18 places to learn critical skills that will change your life
- Updated on: 2018-09-15
- Read original article here
We tend to think of learning a new skill or "going back to school" as something you'd do when looking to change careers, or to upgrade within your current one.
But lifelong learning has incredible benefits, both personal and professional, say researchers. It makes communities more productive and innovative, and gives employees the ability to cope with constantly changing workplaces.
Lifelong learning helps us stay sharp as we age, and is also important for a successful economy.
It helps us communicate better, socialize more effectively, and achieve greater success.
Most universities now offer online learning courses in addition to the on-campus lifelong learning programs. Some have established entire online schools, like Colorado State's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. If you're looking for a more traditional educational experience, check out what the universities are offering.
Explore the ancient and modern worlds in an incredible online resource powered by Google's Street View and mapping technology.
TED is another fantastic place to find actionable advice and learning opportunities created by genuine, experienced people. I've curated my favorite TED Talks for entrepreneurs, leadership training and creativity in business -- check them out for yourself. You can also visit TED Ed for its own selection of great lessons.
This crowdsourced collection of top lectures from professionals, academia, governments, and leaders of all stripes is unique in that the resources are upvoted or downvoted by users, in typical Reddit fashion.
It's the largest archive of free books on religion and spirituality on the internet. Read up on mythology, religion, folklore, alchemy, parapsychology, and more.
Whether you're looking to learn how to code, build leadership skills, or otherwise improve yourself, here are 21 awesome places to learn the critical skills that will change your life:
One of my favorite sites on the planet, Lifehacker is the place to learn how to do just about anything better, faster, and smarter.
Most of our national library's texts are now available online. Whatever skill it is you want to learn, you can read up on it there.
Remember taking on a second part-time job just to pay for your college textbooks? Boundless is shaking up the textbook industry by offering textbooks online, for free.
Critical thinking is an incredibly important skill, but it's not often taught in public school curriculum. Brush up on your rhetoric, grammar, and logic with Trivium's free resources.
HubSpot, that online marketing software giant out of Boston, offers comprehensive, user-friendly digital marketing courses. Understanding marketing is critical for any entrepreneur, whether it's a function of your daily duties or not. HubSpot Academy was one of my own top five digital marketing course picks.
Billing itself as the world's first non-profit, tuition-free, accredited, online American university, UoPEOPLE offers degree programs in Business Administration, Computer Science, and Health Studies.
Study classic literature for free with over 50,000 titles available to download from the Project Gutenberg library.
Save articles, videos and other interesting and educational content you come across online to consume later. Pocket lets you save from your browser, or from apps like Twitter or Flipboard, and you can access the content later without an internet connection.
The iconic university offers totally free programming courses, including an introduction to computer programming course that's fantastic for entrepreneurs and beginners. It was my top choice among the nine best places to learn how to code for free.
Packed with free online courses from over 40 universities, FutureLearn is a U.K. site that serves over 3.6 million learners worldwide.
Learn more about where and how you spend your time, allowing you to find efficiency throughout the day.
Read the original article on Inc.. Copyright 2017. Follow Inc. on Twitter.
