Masters Degree Online » Online Learning

The 100 Best Open Education Resources on the Web

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:38:50 +0000

By Jill Gordon

Going back to school requires a lot of time, energy, money and dedication. Before you start applying, you’ll need to make absolutely sure that your graduate degree is in the right field. One of the best ways to do that is to experiment with the best online courses and other university resources that are all free and available to the public.

MIT Open Courseware: One of the most popular and most extensive open courseware collections online, MIT offers 1900 courses in nearly every subject.
University of Utah: Also known as U Moodle, the University of Utah has courses in art, English, economics, education, history and the sciences.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health: Learn more about epidemics, refugee health, aging, the environment and more from the JHSPH open courseware site.
Kaplan University: Take classes in criminal justice, health sciences, IT, legal studies and more from educational pioneer Kaplan.
Michigan State University: Michigan State’s open courseware project offers course in international business, horse management, and planning and zoning.
Utah State: Take entry-level classes in the humanities, computer science, science and the arts.
Tufts Open Courseware: Tufts University allows the public to browse classes and lectures from their Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Arts and Sciences, and more.
UC Berkeley: The webcast courses and events from UC Berkeley are offered in a range of subjects.
UMass Boston: The University of Massachusetts – Boston offers free, not-for-credit classes in everything from creative thinking to math to the performing arts to counseling and school psychology.
UC Irvine: Find classes primarily in math and computer science from UC Irvine’s open collection.
Notre Dame: Notre Dame’s classes in African American culture, English Latino Studies, Asian Studies, anthropology and Arabic and Middle East Studies make for a unique online collection.
Rice University: Connexions is Rice University’s extensive collection of searchable online education resources.
Utah Valley University: Public guests can create a free account to access courses in tax return preparation, driver education, biology, computer applications, and more.
Weber State University: The eduCommons site at Weber State provides education resources in the following subjects: automotive technology, criminal justice, English, health promotion, and IT.
Western Governors University: Find mainly entry level courses in geography, economics, history, language and communication, and the sciences.
Carnegie Mellon: Carnegie Mellon’s Open Learning Initiative has courses, learning materials and activities in physics, logic and proofs, French, statistical reasoning, and other fields.
Columbia University: Columbia’s free seminar directory covers global affairs, education, business and economics, arts and humanities, science and nature, and more.
Harvard@Home: Watch webcasts of presentations, lectures and more.
University of Oxford: The Oxford Internet Institute holds webcasts of lectures at Oxford.
Princeton University: Find event streaming lectures, podcasts and more.
Yale University: YaleGlobal Online has a database of video clips on the economy, environment, society, trade, politics, and beyond.
Stanford: Access Stanford’s Humanities Center archive by playing videos, downloading podcasts, and listening to them on iTunes.
Georgetown Law: Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute has opened up articles, reports and presentations for public access here.
University of Texas: UT’s World Lecture Hall lets the public browse free online course materials from all over the world.

Museums

Check out these museum websites to study American history, science and more.

National Science Foundation: Find multimedia resources, speeches and lectures dealing with science, nature and technology.
Latino Virtual Museum: This Smithsonian web 3.0 project involves a 3D avatar-based learning environment for exploring Latino exhibitions.
Online Photography Exhibitions: View Smithsonian Museum photos from the Folklife Festival, National Air and Space Museum, and more.

Lectures

Learn more about a particular field by listening to or watching lectures from special university events, class presentations, and more.

TED: Find inspiring, innovative talks from the world’s movers and shakers in technology, business and government.
Lecture Fox: Lecture Fox organizes free university lectures in literature, technology, science and more.
Free Science and Video Lectures Online: This blog links to free lectures in physics, computer science, electrical engineering and beyond.
Free Video Lectures: Pick a subject category and find links to university lectures.
VideoLectures.net: Categories on this lecture site include architecture, biology, chemistry, business, art and more.
Varsity Notes: Varsity Notes claims to hold "the world’s largest directory of free lecture notes" in categories like environmental studies, communications, astronomy, journalism, history, geology, business administration, and a lot more.

