Online Education Resources

There are more ways to learn than ever

I am a big believer in following ones curiosity and being a life long learner, so I regularly take courses in all varieties of subjects. Some for fun, some for creativity, some for business. Many free, discounted, or can be paid for by some companies for employees. There are more ways than ever to learn a new skill or simply follow your curiosity with online courses with leading universities, or experts, or simply people that have a strong skill to share. There are endless resources to learn more about anything - online courses, youtube, audiobooks, podcasts, etc. It may depend on what you want out of it too - a certification to help with a promotion or take a new direction? Or simply to learn more about a subject? You could literally google an interest for a course online, or online learning search term, and seriously find anything you want. Too many websites, blogs, courses, apps to list here (though I will keep adding) but here are a few to start.

*If you are looking for more traditional degree paths, I highly recommend Pro Fellow for exploring programs, scholarships and fellowships. You can also search options on Masters Portal, PhD Portal, and Findamasters

• For free or discounted university classes: If you are like me, your curiosity is constantly driving you to learn something new, so Coursera and Open University have become my go-to for education (there is edX and FutureLearn too). Partnering with some of the world's leading universities, popular classes are available online - mostly for free, or you can pay a small fee towards a certificate (some states like California give you free access with a library card). These do require actual homework but it is well worth it to learn something new. Many universities will offer free courses directly on their websites including ivy leagues like Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Duke, and The University of Michigan, or pay a fee to earn a certificate of completion that you can display on your LinkedIn profile or resume. Others like Ecornell, New School and more, offer good certification courses but they do charge - Yellow Brick offers some interesting partnerships like NYU x Rolling Stone writing courses. (Some of my recent favorites on Coursers have included: Stanford: International Women's Health and Human Rights // University of London: Global Diplomacy in a modern world // University of Alberta: Canada Indigenous Studies)

• A group of professors have recently created Section School, which includes co-founder Scott Galloway, to teach MBA level courses (higher fee)

• Pick up a skill or shorter course: Udemy and Skillshare to for shorter classes - I have taken these for tech tips to wine courses - though when I need to fix something around the house, I still rely on handy Youtube too! The trick is to look for high ratings and volume of students, and always look at the trailer video first to check our the production value and instructor, as there is a wide swing in quality. Another tip is to save them, and then watch for their specials on Udemy, because the prices always drop. I have taken some classes on Linkedin Learning too when I had access but I find most of them lacking.

• Famous Pros in the Arts: Masterclass to learn from creatives, from film to writing, photography, cooking and more. I have taken classes with everyone from Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Spike Lee, Annie Leibovitz, Aaron Sorkin, Shonda Rhimes, James Patterson, Bob Woodward, and more.

• Tech & Digital Marketing: In recent years, tech giants like Google, Amazon AWS, and more have launched several certification courses that they have stated are acceptable for them over degrees in many cases, so if you want to break in to the business, this is a good start. Personally, I have had my teams over the years all take the Google Digital Marketing Fundamentals certification program, and they now offer a new AI Essentials

• Languages: I wrote another post about this, as there too are countless options depending on how you work & learn best. I love playing around on Duolingo (both the app + podcast), Babbel is pretty good too, and I have some books on audible, and occasionally stream French or Spanish radio stations too. My new favorite is Preply, where I practice with a French tutor based in Paris - you have hundreds of top rated tutors around the world to chose from, especially when getting specific around accents.

• Don’t forget about Audible Books & Podcasts: Learn while you walk or run errands I listen to books and podcasts everyday and am fully addicted. I listen to podcasts daily to learn, from global news to interviews to cultural insight, but these ones are all excellent educations tools, from career to history: How I Built This, What It Takes, You’re Wrong About, Maintenance Phase, Radiolab, Science Vs, Invisibilia, History Chicks, Stuff You Missed In History Class…

• Youtube: Yes, there is certainly a lot of junk on there too BUT I use it for many small ‘fix it’ things, and many educators have their own channels and series, not to mention the many documentaries that have been uploaded to Youtube Premium, which is a good reminder that…

• Streaming Channels Documentaries - every network has them, and they are always a great place to start. Netflix especially has a number of newer ones on everything from food to space.

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