free courses

There are a lot of resources on the web - many offering amazing free training courses - but how to weed out the useless, banal and blatant sales pitches?

Check out the organization that is providing the courses. Many reputable schools and not for profit organizations offer great courses free to the public. If the organization is a for-profit organization it may still have very valuable information available for free (for example I have found the courses offered by SiteSell University to be really useful albeit very detailed). These courses are often offered as a way to attract customers to their services - but there is no requirement for you to purchase their services just by taking the courses. The value of the information for such companies should be evaluated on its merit and the decision to purchase their services should be evaluated separately.



Note: please click on blue underlined terms for additional details

Some popular websites featuring free courses include:

1. OpenCourseWare Consortium (free online university courses from around the world)In 2001, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) launched it's OpenCourseWare (OCW) site to offer free online courses (including lecture notes, exams and videos) to the general public. Students of the OCW courses so not get a degree but they do get invaluable (and previously very EXPENSIVE) information about all areas of learning covered in University.

It's unprecedented breadth of knowledge (with voluntary contributions from 90% of the faculty and more than 2,600 members of the MIT community) and success (approximately 1.5 million hits around the world) lead to the formation of the OpenCourseWare Consortium. This consortium is made up of over 200 higher education institutions and associated organizations from around the world. They provide access to hundreds of topics in many languages from around the world.

Check out the results for courses covering "small business" here or search for other topics of interest.

2. The Open University (free online courses in many areas)

The OpenLearn story started in 2005 with a grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Sharing the aim to open access to education for all, they agreed to help the Open University to set up the OpenLearn website.

Since 1969, The Open University has been a pioneer in making learning materials freely available through its successful partnership with the BBC. Many of our television and radio programmes are already supported by free internet activities and print materials. They wanted to use their knowledge of the latest technologies in education to extend our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. The vision was free online education.

Website development began in May 2006 and the site was launched in October 2006, with an aim to regularly add new content and features. OpenLearn now offers a full range of Open University subject areas from access to postgraduate level and has seen over 2 million visitors since launch. In April 2008 OpenLearn reached its target to have 5,400 learning hours of content in the LearningSpace and 8100 hours in the LabSpace.

3. Personal MBA (a reading list for key books to learn all about business)
Okay - this isn't an online course but depending on how you approach it - it can be an amazing (and free) way to learn all about business. The idea is that with the right resources (in this case - great business, management, economic and other books) you can replace a great MBA education. This reading list has been put together with that goal in mind. It is updated every year and is a very popular resource for business people around the world. Whether you want to buy new or used version on Amazon.com or elsewhere or just sign the books out of the local library the price can go from $0 to around $1,300.



4. iTunes U and Mobile Learning (collection of free course lectures, lab demonstrations, and language lessons from top American universities and colleges)
iTunes U puts the power of the iTunes Store to work for colleges and universities, so users can easily search, download, and play course content just like they do music, movies, and TV shows. iTunes U delivers easy, 24/7 access to educational content from hundreds of top colleges, universities, and educationally focused organizations across the country. And it’s accessible to anyone with a Mac or PC. Students can sync iTunes U content with any iPod or iPhone, so they can go right on learning while they grab a meal, walk to class, or work out at the gym. Engaging students on their home turf, iTunes U offers audio and video that make subjects more vivid than any printed page ever could. iTunes U lets schools open all or part of their content to the public, from parents to alumni to anyone with a love of learning. With topics such as successful business trends, organization station at home, guerrilla marketing for the home-based businesses or home based travel agent - there is a lot of FREE information for those who want to be able to learn on the go!!

5. YouTube University - university lectures (ie. University Berkley)
Many universities are posting lectures on their websites in video, audio, slideshow or text format but some - such as Berkley - have taken it one step further. Berkley has set up a YouTube "channel" that you can subscribe to (to receive notifications of all new videos) or browse through. With topics as diverse as physics, biology, IT, political science and much more - this channel is worth checking out. Other universities that have channels include: Auburn, Vanderbilt, Duke, Stanford, Purdue and many more.

So, check out these great options for training and education and GOOD LUCK!!

Search for more info:

Resources
Check out these informative sites for researching everything about small businesses.

Trade Tools
Check out these links for great products and services which can support your small business. The range in types of services and products included is reflective of the wide range of small businesses out there and the items that they may require.

Our CafePress Shop
Show off your pride as a small business owner with these great products!!

Our Amazon Shop
Check out our hand-picked small business resource recommendations through our aStore on Amazon.com