Can you imagine taking FREE IVY LEAGUE courses online?
What if I told you that you could?
Would you think that you hit the jackpot?
Or would you say to yourself ‘Who cares? Not interested’.
For those of you who think this information is less than compelling, click onto another site.
But for those of you who find the idea intriguing or think ‘OMG, I can’t believe it’, then read on.
It’s true.
You have the opportunity to take FREE IVY LEAGUE courses online. There’s no application, requirements (except your e-mail and name), or fees. It’s open to everyone.
Here are a few:
1. Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World Taught by Eric Rabkin, The University of Michigan
2. Listening To World Music: Carol Muller, The University of Pennsylvania
3. Algorithms, Part 1: Robert Sedgewick, Kevin Wayne, Princeton University
4. Recognition: Silvio Saverese and Fei Fei Li, Stanford University and The University of Michigan
5. Bioelectricity: A Quantitative Approach, Roger Coke Barr, Duke University
To view more courses, click on:
Coursera – (courses listed above)
Open Culture – (including courses from Yale, MIT, and Berkeley)
Harvard University – Open Learning Initiative
7 Reasons Why You Would Be CRAZY Not To Take A Course
You have the opportunity to:
1. LEARN about and EXPERIMENT with subjects that interest you (even if you’re not sure that they do).
2. EXERCISE your brain muscles.
3. EXPOSE yourself to new ideas and possibilities.
4. TAKE A RISK WITHOUT A CHANCE OF FAILURE. You’re not being graded nor is anyone going to be looking over your shoulder to see if you do the assignments.
5. RE-IGNITE YOUR CREATIVITY by storing knowledge and ideas that will be fodder for your creative process.
6. USE YOUR TIME WISELY. You’re fooling yourself if you think you don’t have enough time. 90% of us spend way too many hours on the internet answering mail, reading a slew of blogs, and perusing sites. Does this stuff really matter? De-clutter. Take it off your reflexive ‘to do’ list.
7. MAKE A CHOICE. Are you going to continue reading the headlines and following the 24 hour news about tragedies, world politics, financial crises, presidential elections, and celebrities?
I don’t care whether it’s The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, CNN, Huffington Post, or FOX News. 99% of what they say or write about is a waste of time.
SO….Are you IN or are you OUT?
Now it’s your turn. Tell me what you think.
And since we’re on the subject of great courses to take..
I’ ve got some exciting news that I want to share with you. My friend Evelyn Lim of Abundance Tapestry has created The Life Vision Mastery Program. It’s a phenomenal course that is both inspirational and will give you the tools to begin to live a life of abundance, success, love, and your soul purpose.
I was honored that she asked to interview me about creativity. 
Evelyn is an extremely skillful and talented woman who is generously offering her years of experience, knowledge, skills, and artistry to you at an extremely reasonable price. Check it out at: The Life Vision Mastery Program.
Ah, Universe, speaking to me through Fran. 🙂 A couple of weeks ago, I was impelled to enroll for a course. I have the problem of choice. So, thinking it over, I visited my alma mater, IGNOU, the Indira Gandhi National Open University from where I did my MBA. I enrolled for Psychology modules. 🙂 I am keen to check out the links you’ve posted. Nothing equals the joy of learning.
Thanks. Very encouraging post, Fran! Hope you’re having a great Sunday!
Vidya….How interesting. Smart to go with your alma mater. I was a psych. major….I loved it! My mentor, Erika Fromm, a psychologist and psychoanalyst, had a huge impact on my life My daughter is named after her.
I agree that learning is one of the joys of life…both Hands On and through other means. It inspires, keeps the intellectual muscles moving, and can open up worlds that we never knew existed. xxoo-Fran
As a self professed nosey parker Fran, I’m basically a curious person. Love learning new things and exposing my mind to new ideas. Off to check the links now.
This is something new I learned today and thanks for sharing this. 🙂
Elle
xoxo
Elle…
Never heard the term ‘nosey parker’. Having a curious nature is a gift.
You’re my kind of gal…Learn at least one thing new everyday. xxoo-Fran
Elle…
Never heard the term ‘nosey parker’. Having a curious nature is a gift.
You’re my kind of gal…Learn at least one thing new everyday. xxoo-Fran
How funny you wrote about this. A friend just posted the link to coursera this week on FB.
Only drawback is that there doesn’t seem to be any arts related classes, which can be challenging to offer online.
The Greek and Roman mythology class looks fun and that was one of my favorite classes in school, so I may need to take the refresher class.
Wendy…
Check out the 2 other links on the post. They will take you to different sites. Perhaps you can find what you’re looking for there. Let me know what you decide. Great to see your face here. Hope you’re having a good summer. Fran
Fran,
There was a time in my life I would sign up for a class or two and be elated. Now with this blogging I think no way. I can’t add one more thing to my plate. It is pretty amazing to know it’s available!
