I was talking recently to a friend, who mentioned that she was doing an online course on Coursera about “learning to learn”. Although this initially struck me as slightly ironic, I started thinking that it actually made a lot of sense. We’re not actually taught to learn during our education. At least, we weren’t when I was in school.
But things have changed so much in just the last few years. We now live in an age when you can learn almost anything online. Including how to learn! All you need is an Internet connection and an Internet-connected device.
So, many people I speak to nowadays are doing some sort of online course or the other – learning a language, learning a skill, or simply rediscovering their love for astronomy, physics, literature because they weren’t able to when they were students and they now can. I’m actually trying to teach myself how to write code to programme mobile apps. The world of online learning has opened up an entirely new frontier.
This unprecedented access to learning anything has allowed people to follow their passion, change careers, improve their skills – all without having to follow some kind of formal education regimen. And online learning isn’t just for older people; there are resources and courses available for all ages, from toddlers to octogenarians.
One of the earliest and most famous institutions that started putting their courses online was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They started a OpenCourseWare (OCW) programme in 2001, and there are over 2,300 courses available.
One of my favourite online learning examples is the Khan Academy. It began with Salman Khan teaching his cousin maths. When other relatives started asking for help, he began putting teaching videos on YouTube. The popularity of his lessons gradually snowballed to the extent where he quit his finance job to do this full-time. Using the platform, students are able to work through exercises at their own pace. Teachers are able to monitor progress and provide targeted help to students where and when they need it the most. This means that rather than be pulled along at the same speed as everyone else, students have the flexibility to learn in a way that works best for them.
Flexibility is perhaps the biggest advantage that online learning provides. You can learn anything you’d like to, set your own pace, learn in your own time and do all this from wherever you are – as long as you have an Internet connection.
Coursera and edX are two of the largest aggregators of free online courses. They offer thousands of courses from leading educational institutions globally. I’d highly recommend checking them out. So, if you’ve been thinking about learning something new or rekindling your interest in that subject you couldn’t pursue, there’s no time like the present and there’s no place like the Internet.
