Posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2014 by Dov Herzberg
This Top Websites For Learning Online list contains the best sites and services to sharpen your mind, learn something new, and better yourself during your spare time.
Improving education has been a passion of mine since I read a Forbes study that said that 40% of High School students are “chronically unmotivated.” In fact, a couple of years ago, I created Fantasy Academics (Pat. Pend.), a motivational tool that turns school into a Fantasy Football-like game. It is also for this reason, that I was thrilled to do research and discover the top 51 websites for learning online. These websites will help you in school, at work and anywhere else where knowledge equals power (everywhere). Learn well and enjoy!
Socratic, at its core, is people helping people. The website is a hub of thousands of questions that students like you have asked about subjects like Biology or Physics (and more to come.) And, if you don’t find the question that you need, simply ask the question yourself.
Don’t be shy, ask away with Socratic.
An amazing website that has a huge collection of math and science videos, Glean.co is a fantastic place for learning in your spare time or catching up on a lesson that you’ve missed. The videos are very topic-specific so you won’t have to waste your time with information that you’ve already learnt (or don’t want to learn about) and the instructions are clear and concise. Additionally, with its “assign video” feature, Glean.co can also be a great tool for teachers who want to make sure that their students are staying current with the material.
Watch and learn with Glean.
Similar to Glean but with emphasis on different subjects, Lynda.com is an outstanding website for learning all about different business related skills. Lynda has thousands of videos on web development, photography and a whole lot more. It is also a wonderful place to learn about crucial computer programs like Photoshop, Microsoft Excel and iMovie.
Learn from expert teachers at home or on the go with Lynda.
A genius website that will make you a more knowledgeable and well-rounded person, usefulscience.org is just what it sounds like, a place to learn about useful advances in science. Useful Science lists practical and interesting facts about fitness, education and more that you can peruse and apply practically into your own life. And, if a particular topic interests you a lot, just click on the fact for a complete scientific paper on the idea.
Make science a part of your life with Useful Science.
Computer science, and coding in particular, is an industry that is growing and growing rapidly. Therefore, learning to code is an extremely useful skill that can help you make, or get ahead in your career. Bentobox.io is here to help you learn. With tons of mostly free videos, interactive tutorials and reading material from around the web, Bentobox is a great place to learn the basics and the intricacies of the world of coding.
Learning web development is finally accessable. Use Bentobox.
There is no easier way to learn how to design than by utilizing the resources at Hackdesign.org. Hack Design has lessons from some of the world’s top designers to teach you the tricks of good designing. Additionally, Hack Design has puzzles and games to help you master what you’ve learnt, and even introduces you to new programs that you may never have heard of. Hack Design can also send you a weekly email with a new lesson, hand crafted by top designers to help keep you stay fresh and current.
Make things beautiful with Hack Design.
Learning is the key to maintaining the world’s growth and progress and Future Learn is dedicated to the cause. A wide variety of high quality, free courses are offered from the world’s leading universities in an attempt to connect high quality educators with students who are thirsty for their knowledge. These lessons are offered in short, digestible chunks and can be accessed from any device in order to make learning even more convenient.
Live and learn with Futurelearn.com
A self-proclaimed “online Hogwarts”, The Arcanum is a master and apprentice type program that promises to change the way that artists learn their craft. As a prospective student, you can apply to be admitted into The Arcanum by specifying your interests, skills etc. If you are good enough, a select group of skilled masters will choose to take you under their wings to help you master different artistic skills. There are 20 levels of skills to master, so make sure to work hard listen closely.
The Arcanum is the art school of the future. Check it out.
Takelessons.com is a website that allows students and teachers from all around the world to connect and learn together. Whether you need help improving your ACT score, want to do better in Biology class or just need to learn proper swimming technique, Take Lessons has instructors for all types of activities. These teachers will meet with you to help you accomplish your best, and if the best teacher doesn’t live near you, simply use Take Lessons to set up a video chat session.
Don’t get stressed or overwhelmed by school, simply Take Lessons.
In today’s day and age, efficiency is the name of the game and Shortcutfoo is here to help. This website promises to teach and help you remember crucial shortcuts which will make working quicker a guaranteed reality. Shortcutfoo has tips on many of your favorite programs like Vim, Gmail and Excel and has added features that best utilize the memory retaining portion of your brain. Additionally, Shortcutfoo allows you to customize your training program so that you learn all the skills that you need to know without being bogged down by the extras.
Do it quickly. Do it with Shortcutfoo.
Whether you are looking for an ice-breaker, need to write a paper for school or just can’t seem to figure out a clever way to start your blog post, witty and profound quotes are a great thing to have at your fingertips. So, next time you find yourself in need of a quote, check out Quotery.com, a collection of thousands of quotes, quips and proverbs that is growing everyday. Quotery lets you search by category, editors picks and more, so the quote that you need is always ready to be discovered.
Be inspired, give a chuckle, read wisdom. It’s Quotery.
Lingualy is a free tool that helps you turn the internet into your own personal language tutor. All you need to do is choose the language that you want to learn and lingualy will help you with the rest. As you surf the internet in your foreign language of choice, simply double-click on words to have them saved for review later. Lingualy will help you learn and practice these words, and will introduce you to new, real web content for your reading pleasure.
Learn a language as you use the internet. Use Lingualy.
Bonus Note: To find other websites that will help you with your bilingual dreams, check out our New Language Blog, you’ll be glad that you did.
Learn as many foreign languages as you’d like (one at a time of course.) That is what Pronunciator was built for and that is what Pronunciator can help you do. Using groundbreaking speech recognition technology and an innovative and organized methodology, Pronunciator can help you pick up a foreign language, while helping you to not sound like a foreigner. With 80 languages to choose from, the one that you need to learn is undoubtedly on the list.