Podcasts and Videos

This collection of podcasts and videos comes from universities, museums and other important organizations.

Open Culture: This website provides videos, podcasts and other open education videos in literature, finance and beyond.
Nobel Prize Media Player: Watch documentaries, interviews, lectures and speeches from Nobel Prize winners and more.
Harvard Video Archive: Harvard’s collection of videos and other learning media cover all fields and industries.
UChannel: Princeton has archived its video public affairs lectures here.
NASA Multimedia: Check out NASA TV, plus image galleries, podcasts, 3D resources and more materials to learn about space exploration.
Global Voices: Watch videos and listen to podcasts about global events and news.
Open Source with Christopher Lydon: The Watson Institute and Brown University hosts this open source radio show that covers political elections, the military, global warming, and more.
Public Radio International: On PRI’s site, you can stream shows, listen podcasts, watch videos, discuss news stories and learn about the people and issues changing the world.
"Shakespeare" by Another Name: Mark Anderson’s Shakespeare site broadcasts mp3 files.

Media

If a certain TV show, magazine article or book intrigued you, head online to these sites to learn more about the people, events, cultures, and laws that rule our world.

National Geographic: National Geographic’s website supports learning materials for the environment, animals, world cultures, music, space, and a lot more.
Discovery Channel: Get free learning sources about health, space, the military, the ocean and more.
Nature: This science journal has lots of free web resources, too.
BBC Training and Development: This BBC site features open courses for learning about broadcasting, health and safety, new media and journalism.
Book TV: On the Book TV website, you can watch videos of author lectures and interviews.
Biography: Find videos, photo galleries and biographies about historical figures and pop culture icons.
New York Times: The article archive on the New York Times site has PDFs and links to over 13 million articles, spanning 150+ years.
PBS: Kids and adults will find lots of helpful videos and learning resources on PBS.com.
The History Channel: Check out the online magazine, watch videos, and research categories like the military, science and technology, U.S. presidents, and more.
NPR: NPR’s website is a great resource for studying books, culture, current events, world history, and more.
BBC Languages: BBC’s collection of video language courses includes tutelage in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Chinese and more.

Online Networks and Institutes

These online networks and open education groups have made it easier for you to explore subjects and find the information you need to supplement your traditional education.

dgCommunities: The Development Gateway Foundation hosts communities, projects and information related to development issues on this site.
Open Learn: The Open University’s open education site online features a collection of courses in study skills, technology, business, art and history, law, and more.
Wikiversity: Wikiversity currently holds nearly 11,000 open education resources.
Sofia: Sofia offers a solid collection of courses in science and technology from various colleges.
PEOI: Find courses in law, the sciences, health care, humanities and more from the Professional Educational Organization International.
Digital History: Look up primary sources, multimedia materials and more relating to American history and ethnic groups.
Exploratorium: This open education site for younger kids includes materials about science, climate change, sport science, the ancient world, and a lot more.
W3Schools.com: Find web design and development tutorials here.
HighWire Press: Browse over 1,200 journals and over 6 million full-text articles at HighWire Press, by Stanford University.
iTunes U: Download free lectures and presentations from top universities at iTunes U.
Open Courseware Consortium: Look up course materials in this open education directory.
OER Commons: This large open education site and community has over 12,000 learning resources in science and technology alone.

Libraries and Archives

Make use of the resources from the Library of Congress, World Digital Library, Smithsonian and other archives and libraries.

The Fathom Archive: Columbia University’s archive collection is full of learning resources from the University of Chicago, New York Public Library, and a lot more.
Thomas Jefferson Digital Archive: The University of Virginia Library has posted electronic texts, The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, and other resources.
American Memory from the Library of Congress: View collections from the Library of Congress in areas like religion, music, maps, advertising, African American history, and more.
World Digital Library: This project, which involves the support of the Library of Congress and other organizations, has thousands of learning materials from all over the world.
Primary Sources on American Art and Artists: The Smithsonian Archives of American Art supports this online collection.
Internet Archive: The Internet Archive boasts texts, audio, posts and more for exploring history, pop culture and beyond.
Russian Archives Online: This site links to film, photo and other archives and exhibitions at state museums and other organizations.
The National Archives: Archives.gov is an immense resource for learning about U.S. history.
Library of Congress Digital Collections: The LoC also provides public access to historic newspapers, American history collections, poetry and literature, and more.
OSA Archivum: Look up archived materials about the Cold War and Eastern European culture, politics and society.
The Rosetta Project: The Rosetta Project holds archives of every human language in the world.
U.S. Census Bureau: Here you can look up maps, economic census reports, projections, and a lot more to analyze U.S. history and society.

