Video tutorials and free online courses. Free educational programs and courses on the Internet for learning

Everyone has their own plans for this summer. Someone is going to have a rest on the sea, someone will be engaged in a garden or a summer residence, and someone will spend the summer at work. There can be many options for spending the summer, and it is very difficult to find time for everything at once. And yet, it never hurts to discover something new or learn something in this short period of time, long as a small life. Therefore, I present to you 7 free applications for self-education.

UNIVERSARIUM. Open system of e-education.
The goal of this project is to provide an opportunity to receive quality education from top Russian teachers and the best universities for millions of Russian citizens. Education at the Universarium is based on the principle of passing successive modules of the educational course. The total duration of the study is from 7 to 10 weeks, depending on the complexity and richness of the program. Each module consists of a video lecture, self-study, homework and a test.

THE MOST NEEDED BOOK. 2000 Incredible Facts You Didn't Know.
App for iOS and Android from the authors of the national bestseller, in which you can discover a variety of facts: funny, scary, strange, interesting, incredible and amazing. The whole range of facts in one application with unique illustrations.

DUOLINGO: Learn languages ​​for free.
The best app for learning and improving a language. Among the many advantages of this program, it is worth noting the following:
FUN. In case of incorrect answers, lives are lost, and if you learn small lessons, you move forward. Bright trophies mark milestones in your progress.
Also, CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT. The authors of the application regularly conduct laboratory studies of how successful the study is, and at the same time, the learning process improves over time.

LEARN TO DRAW.
This application will teach you how to draw step by step. And note that for this you do not need any special skills, since everything is presented here in an accessible and understandable way - in the form of slides.

NEURONATION. Brain training.
Find out your strengths, unlock your potential and improve brain function with this application. To date, over nine million satisfied users and multiple awards make NeuroNation the most successful brain training program in Europe, and over 60 personalized and evidence-based exercises, the most comprehensive and comprehensive program in the world.

WORD OF THE DAY. Dictionary.
There are many words that we constantly hear, but do not know their meanings. For example, "emancipation" or "altruism". With this application you can find out the exact meanings of Russian words. Every day, the authors of the application select the most relevant words and terms of the Russian language, the meaning of which many do not know, then they study their definitions in explanatory dictionaries, Wikipedia and other authoritative sources, and then this information is adapted into concise definitions for ease of understanding.

PHOTOGRAPHY LESSONS.
This application covers the basics and tips for photography, composition, technical aspects of the camera and interesting shooting techniques with illustrative examples. Following the tips and recommendations, you can quickly learn how to create real masterpieces.

self-education- one of the most useful forms of pastime for people of any age and profession. Although sometimes the amount of information, its inconsistency and diversity can lead to confusion and make even more ambiguous, because true knowledge requires a system. Therefore, if you are seized by a spontaneous desire to master iOS programming or learn from and to the history of Islam, you should not grab all the books in a row and open 30 tabs in your browser, as courses were invented for this a long time ago, and for especially busy individuals these courses were placed online. But, needless to say, the World Wide Web is so large that it is more difficult to find what is necessary and useful in it than to dig a needle in a haystack. Therefore, in this article we will analyze the most popular and high-quality portals where you can find free video tutorials and take educational courses online.

The first thing to consider when looking for online courses is that it is hardly possible to fully master a huge area of ​​​​knowledge by watching a few free video lectures. The catch is this: the course contains information strictly within the framework of one subject, often extremely narrow. Therefore, we advise those who dream of mastering clinical psychology to perfection online to drop the idea and face reality - the subject is too vast to rely on online courses alone. On the other hand, to get acquainted with general psychology up to a tolerable command of the basic concepts, video lessons are the best fit. And even better, they are suitable for those who intend to master, for example, programming and HTML layout, academic or creative writing, to study some narrow phenomenon within science and culture, for example, postmodern philosophy or the history of religion, as well as for those who are preparing to enter the university (especially for postgraduate programs).

