coding nanodegrees
• Skillshare: Project-based classes, anytime, anywhere
• TED-Ed: Create customized lessons around TED videos
• YouTube: Videos on everything

We’re sure we missed some great resources. Which would you add? Share in the comments section below, and don’t forget to check out our other recent Smart Lists at our Smart List Series Page.

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