International

Check out these international colleges and universities that have also made available learning resources for free.

UNU OpenCourseWare: United Nations University has courses in software technology, environment and health, and economics and social research.
African Virtual University: Access a digital library and more on the open distance learning network.
China Open Resources for Education: Also known as CORE, this network features resources from U.S. schools and more.
ParisTech "Graduate School": Find French language courses in math and the sciences at ParisTech.
University of Southern Queensland: Take classes in science and technology from USQ here.
Grenoble Ecolde de Management: Take management classes in French.
UDEM Open Courseware: This is the open courseware site for the Universidad de Monterrey.
Kyoto-U Open Courseware: Kyoto University offers lots of free courses here.
EduNet Vietnam: Access open e-textbooks and other learning resources.
Middle East Technical University: METU’s eduCommons site offers courses in mechanical engineering, physics, educational sciences, foreign language and more.

Reference

When you need an overview of a specific subject or field, use these free references from Stanford, the Mayo Clinic, and more.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Stanford University’s encyclopedia has online archives dating back to 1997.
Creative Commons: This online project of free, open, shareable information features a science community and more.
Mayo Clinic: Look up drug information, symptoms, diseases and more health information at the Mayo Clinic’s site.
Episteme Links: Find course materials, e-texts, encyclopedia entries and all kinds of educational resources dealing with philosophy.
SparkNotes: This popular online handbook has analyses and summaries of historical events, novels, poetry, film, science and more.
Wikipedia: Wikipedia serves as a good starting point for any research project or subject of study.
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Library: Look up reports and information about education, social issues and anthropology, and more.
CIA World Factbook: Find anything you want to know about other countries, including demographics, maps, flags, histories and more.
Encyclopedia Smithsonian: This immense resource categorizes material into three main categories — art and design, history and culture, and science and technology — with lots of subcategories.
Open-Site: This "free Internet encyclopedia" is edited by volunteers.
U.S. Government Manual: Main Page: Learn all about the U.S. government and how it operates.
Open Content: Use this open education search and reference tool to find the courses and materials you want.
iBerry: iBerry is a network of open education students, teachers and organizations that can help you connect to the resources you need.

100 Business Execs You Can Learn from on Twitter

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:15:21 +0000

Twitter is not often thought of as an educational tool, but the fact is that there are many people on the service that offer a wealth of information. There are CEOs, executives, and more users who can help your career just as much as an MBA. Read on, and you’ll learn about 100 business executives that you can learn from on Twitter.

Technology

These executives head up technology companies.

@ev: Evan Williams is the CEO of Twitter.
@oudiantebi: Oudi Antebi is a software marketing executive, entrepreneur, and more.
@NealSchaffer: Follow Neal Schaffer to learn about high tech sales and business development.
@kevinrose: Follow Kevin Rose, the CEO and founder of Digg.
@edwin: As the CEO of CastTv, a video search engine, Edwin Ong watches a lot of videos.
@johnolilly: John Lilly is the CEO of Mozilla and more.
@timoreilly: Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, is a part of the alpha geeks.
@eugenelee: Follow Eugene Lee, the CEO of Socialtext.
@dsifry: David Sifry is the founder of Offbeat Guides, Technorati, Linuxcare, and more.
@robhoward: Rob is the CEO of Teligent, a company that created a 2.0 social computing platform Community Server.
@demandrichard: Follow Richard Rosenblatt, co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Demand Media.
@timyoung: This CEO and founder of Socialcast insists that email is dead.
@OrenMichels: Oren Michels is the Mashery CEO.
@jayadelson: Jay is the CEO of Digg and founder/chairman of Revision3.
@dollars5: This CEO specializes in web apps and niche web services development.
@guykawasaki: Guy Kawasaki uses Twitter to support his website Alltop.
@jerBrightcove: See the latest in video and more from the founder and CEO of Brightcove.
@AlessandraCo: Alessandra Colaci is the speaker and CEO of blixy.com, and is in love with tech and geekery.
@DrBobParsons: Follow this CEO and founder of GoDaddy.com to learn about racing, hosting, and more.
@jack: Jack Dorsey is the creator, chairman and co-founder of Twitter.
@ItsSeanRoach: Think Engine CEO and speaker Sean Roach has a unique learning style.
@JasonCalacanis: Follow Jason Calacanis, the founder of Weblogs, TechCrunch50 and Mahalo.
@caseywright: Casey Wright is the CEO of Wright Brothers Communications.
@VentureOutlook: Mark Bailey can teach you about investment technology and more.
@TechCrunch: Michael Arrington specializes in technology news from Silicon Valley and beyond.

