Online education is a great way to learn something new, but it can take up a lot of time. This is especially true for students who need to combine online education with offline classes. If you are such a student, then you need help with your assignments in order to save time. You can get it with the help of reliable essay writing services.
Take an overview of the education platforms where you can learn online. This is a great opportunity to improve your knowledge, update your skills, and try something new. For example, you can learn how to program in Python, study the history of contemporary art, or find out how machine learning works. Here are some of the best ESL sites to choose from. Find one that works for you!
Coursera
It is the world’s largest educational online resource. You can find over 3,500 courses in different languages with a wide range of topics: from lectures on how to learn music theory effectively to machine learning and big dates. Leading European and American universities and companies host their courses on the site. You can find materials for all levels, from beginner to advanced. Most courses are in English, but there are subtitles in other languages.
EdX
Along with Coursera, edX is the world leader in online education. This resource was created by Harvard University and MIT. It contains thousands of online courses, lectures, and programs in English from founding universities and other educational giants. The benefits include free training with the possibility of obtaining a certificate for a minimal cost.
Highbrow
Highbrow is a platform with short lessons that are immensely useful. The site has more than 300 courses that will help pump up soft skills. In 10 days, you can learn to handle difficult people, cope with stress, or read books in such a way as to maximally absorb information.
Highbrow will appeal to those who do not like to spend a lot of time on training but want to constantly learn new things. Five-minute lectures are sent by email every morning, so studying will take less time than a cup of coffee. But keep in mind that you have to pay for courses – four dollars a month if you sign up for a year. But it’s cheaper than the same cup of coffee, and you don’t need to get a paid subscription right away. The platform has a free trial period of 30 days. During this time, you can go through three courses and understand whether you want to continue.
Skillshare
Skillshare is a platform where courses for creative people are collected. You can study design, illustration, and photography, creating texts or improving soft skills. If you want to keep a beautiful Instagram account, take a photography course from Brandon Woelfel, who has three million followers. You can figure out how to find your real goal and succeed with the writer Emma Gannon, or learn the basics of Photoshop. Users gain knowledge through 1.5-hour masterclasses recorded on video. Lecturers speak English and there are no subtitles, but there are trailers for each course so that you can understand whether you are interested or not. The platform is paid. But in the first two months, the service can be used for free.
Crash Course
Crash Course is a platform with short instructional videos on various topics ranging from astronomy and anatomy to mythology and the history of computer games. The idea of the platform is to transform traditional school books into video format and thus speed up learning. Some schools and colleges in America already supplement their lessons with Crash Course teaching materials, and you can watch them for free to broaden your horizons. In 10 minutes you will learn how to deal with procrastination, in 11 minutes you will learn how the Milky Way works, and in 16 minutes you will understand the theory of evolution.
TedEd
TedEd is another educational platform with short videos about everything in the world. The most popular video, which has already collected 17 million views, lasts four and a half minutes and talks about prisoners who are going to be eaten by aliens. This is not a lecture, but a riddle that you can solve, and then find out the solution. If you don’t want to solve anything, you can look at informative lectures on how sugar affects the brain and what will happen if you stop sleeping. All videos are in English, but they have subtitles in other languages.
Instructables
Instructables is a platform for those who are tired of working with their heads and want to do something with their hands. You can find collected tutorials on creating jewelry, electronics, and even survival kits. You can learn how to make a fake heart that will beat, a small solar battery, and a frightening zombie. Maybe this knowledge will not help you get promoted. However, if you sell your inventions, you can open a startup. In any case, go to the site and see the list of courses, especially taking into account that they are free.
HowStuffWorks
HowStuffWorks is a resource that collects reliable information about how the world works. The platform is visited daily by 30 million users who read articles, listen to podcasts, and watch videos about everything in the world. The authors tell what would happen if you ate uranium, and explain in an accessible way how the iPhone finds out that you are typing a message. If you do not want to read, you can listen to the most interesting facts that you were not taught during history classes. Or watch a video on how the clutch works that has over six million views. HowStuffWorks does not teach any popular professions, but you can amaze your colleagues or friends with knowledge.
Bonus: how to get the most out of online learning
One of the positives and negatives of distance education is optionality. No one will check how much time you spent viewing the lecture and will not scold you for absenteeism. This often leads users to drop out after a couple of classes. To prevent this from happening, structurize your learning:
- Formulate expectations. Before you dive into distance learning, decide why you need it. It is necessary to clearly understand where and how you are going to apply the acquired knowledge, otherwise studying will become an end in itself and will cease to be useful.
- Make a schedule. From the very beginning, determine when you are ready to learn and how much time you have for it. For example, you can spend 15 minutes on courses every morning or two hours on Saturdays.
- Do not skip. Take notes. To retain knowledge long-term, everything needs to be written down. You can take notes on your phone, save basic thoughts in Google Docs, or take classic handwritten notes.
- Find a virtual classmate. It will be easier and much more fun for you to learn new things if you find yourself a study buddy. Together you will be able to discuss new knowledge and arrange competitions for those who have learned more. Just don’t get carried away, otherwise, you will get lost in the flow of new information.
- Also be sure to explore how you can make some money from some of these platforms. It can be a nice side hustle for teachers.
