Nowadays, it's not an easy task to attend universities, there are different circumstances that would hinder a lot of us to attend the classes.Anyone who has paid tuition or sent in checks to repay a student loan knows that education is not cheap. The cost of a college education can easily reach six figures, with some graduates leaving school with a diploma and more than $200,000 in debt....
This is everywhere, but thank God for some hard working universities lecturers that took it upon themselves to teach people in remote places via YouTube and other available media coverage. Online classes has started way back (i guess 2010) so when next you hear someone says they study online, do not look too surprised because most universities that offer online classes won't write on your certificates its on-campus or online.
One of UK reputable universities, Open University majors in distance learning, but if what you will eat tomorrow bothers you while you read this...kindly don't click to check the university tuition fee.
Why Online Schools: Since it started, it's been embraced by all individuals,most students in the USA don't attend classes anymore, they tend to watch the videos made by the professor and learn from it. So during examination periods, they show up and always pass with flying colours. Unless you are the type that must look at the lecturer in the eye before you understand a topic, please try online classes.To make it more interesting, Google gave $2million to one of the online classes. If Google could trust one of the program online, why are you doubting.
Not to bore you with stories, am going to list some recommended online classes....
Please note: The online bachelor and Online masters program I mentioned are my personal recommendation and those I found to have positive reviews online...so if you have yours and you think they are good, please go ahead and have fun. My online learning classes are in no particular order.
Khan Academy : I don't know why i always feel this website is for mathematicians only, probably because its founder started with tutoring his cousin mathematics on YouTube before thinking of having this lovely online class. I will say this website is one of the best out there to learn Mathematics. science & Economics, Computer science, Humanities and when you are preparing for exams like SAT, GMAT, CAHSEE and much more. Recently, Google gave a prize money worth of $2million to encourage what this people are doing. If Google will give out such money, i don't see why anybody would doubt taking classes online from Khan Academy.
Khan Academy Logo
You can visit Khan academy on : https://www.khanacademy.org/
Coursera : This is one of my favorite, in fact i took a business class from a professor from University of Virginia here. It was a very lovely experience.I can feel the class experience, we had a forum where we argued, laugh and we also use Meetup, for people that stays close to your district. Coursera is a big online learning Centre.
Like most of the university online, you will be awarded a certificate after you finished. Though you might have to pass through some test, a little project and attendance are important too. If you will be taking a class here, am sure you will have your own procedure before you can be awarded certificate/statement of the result. I can write a lot about this coursera program, but i like you to try it out.
I was inspired to share this because in between our program, a friend on one of the forums got a job, he told them about the program he was taking online, because they asked him questions relating to what we were doing and he seems to know his trade...he was given that job.
You can take any course here, what matters is your knowledge about the program you chose..
Coursera logo
You can visit coursera here : https://www.coursera.org/
Saylor.org : Saylor is another online course area, Saylor seems to be loaded with courses than most of the online classes i came across, but i register for a class and they never get back to me till date, unlike Coursera that let me know my class is ready and also inform me when it actually started.
Saylor too also award certificate, am just angry they never mail me about my class when it started. It seems to be a serious online course area for very very serious people. i actually registered for a class and the procedure for getting the certificate is not ABC.
it seems to be like a real school experience, i planned going back to learning it, but it's not on my calendar soon, so if you are in for a course...Saylor.Org is a university on your computer....
And great news, i just saw a flash news that you could get College credit when you study on Saylor.....JEEEEEEEZZZZZZZ.....that is epic if you know what i mean by college credit...just saw that now, probably re-enroll for my program.
Saylor Logo
You can visit Saylor website on : http://www.saylor.org/
EDX: What attracted me to EDX was when i saw Harvard and MIT university,i guess one of the professor's at these 2 universities are either teaching an online class or allowed EDX use his Video, so if you are curious about how learning from the best 2 universities looks like, this is your chance to go ahead and have fun, and of course you must have a good working brain.
Go ahead and have fun at EDX website here :https://www.edx.org/
MIT Open courseware : MIT open courseware allows you to tap into MIT courseware for your research or learning whenever or wherever you are. When i saw this, i was happy about it myself. MIT is not something you need to Google, if you don't know MIT at this present age, just sell your computer and go learn how to repair a computer motherboard. I am not sure if you will get a certificate here, but next time you are in an interview, tell the interviewers you did a little training at MIT, and you have their courseware for prove...i am sure they won't ask you any new question and you will surely have that job.
So if you are interested to learn or research with MIT Courseware, jump on their website: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
Udacity and Academic Earth are my last on the list. Just like their other free college online courses, they have good reviews as well, am yet to take a jump at them at all. So i will spare you the story. I will take a close look at them in few days, but right now..
Udacity : https://www.udacity.com/
Academic Earth: http://academicearth.org/
Academic earth seems to have MIT, Harvard and stand ford universities as partners also, so i wont skip that if i were you...
Why am i writing the long epistle about Online college courses
- I was part of a group that took part in the surveys on online training and college courses and it was crystal clear people understand what Online college classes is all about. A lot of universities have their online facilities and also stream classes online for students that wont attend such class. So if you are still one of those that believe in My teacher and I....i guess you better start having a computerized thought.
- Some employees are soon accepting some online classes certificates. If you graduate via online school, it will never show up on your certificates that it was online or physical class.
- Google donated $2 million, which means they already believe and know what is going on with online classes....so i believe that should help you have a change of mind.
- I believe knowledge is a continuous process and you should never stop learning one single day...so if you need more or fresh knowledge about your current university course, am advising you to start online classes now.
- I believe in sharing what i know, now that you have this vital information now, help share it among friends too, you might be helping someone smile in the future.