Startup & Entrepreneurs

These people on twitter will educate your entrepreneurial spirit.

@KikiValdes: Follow Kiki Valdes, a contemporary artist and startup CEO.
@gcolony: George Colony is the CEO of Forrester Research.
@Braiden: Braiden Harvey is a chronic entrepreneur specializing in marketing.
@StartupPro: This startup mentor is also an executive and angel investor.
@Dillanos_VP: Follow Keith Hayward to get a glimpse into a coffee roaster executive’s life.
@elliottng: Elliott NG is an angel investor, startup advisor, and co-founder of UpTake.com.
@VizionG: This founder and CEO of Vizion is a serial entrepreneur.
@lazerow: Michael Lazerow has founded four successful media companies.
@MickMoore: Mick Moore is an Internet entrepreneur who’s happy to share his secrets.
@Bersmertnik: Seth Besmertnik is passionate about entrepreneurial business development.
@jnovogratz: Jacqueline Novogratz is the CEO of Acumen Fund.
@PatrickDriessen: This leader is a visionary, entrepreneur, and author.
@tatango: You can find this CEO working tirelessly in the office.
@kmesiab: Kevin Mesiab is the CEO of Mesaiab labs, and works to help businesses make more money.

Finance

Learn about finance from these executives on Twitter.

@apatzer: Aaron Patzer is the founder and CEO of Mint.com, a personal finance website.
@BetterBizIdeas: Dan Ross is a finance executive with experience on Wall Street and performance management.
@hgetson: This Twitterer is the CEO of Capitalogix, a builder of automated trading systems and portfolio construction tools.
@DuncanWierman: Duncan Wierman is a real estate investor and marketer.
@RentToOwnHomes: Follow this CEO to learn more about real estate.
@Brandylele: Brandy Lee is the CEO of a real estate company.
@sorenmacbeth: Follow the co-founder and CEO of Stock Twits to learn about stocks, currency markets, and hedge funds.
@johnreese: John Reese is the founder and CEO of Income.com.
@kevincottrell: Kevin Cottrell is a leading real estate media and economic expert.

Marketing

These Twitter executives can teach you about marketing.

AnthonyGemma: Anthony Gemma is a business owner, creative marketing expert, and public speaker.
@PaulKirchoff: Paul Kirchoff is the CEO of SaleAMP and a real estate Internet marketer.
@randfish: Rand Fishkin can teach you about Internet marketing and search optimization.
@CommunispaceCEO: Follow Diane Hessan to learn about marketing and community.
@mktgmann: Russ Mann is the CEO of Covario, specializing in advanced analytics, lead generation, and CRM.
@tombed: CEO of AKQA Tim Bedecarre can teach you about digital marketing and technology services.
@todsacerdoti: Follow Tod Sacerdoti, CEO of Brightroll, a video advertising network.
@Szetela: Davd Szetela is the owner and CEO of Clix Marketing, which specializes exclusively in PPC advertising.
eRocketFuel: This CEO can teach you about marketing on the Internet.
@krishnade: Krishna De can teach you a few things about digital marketing and making marketing work in a recession.
@billhunt: This executive offers learning in search engine marketing.
@leeodden: Lee Odden is a SEO and social media marketer, and CEO of Top Rank Marketing.
@mediatrustpete: Founder, CEO, and Chairman of MediaTrust, Peter Bordes can share knowledge about performance media and marketing.
@IncomeDiscovery: Follow Andrew Dean, CEO of Income Discovery, to learn about Internet marketing.
@neoblog: David Brown is the CEO of Top SEO Consultants.
@Budor: Follow Gary Brewer, the president of Internet marketing firm Digital Eye Media.
@arthurcooper: Arthur Cooper is the CEO of Optimum7, an Internet marketing and consultation company.

Coaches & Speakers

Get your life in order with the help of these speakers and coaches.

@LifeCoachMaia: This twitterer is fanatical about life coaching and blogging.
@mariaandros: Maria Andros empowers and teaches entrepreneurs around the world.
@jima54: Jim Andrews is a professional life and spiritual coach.
@johnmcginn: Dr. John McGinn offers executive coaching.

Human Resources

These executives are involved in human resources.

@KevinCruise: Kevin Cruise is an executive recruiter in banking and healthcare.
@DrVarenikova: Dr. Larisa Varenikova specializes in executive search.
@jasonalba: Jason Alba thinks you’re going to lose your job-and you should use his site, JibberJobber, to find a new one and manage your career.
@StevenHudson: Steven Hudson is the CEO of Tenby Recruitment.
@csolanor: Follow Charlemagne Solanor, an executive search consultant.

Retail

Learn about executives in a retail environment from these Twitterers.

@MarcDeCaria: This CEO and President of Sam Marco Coffee enjoys business, family, and fun.
@zappos: Tony Hsieh is an executive with expert customer service skills.
@glamajama: This CEO of Glamajama designs baby clothes.
@TonyDarnell: Tony Darnell’s wireless consulting firm can help you reduce your communication expenses.
@Kimoraleesimmon: Kimora Lee Simmons is the CEO of Phat Fashion and KLS.
@coffeemaverick: Follow David Morris, CEO of Dillanos Coffee and entrepreneur.

Information

Check out these executives to learn about information.

@implu: Steve Driscoll offers quality business intelligence.
@BradFallon: Brad is the CEO of Free IQ, a video site that offers an ecommerce platform for information.
@jamystewart: J’Amy Stewart is the CEO and co-founder of Infonetics.

Social Media

Follow these executives, and you’ll quickly learn the details of social media.

@skydiver: Peter Shankman is a social media CEO and founder of Help A Reporter Out.
@kiruba: Kiruba Shankar is a CEO of Business Blogging and social media enthusiast.
@SteveSchuitt: This executive is the Bruce Lee of social media marketing.
@ischafer: Ian Schafer is the CEO of Deep Focus.
@lebrun: Marcel LeBrun is the CEO of social media monitoring company Radian6.
@Jesse: Jesse Stay is the “social” geek and CEO of SocialToo.com.
@mashable: Pete Cashmore is the CEO of Mashable, specializing in social media news.
@chrisabraham: Chris Abraham is a social media and digital PR executive.
@briancarter: Follow Brian Carter, the director of PPC, SEO, and social media at Fuel Interactive.

Miscellaneous

Here you’ll find celebrities, green companies, and more.

@tonyhawk: You may know Tony Hawk as a professional skateboarder, but he’s a CEO too.
@TreeBanker: Dan Tefft works to inform others about carbon credits and the business of climate change solutions.
@brookeburke: Follow Brooke Burke, celebrity and co-CEO of Modern Mom.
@MichaelHyatt: Michael Hyatt is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and an avid blogger.
@CarbonHeart: Matthew Sullivan is the founder and CEO of Carbon Advice Group, which works to address climate change.
@richardbranson: Read Richard Branson’s tweets to learn from a very successful entrepreneur.
@OutsideMyBrain: Bradley Brown is the co-founder and CEO of GreenShield.
@LIVESTRONGCEO: Doug Ulman is a cancer survivor and President/CEO of Live Strong.