Learning has never been more accessible, thanks to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). There are thousands of tertiary education facilities that provide coursework, tutorials, videos and tests online.
Whether you want to dabble in a bit of ancient Greek mythology, update your IT skills to improve your CV, or study engineering, pretty much everything you can think of is available at the click of a mouse. We rounded up some of the top sites offering online courses from multiple institutions. Many top-notch universities such as Harvard offer courses too, while the University of London and University of Oxford have dedicated sites for podcasts of lectures.
GetSmarter, a 2U, Inc. brand, is an online learning expert with over 10 years' experience in developing high-quality online short courses from the world's leading universities. The courses are designed with professionals in mind and optimised to fit learning into your lifestyle. Each student is assigned a Success Adviser and is offered 24/7 assistance. As a student, you will also gain unlimited access to 2U’s Career Engagement Network at no extra cost. The platform offers you exclusive resources to support your professional journey, and will provide you with the tools you need to drive your career forward.
One of the top sites for e-learning is Coursera. It has partnered with universities and you can watch lectures, do tests and interactive exercises at your own pace. Quizzes and projects add to the interactive aspect and subjects range from medicine and biology to maths, business, IT and the humanities. With its peer assessment system and immediate feedback on troublesome questions or topics, learners are aided to master their chosen subjects. Coursera also offers certificates.
With a strong focus on IT and tech-related courses, Udacity offers nanodegrees and originated at prestigious US university, Stanford. Their mission is 'to bring accessible, affordable, engaging and highly effective higher education to the world'.
This site prides itself on its curated list of courses. Academic Earth offers courses for beginners and experts from a vast range of academic institutions and also covers a broad range of subject matters.
This institution focusses on personalised learning, where students can work at their own pace with the help of interactive challenges, videos and assessments. Along with a vast range of maths, science, IT, economics and humanities courses, they have also partnered with places such as NASA, MIT and The Museum of Modern Art. Expect fascinating and cutting edge art and tech content.
While Udemy combines free and paid content, its main drawcard is its customisable courses. Top educators and institutions are part of this site and the course content is top notch.
EdX offers courses that range from communications to engineering to literature. In addition, they provide an official credential and certificate. Founded by Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Berkeley, these prestigious institutions also create and supply the courses' contents.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology OpenCourseWare site offers material from 2 260 courses. Videos, lecture notes and assignments from this top technology institute are available around the globe.
With a focus on learning through play, Memrise offers a desktop and an app version. The use of games in study make it a fun space for integrated study. While they offer a range of subjects, it's especially good for learning languages.
Great resources for school learners, from grade 0 to matric, are available from Vodacom e-Learning. It’s free to use, and, if you’re a Vodacom customer, it’s zero-rated as well, which means it won’t use up your data. Vodacom e-Learning offers quizzes, homework questions and useful notes, designed around all major subjects. It’s accessible from smartphones, laptops and tablets, and it's quick and free to register online.
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