The online courses themselves can vary quite a lot, even if they are taught by the same university or teacher. Conventionally, they can be divided into two categories: pure self-education and studying the subject with a mentor. Courses belonging to the first group are almost always free, but will require some self-discipline, like any amateur activity. Their program is unlikely to include projects and homework checks by the teacher, and it’s obvious why: a lot of people sign up for free courses, so you can’t expect an individual approach. Although this fact does not exclude practical training and recording progress, you should be prepared for the fact that only you will be the judge of your success.
As for the second group, it is mostly designed for intensive studies and practical results, so you will almost certainly have to pay for such a course. But, in fact, the student will pay not for the course, but for the acquired skill - the most popular online programs in this category relate either to learning programming languages, or to practice design, training leadership skills, etc. That is, the difference between the second group and the first is obvious here - if it is rather a resource for self-education, a kind of library, then paid courses always represent real lessons - with homework, assessments and projects. This option is suitable for those who are not inclined to sit for hours reading special literature and generally want to finish everything as soon as possible and start using the acquired skills in life. Given the cost of programs (especially if you search well), sometimes it's really easier to pay 100 USD for a course than to swim on the Internet for several months. Payment, by the way, is sometimes required not even for the course itself, but for the certificate. More precisely, if you need a certificate of completion of the course, then you will probably have to pay - on average from 60 USD to 100 USD. For this, you will receive an official piece of paper or a file with a seal from, for example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which you can proudly show to the employer.
However, even without certificates, learning is useful and easy, especially if you have self-discipline and know where to look.

The most popular video lesson portals

Coursera - Free Online Courses from Top Universities

Khan Academy - online educational gaming platform

edX - platform for online courses and educational programs

Open Culture - the largest cultural and educational portal

FutureLearn - British course and online lecture platform

Iversity - free online courses from leading European universities

NovoEd - international educational online resource

Academic Earth - video lectures from top Ivy League educators

Open Learning - free online courses from private teachers

Online courses in Russian

Intuit - the largest Russian portal of free online courses

Universarium - a young Russian online education portal

Lectorium - free online courses in Russian

LoftBlog - Free Online Programming Courses

TeachPro - portal of free online courses on programming and mastering applied programs

In the modern world - the world of scientific and technological progress - learning on the Internet has become a worthy competitor to the traditional acquisition of knowledge in universities and colleges. And there is nothing surprising in this, because this form of education has many more advantages, one of which is the absence of mandatory payment for the work of teachers. But there are other positive aspects of free online courses, knowing about which, you will probably want to try this method of learning for yourself.

Briefly about the advantages of studying on the Internet

Many people believe that only attending classes in person at a school or university can give them real hope for successful employment in the future. This is a common belief, which today does not find its confirmation. Free distance learning is in no way inferior to going to classes, because after completing a course of virtual lectures, a person can also receive a certificate or diploma, which will indicate what level of knowledge was assigned to him.

You can talk a lot about the advantages of learning via the Internet, but the matter requires specifics. The most important advantages of such classes are considered to be:

• Absolute freedom of choice. Do you study at a school or institute, where you are forced to study a lot of unnecessary, in your opinion, subjects? And your dream is to learn English perfectly and go to live in England? Do not despair! From the list of self-education sites below, you are sure to find one that will give you what you really need.
• Unpunished opportunity to make mistakes. By making inaccuracies, or making mistakes, you can be completely sure that no one will take you to the dean or director for this to give a long and tedious lecture on how to live. The mistake made is your experience, none of the teachers who conduct training on the Internet will have the right to scold or scold you, and you yourself will learn to avoid certain mistakes in the future, because it was your personal bitter experience.
• Opportunity to refuse the services of an online teacher without financial loss. Agree, this is very important, because at the institute, refusing to study, no one will return your money back. On the Internet, everything is much simpler, because taking online training for free, you have the opportunity to refuse it at any moment without losing money. Situations in life are different, so no one in the virtual world will judge you for your decision.

The last and probably the most important aspect: after completing the free online courses, you will receive a diploma or certificate, which will indicate your specialty, as well as the level of knowledge acquired. With such a "crust" you may well get the opportunity to enter a prestigious university, or offer your services to potential employers if you have reached the age of majority. Therefore, before being skeptical about this method of obtaining additional knowledge, carefully consider its advantages. Perhaps this is exactly what you need.

TOP 15 best sites for self-study

Free courses on the Internet are held on special resources, where highly qualified and qualified specialists work. You should not assume that these people decided to teach online only because they cannot find a job in the real world, or for some reason have already lost it.

General education online courses

To date, many institutions with a worldwide reputation and fame conduct distance learning for schoolchildren and applicants, and completely free of charge. This is explained, first of all, by their desire to attract streams of talented and capable students, who in the future will further glorify this or that educational institution.

The most popular and sought-after online resources offering their services in the field of teaching are:

1. If you want to improve your knowledge in certain subjects from the school curriculum, then you just need to sign up for free and take online courses on the website www. college. en . Here you will definitely find a lot of useful and necessary information, especially if there is no possibility or desire to hire a tutor. It is also not uncommon for students to be enrolled in such courses by their parents, who want them to keep up with the curriculum even during holidays / quarantine, etc.
2. You can improve your English language skills on the website www. bellenglish. com . Here you can get a remote education by completing oral or written tasks, as well as by listening to the records made with the participation of native speakers of the foreign language being studied. Even small children can do it - for them there is a huge number of all kinds of games in English or another language, and it's not a secret for anyone that learning in a playful way is much easier.
3. One of the most famous and popular sites offering free education on the Internet is www. study. en . With the help of this resource, you can learn different foreign languages ​​without wasting time and money on trips to tutors.
4. Despite the great desire to learn a foreign language, many people, unfortunately, are not very literate in their native language. To fix this, you can take distance learning courses on the website for free. www. mylanguage. en . Such classes will help you quickly master the rules of grammar, spelling and pronunciation of Russian words and phrases. If you do not have speech problems, but you still want to improve your knowledge, then this resource will be a great help for you in achieving your goal.
5. Do you want to get a prestigious education abroad, but do not have the financial means to travel outside your native country? You don't have to go anywhere. For inquisitive students, a famous professor at Stanford University, as well as competent programmers, created a huge learning platform called www.7. udacity. com. This resource closely cooperates with the largest Internet companies in the world, and is ready to provide a knowledge base to its students in areas that are completely closed to ordinary users of the World Wide Web. This is one of the most popular educational websites today. However, not everything is so simple here. This type of free distance education via the Internet is only suitable for people who already have some knowledge in the field of engineering, Internet technologies or business. Beginners will have a very difficult time, so first they should be well prepared.
6. Online training courses are absolutely free on the site www. EDX. org . This project does not have a commercial basis, it was created so that people can engage in self-education on the Internet without having to study libraries and various sites in search of information they need. The professors who developed this site for free distance learning have collected materials from various branches of science into one huge library. So, you can learn more on topics such as:
   • electronics;
   • Internet technologies;
   • artificial intelligence;
   • chemistry, etc.

   It is important to note that, according to people who have been trained on EDX, this is one of the best educational sites where you can get comprehensive answers to all your questions.

7. No less popular is the Internet portal www. udemy. com. This resource provides both free and paid online training courses. It all depends on which direction you have chosen. Here you can study almost all school subjects at an advanced level. To pass the course, a potential student should be patient, enthusiastic and gather strength, because no one promises that it will be easy.
8. Free education can also be obtained on the portal www. arzamas. academy/ courses . This is a relatively new Russian distance learning project, where you can find an innumerable number of interesting and useful lectures on completely different topics.
9. Another useful site for self-development - www. lectorium. tv . Here you can not only complete interesting tasks, but also watch videos, the total duration of which is almost 4000 hours.
10. If you are fond of cars or design, then the site will be the best option for you. www. universality. com . Here you will find many entertaining and useful lectures that will help you gain all the necessary knowledge to do what you love.
11. Do you love self-development? Then the portal www. self-knowledge. en will be a great help to you. Especially for its visitors, this resource offers a course of webinars and trainings that will help you acquire all the necessary skills.

Business and Information Technology

• If you have always dreamed of becoming a private entrepreneur, a reputable businessman, the owner of your own enterprise, then you have a real chance to fulfill your cherished dream. This site will help you www. business learning. en . Here you will not only get a good education via the Internet, but you will also be able to accurately determine the direction in which you want to develop. So, for those who want to study everything related to management, finance, the basics of office work and other areas of business, special free online courses are held, after passing which, you will definitely need to pass a test to find out your level of preparedness for further occupation of the chosen type of activity. If necessary, you can take a second course of study in order to achieve the desired result and obtain the necessary level of education.
• For people who want to work and make good money in the field of computer technology, free online training on the site is perfect www.intuit.ru . The resource contains more than 200 different training programs aimed at a deep and thorough study of all kinds of modern information technologies. So, you can get all the necessary knowledge in the field of web design, management, historical facts regarding the development of the economy of Russia and other countries of the world, as well as a lot of other interesting and useful information. At the end of the training, you will have to pass a test, on the basis of which you will find out about the level of your knowledge in your chosen field. www.intuit.ru - a site offering free online courses with the mandatory issuance of a certificate. Therefore, the time spent on study will certainly pay off in the future.
• For lovers of programming and Internet technologies, there is www. topexpert. pro . On this site you can get a good knowledge base in various areas related to Internet marketing.
• For people who are interested in the issue of creating sites and their promotion, it will not be superfluous to visit the portal www. techdays. en . The information provided on it will help you understand how to act in a given situation so that your business brings not only success, but also good profit.

People who are not used to sitting in one place, like to be active, and also dream of learning something new and interesting, have a good opportunity to fulfill their dream. Many of the sites listed above provide their customers with free online courses that guarantee a mandatory certification. With it, you will feel more confident, and self-confidence is one of the main keys to success.

That's all for me. Leave your comments. Tell us about the online courses that you took and they were useful to you.

Today, when information has become more accessible than ever and getting new knowledge is easier than ever, we have another problem: how to focus and structure new knowledge if there are no external restrictions like an exam or the need to prepare for a lesson?
And again, developers and the Internet save us, where there are more and more open universities, online courses, lectures and services for organizing your own learning.
I decided to collect in one place links to distance learning resources and other useful services in English and Russian, most of which are free. There was no goal to cover everything, but if you think that something needs to be added to the list - please write in the comments.

Online courses (MOOCs):

Udacity– Specialized courses for developers and other technical specialists. There are paid and free courses. $/Free, Eng

EdX– Also a very large video course platform. The topics are extensive: from "The science of everyday thinking" to technical disciplines. $/Free, Eng

MIT Open Courseware- The name speaks for itself. If you are developing, designing, assembling something, then you will find a lot of useful information. There is a good course on technical entrepreneurship. Free, Eng

Khan Academy- Also a well-known platform with video lessons of an exclusively applied nature, which originally appeared to help with the school curriculum. Now the subjects of subjects are much wider, including economics, art and much more. Free, Eng

Saylor– The project, founded by entrepreneur Michael Saylor, is like a full-fledged online college. Almost all general education subjects are collected, but many are marked 101, which in the American system means the initial level. Free Eng

Alison– Great service with free educational courses. Good programs for language learners. Free, Eng

University of the People– Large, serious and free online university. You can choose one of the specializations - Business Administration or Computer Science, each has courses that give you credits, by the end of the semester you must score a certain number of them - well, and other features of the liberal education system. Free, Eng

iTunes U- Apple's iTunes University allows you to create and publish educational courses on your own, as well as take existing ones. $/Free, Eng

World Education University (WEU)“Learning should be free” is the slogan of this online university. Offers full-fledged specialties and degrees. There are still few courses, you can take a preparatory program for the university (where you are taught to write essays, make presentations of projects, etc.), learn to write books or get an assistant professor of arts. Free, Eng

Canvas Network- Many free courses on various near-intellectual topics. There is a course "Paranting in a digital age", an applied course "How to find a job with Linkedin" and an aviation course for beginners. Free, Eng

FutureLearn- A British resource that unites more than 40 universities offering free online courses. Free, Eng

codeacademy.com- If you want to learn some programming language or make a website yourself - you are here. Free, Eng

Academic Earth– Aggregator of free courses in many disciplines. Free, Eng

– Another major lecture aggregator plus a large documentary section. Free, Eng

Udemy– Marketplace with many courses. $ , Ru/Eng

openedu- The sensational "National Educational Platform" which currently contains 40 courses of the university program from leading universities. Free, Ru

Lectorium- Many courses for schoolchildren, students and professionals. The courses are distinguished by very high quality visual content. Free, Ru

eduson– Business lectures, courses and cases. For example, there is a course "How to overcome a secretary during cold calls." Some courses are available in four languages. $/Free, Ru/Eng

Universarium– General education lectures and courses with free access. Free, Ru

Kadenze– International project for the study of art and creative disciplines. Free, Eng

Stepic– So far, most of the courses are for technical specialists, but the courses differ in their applied component. Free, Ru

Hexlet– Developer courses for a not very expensive subscription. They promise a free trial. $ , Ru

Netology– Courses and training programs for Internet professions. All content is paid. $ , Ru

coursemos– Aggregator of micro-courses on various topics. Free, Ru/Eng

Computer Science Center– The section with online courses will be very useful for technical specialists. And if you want to become a developer or an analyst, then you should take their full-time courses. Free, Ru

Video lectures and lessons:

YouTube EDU– #Education on YouTube. Lectures, interviews and more. Free, Ru/Eng

Do lectures– Inspiring lectures from people who are trying to change something for the better. Free, Eng

big think– Short video lectures from professionals from different fields about interesting practices from their experience. Free, Eng

Fora TV- Free videos from conferences around the world. There is a section with documentaries and series for a subscription. $/Free, Eng

Google Talks– Google videos, lectures, conference streams. Free, Eng

RSA Animate– RSA animation on various topics. Free, Eng

creative live– Lots of lectures on creative disciplines. Life hack: if you sign up for lectures in advance, they are free, see the calendar. Free, Eng

Mixergy– A lot of courses for startups and interviews with successful entrepreneurs. $/Free, Eng

The Floating University– Experts from various disciplines about interesting facts and world issues in the format of video lectures. Free, Eng

Reddit lectures- Lectures thread on Reddit. Free, Eng

Video lectures– A huge resource of video materials – from conference broadcasts to interviews and lectures. Free, Eng

Lynda- Recently, a completely paid, but no less high-quality resource with video lessons for Internet specialists and not only. $ , Eng

Tuts plus- Lessons and courses on "digital" topics. $/Free, Eng

Skillshare- Another resource with video materials for designers, photographers and other representatives of creative professions. $ , Eng

postnauka- An excellent non-fiction resource. We launched a section with courses, while for a fee. $/Free, Eng

Univertv– An educational portal with lectures on all possible disciplines. Free, Ru

VnimanieTV– Lectures from various resources are collected here. In the Video Projects section, you can find countless links to educational resources in all areas. Free, Ru

Intuit– The National Open University is an extensive resource with very practical lectures. Many thanks to the people who created a truly useful and free service. Free, Ru

Services for tracking your progress and finding like-minded people:

open badges– If you have already grown up and you do not have enough “grades” for your learning and achievements, use Mazilla Open Badges. Free, Eng

open study– If you are studying something, then both experts who you can contact with a question and like-minded people can be useful to you - all this you can find on this service. Also, you yourself can help someone with training. Free, Eng

Zero Tuition College- A simpler resource than Open Study, but with the same meaning - you can find like-minded people and come together to study or discuss a subject together. Free, Eng

Learnist- The service allows you to create your own "collections" of materials on various topics. An excellent source of new information. Free, Eng

MentorMob- Organize your playlists and study them in a course format. Also, you can go through already created materials. Free, Eng

Cojourneo– Service for collaborative study of something. Create a group, add participants, define a topic and the virtual class is ready! Suitable for online seminars. Free, Eng

Day Zero Project“There is a competitive aspect here. If you have a goal - announce it, find like-minded people and, if you are passionate enough, it can work for you. Also, it is very inspiring to look at other people's goals, there is a lot of interesting things! Free, Eng

barter- Russian exchange service: if you know something, but want to learn something new - offer to exchange lessons, there are probably people who want to gain knowledge in your field.

Mooc-list and courseon– Are you lost in a large number of courses? Use the search engine for online courses. Free, Ru/Eng

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Ripe for self-education, but want to study for free?

Previously, sites with free courses were only available in English. But now it has appeared in Runet a large number of resources that offer distance learning courses for free.

1. Universarium

A free set of courses from leading Russian universities and trainers. There are both courses that you can take at your own pace, based on lecture recordings, and courses that take place in webinar mode. You need to register for such courses and wait for the start date.

There is a mobile application.

2. Lectorium

Large archive of free video lectures. Lectures are filmed in the traditional format - a board and a lecturer with a live, unrehearsed speech for an invisible audience behind the scenes. The duration of the lecture corresponds to the academic standard - from 45 minutes to an hour. The range of items is the widest.

3. Intuition

Natural sciences, information and network technologies. Materials are mostly in text form. The project, in my opinion, "hung": outdated design, the history of the project is described only until 2012. There are both paid and free courses. There are courses conducted in the form of self-study, and there are in the form of webinars.

4.Arzamas.academy

History, cultural studies, sociology, literature, philosophy - as they say, "for the soul." All courses are free. Lots of multimedia materials - videos and illustrations. The project is young, but actively developing.

5. Synergy

Economics, law, management, finance, accounting - a complete set of business school subjects.

Education is paid, focused on obtaining a complete set of knowledge on the topic for the student and subsequent certification. Nonetheless, their Youtube channel contains a lot of lectures that can be viewed for free.

6. PostScience

One of the oldest resources in online education. Here you will find thousands of video lectures in Russian. Originally filmed in English, they were subsequently dubbed into Russian, retaining the logic of the original story. All lectures are free. There are a huge number of topics - there are both humanities and natural sciences.

8. Coursera

Kursera also posted courses in Russian, both originally written by Russian-speaking authors (from teachers at the Higher School of Economics and Phystech), and with Russian subtitles. However, there are terribly few of them - at the time of this writing, there were only 73 courses in Russian.

Conclusion

The number of resources offering education in Russian is growing rapidly. Self-education on the Internet has never been as accessible as it is now. If you have always been unable to start self-study due to lack of money or lack of knowledge of English, then it's time to look for a new excuse.

And now go ahead, gnaw at the granite of science!

See also:

Do you know any other worthwhile free educational sites in Russian? Any feedback on the resources listed above? Write your opinion in the comments!