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Upgrade Your Mind: Free Learning Online According to the American writer Josh Billings, "Knowledge is like money: the more he gets, the more he craves." But the cost of attending classes can be overwhelming as any student can tell you. If you're craving something new to learn, why not take a few online classes? They're free of charge, and might nudge you into that hobby or sport you've always wanted to try. Universalclass.com has thousands of instructors, and hundreds of classes going on now, all free! Topics range from business to social sciences, technology to arts, and business to sports. If you have knowledge to share, you can become an instructor as well. Free-ed.net is amazing. They offer real clases such as welding, HVAC fundamentals of refrigeration, automotive technology, or brush up on your math skills. Talkcity.com always has several classes to choose from. This week's selections include job hunting, programming, and starting your own home business. Classes are instructor led and are paced with 1 or 2 lessons per week. Learnfree.com is a potpourri of learning. Choose from categories such as home and garden, parenting, or beauty and fashion. There are even classes on cat massage and belly dancing! The classes are posted online in their entirety so you can start or stop at your own convenience. Some selections include video clips to clarify techniques or demonstrate procedures. This site is geared toward life and self improvement. Sewing.org/learn.html can teach anyone to sew. Are your skills so rough you can't sew on a button? Step one, right at the top of the page. Easytype.com offers free typing testing and tutoring. It's divided up into sections called kids, teens, and adults. Over 230 different lessons are posted, enough to build up anyone's speed. Wannalearn.com could be called an index for online learning sites. It includes links to sites which offer as few as one tutorial on a certain topic which might be overlooked on a search engine. Tutorialfind.com is just what it sounds like, a search engine for tutorials and mini-classes. If they don't have what you need, just ask and they'll hunt it down for you. Thirdage.com/learning has quite a few classes to choose from. Categories include beauty, health, travel, romance and more. These are paced with a new lesson each week. You can take the course along with a friend or relative using the "study buddy" feature. Bn.com, run by Barnes & Noble bookstores, now offers online classes as well as books. Learn a new language or some business skills, all gratis. Click the "online courses" button on the top right of their menu bar. There are some things that you just don't learn in school (like what is feng shui?). Browse these sites, you may run across a project to make you some extra money, or something interesting from a foreign country. If you have kids at home and can't get out to classes, this is one way to add skills to your resume. But don't think it's all a free ride... you do have to do homework! |
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