9 E-Learning Sites for Personal Growth or Career Advancement

How about a free college course from Harvard? This and other great opportunities for lifelong learning await you on these nine top e-learning sites.

How about a college course from Harvard for free? Wouldn’t it be great to move into a new career in web design? Or how about going back and finally learning algebra? All of these things and much more are now available to busy people who have any number of educational goals for themselves:

  • The working mom who finds it impossible to juggle work, family and then commute to a college campus for classes.
  • The individual who never started or finished college and now wants to broaden their horizons
  • The adult who wants career advancement but who really cannot afford the tuition that colleges are charging today

Today, learning never has to stop. Many adults have discovered this through a myriad of online educational opportunities that are available either free or at very low cost. Here are nine of the top e-learning options you can access right now.

1. Coursera

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Some of the most highly respected universities in the United States are a part of Coursera from Stanford and Johns Hopkins to University of Michigan and UC Irvine just to name a few in addition to top international universities. There are over 1500 college course offerings on this conglomerate. The great thing is that they are all free; however, you have the option to subscribe for the certificate recognition program. Although college credit is not given, the certificate can be shown to an employer or added to a resume.

2. Khan Academy

The story behind Khan Academy is pretty amazing. Sal Khan began to tutor his niece online because she was having difficulty with her math class. The idea hit that he could do this for students all over the world. From that initial idea has come an academy that provides full courses for both kids and adults. You can take that high school course you always wanted or move on to adult coursework in English, finance, IT, business, medicine and more. You can register for an individual course or a series of sequential offerings in a single content field.

3. Udacity

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Many adults do not have the money or the time to pursue a full-fledged degree. At Udacity, this is not a problem if you are into technology and want to become expert in a specific sub-category of it. This program offers a “nanodegree”—a series of courses that provide expertise in a specialized area of machine learning, data analysis, coding, app development, and others. The coursework was designed by industry leaders such as Google, and you will earn a credential for completion of each nanodegree.

4. W3 Schools

This is a completely free school for web design. You pick one language and/or technology at a time, complete the coursework and move on to another. Options include HTML, Java Script, CSS and more. And, if you want to earn certification, you take a final exam when you complete a program and pay a small fee.

5. Best Essay Education

If you are continuing your education and know that your writing skills are deficient, Best Essay Education is the website where you can get all types of assistance. You will find degreed professionals in all content fields who are ready to help you produce great essays and papers, as well as edit those that you create on your own. There is also a great blog dedicated to development of academic writing skills.

6. Open Courses at Yale

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This Ivy League school has a large selection of courses to be taken online—courses taught by the professors who actually teach them on campus. There is video instruction as well as coursework materials. You will get a certificate for each course completed, and it’s all free. Impress your current or future employer with several of these certificates.

7. Edx.org

This organization is another conglomerate of course options from a group of highly prestigious institutions: Harvard, MIT, UC Berkeley and more. For each course you complete through Edx.org, you receive a certificate of completion, and each one of those certificates bears the official seal of the university that offered the course. You are also able to take courses for actual college credit.

8. Ted.com – Ted Ed Initiative

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If you have not viewed one of the Ted Ed learning videos, you have missed a real treat. While no college is involved in this learning, you can pick from a huge listing of subjects. These learning videos are really entertaining and for people who just want to expand their knowledge base.

9. World Education University

This is one of the most exciting educational initiatives to come along for adult learners. World Education University’s coursework is all free as is its current AA degree program. The university has announced that it is developing full degree programs, both bachelors and graduate, also free of cost.

This list is by no means comprehensive, but it was devised in order to present a variety of adult learning options. We’d love to hear from you about your recommendations and experiences with e-learning. Please leave a comment below.

About the author

Julie Ellis

Julie Ellis marketer and passionate blogger, finds her inspiration in the educational help to gifted students. Master's degree in Journalism allows her to follow her passion and help students around the world.

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