Internet U.

[donnafreedman]

Anyone here ever taken free webinars, tutorials or college classes online? I'm writing a column called "Internet U," about ways you can make yourself more employable or improve your performance on the job you've already got.
For example, you could:
--Teach yourself all about Wordpress or take a class in effective social media marketing -- and when layoffs come around, you might be kept on because you know more than some of the other employees.
--Brush up on your high-school Spanish, or take courses in American Sign Language, in order to make yourself more useful in customer service.
--Take a couple of comp courses and improve your writing skills so that your reports are clearer and more readable.
Remember: These are FREE classes, not for-pay online university courses. Although, come to think of it, some schools are putting coursework online for anyone to audit...
If you've got a couple of favorite sites, feel free to list them below.
And if you want to talk about what such coursework has done for you (pretty please?), private-message me here at donnafreedman. Your full name need not be used if privacy is a concern.
Thanks!

[greeneyedchicka]

I have taken free classes online a few times. Some of my employers have offered their version of an online university including my current one. I take advantage of as many classes as I can. I have also had employees of mine take classes in order to brush up on skills that they may be lacking, such as communicating professionally in email.

I also use Microsoft's free tutorials when I am not quite sure about a specific feature of one of their products.

Many of our clients also send promotional emails for "free classes" that are pretty much promoting their product, but I will take them because I find that you can get a lot out of them.

[deziloooooo]

Jan 31, 2011 21:11:54 GMT -5 @greeneyedchicka said:

I have taken free classes online a few times. Some of my employers have offered their version of an online university including my current one. I take advantage of as many classes as I can. I have also had employees of mine take classes in order to brush up on skills that they may be lacking, such as communicating professionally in email.

I also use Microsoft's free tutorials when I am not quite sure about a specific feature of one of their products.

Many of our clients also send promotional emails for "free classes" that are pretty much promoting their product, but I will take them because I find that you can get a lot out of them.

Smart person you are..

[NancysSummerSip]

I write for several freelance websites,. and some of them offer free writing, copywriting and SEO workshops for their contributors.
I'm also checking with the local colleges, to see what's avaialble online; not much in the way of free writing courses.

There are also a number of online magazines and publications that will give you exposure and a byline (but no pay) for your writings. Not a class, exactly, but a good place to practice.

[westerngal]

Where can you find "free" classes at?

[NancysSummerSip]

Some universities have what they call "lifelong learning" classes that are free (no credits offered; it's just for the fun of learning). Many school districts have adult ed classes; not free, but very cheap.

I've been looking into online writing classes, but the cost of them can be appalling. I was also looking at some local writing teachers who tutor high school students - wonder if they would consider me as a student, even though I am not exactly high school age anymore?

[greeneyedchicka]

Feb 1, 2011 12:56:11 GMT -5 @westerngal said:

Where can you find "free" classes at?

If you do a Google search for "free online classes" you get a lot of results. You may need to sift through to find ones that are truly free, but there are a lot there. Also, check with friends and family to see if their workplace offers free classes like mine does.

Here is just one website that I found for free online classes:

education-portal.com/articles/Colleges_and_Universities_that_Offer_Free_Courses_Online.html

[Agatha]

If you're in the healthcare field: pharmacist, registered nurse, or medical doctor Medscape.com is good for CEU's or CME's and free. They don't offer classes per se but you can rack up the credits if you're diligent.

[texaspn]

I also like Medscape for CEUs for nurses.

[donnafreedman]

I'm finding out about OCW (open course ware) classes offered at major institutions of learning. Pretty interesting stuff, from furniture making to physics to technical writing. Anyone can access/download the lectures, readings, assignments, etc. for free.
There's a Wikipedia definition of OCW that includes links to places like Tufts, UMass, MIT, UC Berkeley and other places that offer classes:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCourseWare
These two links were recommended to me by users of the services:
Virtual University: vu.ksurf.net/
LVS Online: www.lvsonline.com
Note: I am not vouching for any of these places. I'm still checking them out myself. But I think they could be extremely useful. Look for the ones that don't cost anything -- and please, no jokes about getting what you pay for. Would you turn down the chance to take a class at MIT for free? (Interestingly, they have slightly more classes offered on the arts/humanities side than the science/engineering side. Go figure.)
Good luck, all. When the article runs I'll post the URL.

[twinkle]

The HP LEARNING CENTER has some practical classes ex digital photography , home office web site is www.hp.com/go/learning center.

For many good alternatives,
see www.aarp.org and search for article named "How to learn just about anything on line" which has a ton of resources listed.

Thank you Donna for all the great and practical articles you write. I have benefited greatly from the information in your articles and replies from other readers

[donnafreedman]

twinkle: Thanks for your kind words.

[handyman2]

I take refresher courses on the net to keep up my required certifications for OSHA safety requirements in the building trades. Not living near an area where the class room instruction is availible it makes it very easy to keep up on the latest requirements plus I do not lose time during my everyday work schedule. I also use the net for instructions on the latest advancements in construction design and code requirements.

[Deleted]

I've been looking into online writing classes, but the cost of them can be appalling. I was also looking at some local writing teachers who tutor high school students - wonder if they would consider me as a student, even though I am not exactly high school age anymore?

This made me think of an email I got once from an older adult who had returned to college and gotten a low grade on her first couple of writing assignments. She wanted to know if I would tutor her . . . for free. I'm not sure if her rationale was because she wanted to be a teacher and I should want to mentor her or because she was a taxpayer in our district. She mentioned both.

I referred her to the college writing lab, which she rather huffily reminded me that she already knew about.

[nasagreen]

I went to MIT & most of the classes I took are on OCW. They are exactly the same as the lectures and most that are valuable have the videos of the lectures. My favorite was Astrodynamics with Professor Battin, he helped design the CPU for the Apollo Guidance & Navigation Computers, is about 94 years old, and still going strong. The videos are online. Just amazing!