Tess….I totally get it. There’s a piece of me that feels the same way but as I just wrote Tess both courses I’m taking are precisely in areas that I’m interested in. I’m not worried about requirements/assignments, etc. It’s the exposure to new ideas. xxoo-Fran
Hi Fran,
Thanks for letting us know. I’m in Tess’ camp at this point, but something to keep in mind when I get a moment of time. Imagine all the new things we could learn – invaluable!
Cathy,
Believe me, I understand. I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle the course load. BUT regardless, both courses are in areas that I’m extremely interested in so I can cherry pick what I want from them. xxoo-Fran
Hi Fran,
Thank you for etting us know that there are free courses available. It’s great that the internet makes tons of resources available to us all.
Also, thank you for introducing the Life Vision Mastery Program here 🙂
With love,
Evelyn
Evelyn…
About 3 years ago, I checked out an online course at U.of Pennsylvania’s School of Environment. It was a graduate course BUT still the price shocked me. So, yes, these courses are a real find.
It is my pleasure Evelyn to talk about your course. It is exactly what I need right now. I believe in it and in you. With love, Fran
That is a pretty amazing opportunity! Portland State University here in Portland has a program that allows seniors to audit any class for free. Not ivy league, but still free — and in person, too!
Galen….Funny that you should mention that. U of Penn. had a program where for $250. you could take all of the courses you wanted per semester(not limited to 65+). When they raised the fee a few years ago to $500., my dad’s friends boycotted the school and went to Villanova U (in the suburbs) that was still $250. It wasn’t that they didn’t have the money. It was the principle of having the price doubled…which World War II vets certainly have. BUT free courses live at a university….this is the first I’ve heard of it. Thanks for sharing. Fran
I love that these schools are offering these courses for free! IMO, the traditional school model is on its way out as it’s tough to compete with all the amazing free information out there. College can only prepare a small group of people for a very limited segment of the job market. Courses like these and the unlimited information out there are ready for anyone with the initiative to go after them.
I’m always discovering new and interesting things to explore. Ode magazine (soon to be renamed The Optimist) is a wonderful resource of interesting and positive people and things going on around the world. They also offer live events that you can either attend or get recordings of. Bruce Lipton and his theories on The Biology of Belief are my latest find.
I finally invested in a Kindle this week since I’ve run out of room for more books. I seem to read them faster than I can donate them.
As we unschool our kids, we hope to instill in them the life-long joy of learning and the understanding that we’re always learning. It doesn’t just happen in a certain building at a certain time with certified teachers standing in the front of the room. The world is an amazing place that we can never fully explore.
Thanks for more ideas and resources Fran!!
Big Hugs!!
Paige,
I’m a big fan of Bruce Lipton but am not familiar with the magazine you mentioned. Will check it out.
I couldn’t live without my Kindle. Seriously Paige. A friend of mine gave one to me right after I moved to Israel. I’ve had one stolen, another broken. Each time I felt like I had lost my best friend. Last year I started buying 2 or 3 when I was in the states (the $79. model)and bringing them back to Israel. My daughter, daughter in law, and friend now use them. And I always keep one in stock for myself. No, they don’t sell them here…
Someone whose work I think you might be interested in is Andrew Newberg. He co-wrote the book ‘How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough From A Leading Neuroscientist.’ I have been following his work for years. Compelling, almost magical information that he brings to light.
You know how I feel about homeschooling kids. It opens up a world of possiblity. I’m not sure if I ever mentioned to you but I took the leap to do it after I read ‘Dumbing Us Down’ by John Taylor Gatto. He has had a huge impact on me. A non-profit program that I created for inner city elementary school kids in Philly was based in part on his philosophy about learning. And God knows how I would have homeschooled my kids 20 years ago without him. At that time, homeschooling was pretty much the domain of a few religious groups….and liberal Jew wasn’t one of them. He gave me the courage to follow my instincts and not homeschool my children based on our school district’s recommendations, etc.
I know that you are a life long learner Paige. It is food for the mind and soul and will help to keep you vibrant and creative in years to come (you are still a young’un). xxoo-Fran
Great list of courses, Fran. I’ll definitely be going to check some of those out.
I’d also like to add that the OU (Open University) in the UK also runs some beginners’ courses completely free. They are a well respected distance learning university in the UK and provide lots of courses in many subject areas: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/.
Sarah….That’s great information. Thanks for sharing! Fran
I’m in!! I just heard an NPR show about Stanford and doing this! I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks for the great advice Fran!
Betsy…I think that Stanford was one of the first to offer free courses. They have a huge waiting list for a few that have been highly publicized. Let me know what you sign up for! Fran