PC Magazine put together a slide show of its top 10 picks for free online education resources. It’s a useful list for people looking to learn new things in a new year at a low (or no) cost. We summarize the list below with links to each site and descriptions in their own words. Jennifer Bergen of PC Magazine writes:

There are many ways you can develop new skills and gain knowledge for free in your spare time. Many universities and other educational institutions offer free online courses, complete with tests, quizzes, reading material, study guides, and even textbooks. An actual degree from a university might cost you a pretty penny and leave you knee deep in student loans, but you can still further your education without dropping thousands of dollars. Whether you’re a painter who wants to learn how to code a website or a programmer who wants to learn more about art during the Age of Enlightenment, there are dozens of online resources. Even current students can benefit as educational resources complement studies open to those who don’t have access to them or can’t afford private tutoring.

Here is her list of 10 free online education resources:

1. Code  Year (CodeAcademy.com)- “Learn to code in 2012. 368,795 people are learning to code this year. Why not you?”

2.  W3Schools – “At w3schools.com you will learn how to make a website. We offer free tutorials in all web development technologies.”

3. TEDtalks – “Ideas worth exploring. Here you will find the best talks and performances from TED conferences, TEDx and partner events — and the best of the web.”

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MITx) OpenCourseWare -  ”MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.”

5. iTunes U – “iTunes U gives you free access to some of the world’s best thinking—lectures from MIT, labs from Stanford, films from the MOMA, and more.”

6. Khan Academy - “Watch. Practice. Learn almost anything for free. With a library of over 2,700 videos covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance and history and 289 practice exercises, we’re on a mission to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace.”

7. Peer 2 Peer University (P2Pu) – “Learn anything with your peers. It’s online and totally free. At P2PU, people work together to learn a particular topic by completing tasks, assessing individual and group work, and providing constructive feedback.”

8. University of the People –  ”UoPeople is the first tuition free online university dedicated to the global advancement and democratization of higher education.”

9. Academic Earth - “Online courses from the world’s top scholars.”

10. Ck-12   - “Customizable, free, curriculum-aligned content for K-12″

Via PCMagazine

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