ONLINE LEARNING SITES

    With the shutdown of schools and colleges amidst this period of lock down, students and teachers both are studying and working from home. Hence, this has resulted in the change in paradigm in the education sector. Where classes are being taken online and students have to adopt a new way of learning by using their smartphones, laptops and desktops. Although new to this part of the world, it sure looks like it will become integral in this new paradigm shift. Research also suggests that online learning has shown to increase retention of information and takes less time. Which also means that this trend may continue even after the pandemic. 

    Apart from the curriculum there are many things that can and should be learned by students of this generation to further their career and diversify their skill sets. Online learning facilitates learning and mastering those much required skills.

Why online learning?

• You can comfortably learn the subject.
• It provides a good impact on your resume.
• You can complete the target at any time.

On that note, here are a few common online learning sites that provide various courses and learning materials for both students and teachers.

SWAYAM is a programme initiated by Government of India and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity and quality. The objective of this effort is to take the best teaching learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged. SWAYAM seeks to bridge the digital divide for students who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy.

Swayam offers 500+ courses that are open for enrolment. 

This is done through a platform that facilitates hosting of all the courses, taught in classrooms from Class 9 till post-graduation to be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time. All the courses are interactive, prepared by the best teachers in the country and are available, free of cost to any learner. More than 1,000 specially chosen faculty and teachers from across the country have participated in preparing these courses.

The courses hosted on SWAYAM are in 4 quadrants – (1) video lecture, (2) specially prepared reading material that can be downloaded/printed (3) self-assessment tests through tests and quizzes and (4) an online discussion forum for clearing the doubts. Steps have been taken to enrich the learning experience by using audio-video and multi-media and state of the art pedagogy / technology.

Courses delivered through SWAYAM are available free of cost to the learners, however learners wanting a SWAYAM certificate should register for the final proctored exams that come at a fee and attend in-person at designated centres on specified dates. Eligibility for the certificate will be announced on the course page and learners will get certificates only if this criteria is matched. Universities/colleges approving credit transfer for these courses can use the marks/certificate obtained in these courses for the same.

[Source: https://swayam.gov.in/about]

An initiative of INFLIBNET, Vidya-mitra is an online learning portal for all the e-content projects developed under the NME-ICT (National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology), MHRD. The portal provides facility to search and browse all hosted content wherein a learner can easily access the desired material including audio/video learning material, textual material, multimedia-enriched materials etc. through a single interface. Moreover, features of faceted search, usage statistics, project-wise access, My-Space are incorporated in this portal.

Coursera is a website that partners with universities and organizations around the world. This brings a wide variety of topics and perspectives to one searchable database.

Coursera is a powerful tool for free online education, and includes courses from many top universities, museums and trusts. This gives the site an extremely wide range of in-depth courses.

Coursera is extremely useful if you’re looking to study many different topics, or want courses from different schools and groups.

[Source: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/25-killer-sites-for-free-online-education.html]

The free courses in Udemy are similar in concept to Coursera’s but additionally allows users to build custom courses from lessons.

Working with many top professors and schools, the site mixes the customizable platform of other sites with a heavy emphasis on top quality content. This is another site however, that mixes free and paid content.

[Source: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/25-killer-sites-for-free-online-education.html]

edX is the trusted platform for education and learning. Founded by Harvard and MIT, edX is home to more than 20 million learners, the majority of top-ranked universities in the world and industry-leading companies. Fulfilling the demand for people to learn on their own terms, edX is re-imagining the possibilities of education, providing the highest-quality, stackable learning experiences including the groundbreaking MicroMasters® programs.

[Source: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/25-killer-sites-for-free-online-education.html]

If you are looking for free online courses, then Alison is the best option. With 10 million students from all over the world, Alison is one of the biggest learning resources which offers free as well as high-quality courses. You can find courses on health, technology, business, designs and languages.

One can pick from the variety of subjects from the 800 free courses. The website offers certificate and diploma level courses. The students will be required to take assessments and score at least 80 % to pass. The resources provided by Alison will help to develop essential and certified workplace skills.

[Source:https://www.successcds.net/Career/qna/top-10-sites-for-online-education-17246.html]

FutureLearn is a part of the Open University which is offering course programs from leading educational institutions and organisation partners. For further extensive learning, one can choose their full programs which contain several courses in them.

There are various free courses on subjects like business, law, literature, art, history, study skills, teaching, media and so on. You can learn the course at your own pace from a desktop or mobile device. One of the benefits of FutureLearn is the social learning involved in their programs. It gives the students the opportunity to engage in discussions with others throughout their course.

[Source:https://www.successcds.net/Career/qna/top-10-sites-for-online-education-17246.html]

StanfordOnline offers a lifetime of learning opportunities on campus and beyond. Through online courses, graduate and professional certificates, advanced degrees, executive education programs, and free content, Stanford Online give learners of different ages, regions, and backgrounds the opportunity to engage with Stanford faculty and their research. 

[Source:https://online.stanford.edu/lagunita-learning-platform]

Canvas Network offers mostly free online courses source from numerous colleges and universities, with instructor-led video and text content and certificate options for select programs.

Open Edu is a website for learning from the Open University. This platform provides access to various course materials and opinions of experts.

This learning platform offers free digital publication of high-quality educational material. It includes many subjects like money and business, education, development, and sports. This site helps you to explore new topics and increase personal knowledge of anyone. It has more than 900 short courses, articles, quizzes, videos, and audios.

There are a whole bunch of sites that provide online learning opportunities. These include Udacity, Open UW, Aquent Gymnasium, Open Yale Courses, Open Culture and many more.

Final Thoughts

Whether you choose to supplement your existing education or learn a new skill, it's never too late to become a life-long learner. These online education courses can help you gain valuable knowledge, earn a certificate, complete a degree or simply expand your horizon.