How to Get a Free Education
As you probably know, schools are no longer the only source for getting a great education. Anyone with a strong desire, a library card, and an Internet connection can now recieve a first class education on the topic of their choice.
As said best by Matt Damon in the movie Good Will Hunting, “You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library.”
But today we have even more than a library. We are blessed with the unlimited knowledge available straight from our computers.
A few searches for “photography tutorials” on Google will lead you to a world of information on how to become a photographer.
It doesn’t matter whether you aspire to be a professional photographer or just a weekend photo warrior, the Web has all the resources you could possibly need waiting at your fingertips.
Everything from articles and reports to slideshows and videos have been created by the army of independent publishers online. There has been no better time in the course of history for you to get yourself a free video education.
In this article, I have gathered the best free resources online for anyone wanting to learn something without having to pay the high price of today’s tuition nightmare.
Open Courseware Videos
Universities are beginning to let go of the propietary knowledge that they once held with lock and key. It used to be that the only way to get an Ivy League Education was to shell out the big bucks.
Fortunately, that isn’t true any more.
MIT is leading the way in what’s called Open Courseware. An educational movement that is causing a number of Universities to release their learning materials to the public.
With MIT OpenCourseWare, you can learn everything from high level mathematics and Engineering to Psychology and Philosophy.
Search all of the courses at http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html.
YouTube is the largest video directory on the Web.
Unfortunately, it’s also got lots of smut, making it hard to sift through the junk and find the gold.
Luckily, you can browse the categories to quickly find some golden video tutorials.
To find the best video tutorials on YouTube, begin your search at http://www.youtube.com/categories_portal?c=26&e=1
This is the Howto & DIY category.
You can also find a number of education focused channels. Here are just a few I found while browsing the How To category as well as the educational Channels.
Dr. Mercola & Alternative Health
If you’re looking for some sort of tutorial, YouTube probably has it.
Tubetorial.com is packed with free step-by-step vidoe tutorials about Internet Marketing, Web Development, and a slew of technology tips.
Some of the tutorials you will find here include….
How to Add an RSS Feed in Firefox
Have you ever wanted to learn how to create your own videos?
Israel Hyman has created over 50 video tutorials on videography.
Here you can learn everything from lighting and shutter speed to voiceovers and effects.
To learn more, head on over to http://www.izzyvideo.com
Are you a PhotoShop Junkie? If so, then you’ll love PhotoShop TV.
They have over 70 video tutorials on all things Photoshop. Learn how to use one of the most powerful photography tools around with these easy to follow tutorials.
The latest Episode is always free, while archived videos are free to members of the National Association of Photoshop Users, or $1.99 per download.
For the latest episode, go to
http://www.photoshoptv.com/play/.
VideoJug:
VideoJug is one of my favorite hot spots for online video tutorials. They offer thousands of ‘How To’ videos on everything from cooking to pilates.
To take a look at all of the different categories they offer, head on over to http://www.videojug.com/categories.
Here’s a quick sample of the videos I found while browsing VideoJug:
How to Tie a Tie - Full Windsor Knot
How to Get Rid of Annoying Spam Emails
TED Talks:
The Ted Conference brings together more than 1000 thought-leaders, movers and shakers. Now you can listen in and watch as these thought leaders share the vision that they hold for the future.
You can watch and listen to Al Gore, Tony Robbins, David Progue, Ken Robinson, Jeff Bezos, seth Godin, and many others.
Check it out at http://www.ted.com/talks
Some of the talks that I reccommend include the following:
Ken Robinson discusses how schools are killing creativity
Jeff Bezos on the next web innovation
Steven Levitt: Why do crack dealers still live with their moms?
If you enjoyed this post then make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed.