Do you have a desire to continue learning but do not have the money to pay tuition? Does the idea of returning to college and having to sit in a classroom not appeal to you? Maybe, you have a family and a demanding job and the thought of having to complete homework assignments simply will not fit into your life but you want or need to learn a new topic. If so, you may want complete a university class online and at your own pace. Many colleges and universities offer online continuing eduction programs that are low cost or no cost but these programs usually have deadlines and homework assignments to complete. There is a new option, many colleges and universities are releasing programs and classes you can complete for free on your own schedule.

Many colleges are taking part in a program called OpenCourseWare. OpenCourseWare was started at MIT with the idea to post the materials from all MIT university courses online for free. The program is a permanent MIT activity and new courses are added monthly. Through OpenCourseWare you can download lectures, reading assignments, and even quizzes and tests online for free. Once you download these materials you can read the information and work through the class lessons at your own pace. While you do not have access to the teachers or lectures, many times the teachers publish their email address and are happy to respond to your questions as time allows. The OpenCourseWare program has been so successful for MIT that many other colleges and universities are starting to offer free courses online. The purpose of these online classes is to help you to learn at your own pace, however, you will not earn any college credits or degrees. As the MIT OpenCourseWare program grows additional content such as audio and video recordings are being added to the materials available for each class.

If MIT is not the University you want to study from, the OpenCourseWare Consortortium has over 200 colleges and universities located around the world. All 200 colleges and universities are creating programs similar to the MIT project. You can find virtually any topic you want to learn covered in OpenCourseWare materials but most institutions do not have the same amount of material and content that MIT has amassed. New classes and universities are constantly joining the consortium so if the information you are interested in learning is not online yet, continue to check back because it could be added soon. Also, ff you are a teacher or home schooler you can augment your lessons with OpenCourseWare materials. All OpenCourseWare materials are released with the creative commons copyright license which allows other educators to adapt the materials for use in their own classrooms. What could be better than increasing the information in your classroom lessons with information taught at MIT or your favorite college?

If you are a visual learner instead of a reader you may be interested in downloading audio and video recordings of class lectures. If you miss the atmosphere of the college lecture and would like to continue to listen to and watch lectures, you may want to download classes through Apple’s iTunes U. ITunes U provides downloadable audio and video recordings of college class lectures from hundreds of the top educational institutions around the world. If you do not have time to spend working on the materials available through OpenCourseWare, listening to an audio lecture in the car or while you exercise may be the answer for you. The downside of iTunes U is that you do not receive the level of information and detail on reading materials and writing assignments that is available through OpenCourseWare. However, you can combine these two programs to create your own university experience through reading and lectures.

By using the technology of podcasts, video lectures, tutorials and full web classes online, universities are helping to educate the world for free. If you work through the materials provided through OpenCourseWare or iTunes U you will actually learn. If you take the time to study the materials provided for the class and do the assigned reading, just like you would have done in a college course, you can challenge yourself and increase your knowledge from these free University programs.

If you have a specific topic you want to learn about chances are OpenCourseWare and iTunes U has a university providing a course online for free. You can learn anything from how nanobots work in medical situations to how to journal about your life. You can even learn to speak a foreign language for free through podcasts and iTunes U. If you never finished college and you want to think about returning to school but are afraid you will not be up to the standards of eduction, completing several free online classes may give you the confidence needed to return to school and get the degree you always wanted.

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