Learn a language at home or on the go with Pronunciator.
It is a well established fact that different people utilize different senses to best learn and retain information. Edspire.com, a search engine for learning, is able to accumulate enough resources from around the web to enable every student to learn in his/her preferred way. So, whether you like to see visuals, read texts or hear audio, use Edspire to learn about the arts, sciences, humanities and more.
They’ve gathered all the information for you, now go and enjoy. Be Edspired.
Irrespective of your scientific background or amount of free time, World Science U has all the resources that you need to learn more about the wonderful world of science. For those of you who are in a rush, check out the quick and easy “Science Unplugged: section for questions and answers explained thoroughly yet concisely. For those with a little more time, it may make sense to try a “Short Course” of 2-3 weeks to get a more complete understanding of a topic. And, if you really want to grasp a complete scientific concept, simply utilize the 8-10 week “University Courses” and be amazed by the world that we live in.
World Science U, it’s science for all.
Yabbly is a Ask Me Anything (or AMA platform) designed to help bring people together and spread valuable information through social interviews. A format made famous by Reddit but perfected by Yabbly, AMA’s are basically a question answer session with different interesting people who have the knowledge and experience that is worthwhile to share with others.
Ask away and learn for yourself with Yabbly.
Crowdsourced from many people across many different industries, Learnist is basically the world’s knowledge in one intuitive webpage. Learnist has message boards filled with useful information, and has experts write their insights so you know that the information that you’re getting is thoroughly researched and up to date.
With Learnist, there is no end to the amount that you can know.
Investing in the stock market can be a profitable and rewarding career/hobby. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find the training and practice necessary to be able to make smart and confidant decision. It was difficult, that is, until Wall Street Survivor. Wall Street Survivors has thousands of articles and videos to educate you on the basics and the intricacies of the market. And, after you’ve familiarized yourself with the terms and proceedings, use Wall Street Survivors acclaimed “Stock Market Simulator” to invest fake money into real companies and watch your earnings grow. When you graduate from this website, you’ll have the knowledge, confidence and skills to have a successful run at the market. Good luck.
Be an educated investor. Be a Wall Street Survivor.
Experiment is a website that aims to make scientific research and discoveries accessible to anyone with a good idea and the passion to carry out the necessary tests. Using a crowd funding technique similar to Kickstarter, Experiment lets users raise money for their scientific experiments and donate to other experiments that they deem useful or important. In that way, scientific research can be performed by regular people who are willing to put the time in to help the world.
Identify problems, find solutions. Experiment.
There is no doubt that education (like most other fields) is gravitating online. Iversity is an online service that seems to be in the front of this movement. Watch lectures on many different topics, discuss your thoughts on message boards and become a more knowledgeable person. When you’ve completed a course, Iversity gives you a certificate that you can display proudly as a testament to your accomplishments. And, the best part is, it’s completely free.
Be part of the future of education. Be part of Iversity.
Finding a good tutor was once an arduous task that took many phone calls and hours of research. However, thanks to Wyz Ant, you can now easily connected to one of over 75,000 tutors to find the one that’s perfect for you. Simply type in your zip code and the subject that you want to study (could be school subjects or even standardized tests) and watch as dozens of results are presented to you. Each tutor has a profile page with their credentials, fees and student reviews so you’ll know that you are getting the right person for the job.
The easiest way to get a little extra help. Try Wyz Ant.
There are thousands of rules in the english language, so even the most experienced of writers are bound to make mistakes once in awhile. Additionally, traditional word-processors only grammar check for minor rules, leaving a writer with potentially mistake-laden work. Luckily Grammarly, the world’s most advanced online automated proofreader, does your grammar checks the right way. All you need to do is upload your column to the website and Grammarly scans for plagiarism and grammar mistakes all in a manner of seconds.
Write correctly. Write confidently. Write Grammarly.
There are plenty of websites that offer classes and opportunities to learn online, but few offer them with the focus of helping you begin or advance your career like Udacity. Udacity works by being in touch with some of the leading tech companies. In this way, they are able to pinpoint the key skills that these companies look for in employees, and work with them to build courses of that nature. Udacity will help teach you news skills, build your portfolio and will coach you through the challenges that any important course load entails.
Take control of your career. Take classes with Udacity.
The internet is full of information, sometimes it just takes a person to point you in the right direction. That’s where Gibbon comes in. Gibbon is a peer-to-peer tutoring website that allows users to guide and learn from others in whatever expertise they have/are trying to acquire. Gibbon uses a unique “Learning Flow” feature that is basically a rundown of all the articles, videos and other content that the lesson maker feels is necessary to teach his course.
Be exposed to a mountain of knowledge. Use Gibbon.
Saylor Academy wants to make higher-level education accessible to anyone who is willing to learn. And, with their 317 courses and counting (created with the help of actual college professors), they are doing just that. These courses are designed to mimic actual college courses so you’ll know you’re learning valuable information. Additionally, Saylor.org has added a K-12th grade course section for those who want to learn but aren’t at a college level yet.
College courses anywhere anytime. It’s Saylor Academy.
With over 700 amazing courses collected from around the web, Course Buffet is the best place to learn the subject that you find intriguing. In order to streamline the process of finding the proper course, Course Buffet lets you do one easy search to get all the best courses that fit your description. Courses can be filtered by subject, university, level or by the provider so you won’t have any trouble getting the course that fills your need.
Feed your curiosity. Try Course Buffet.
Programming is one of the most important and quickest growing industries in the world. Thanks to Programmr, learning to program has never been easier. Programmr offers lessons in virtually every programming language for consoles, web and mobile devices so the language that you want to learn is surely available. Additionally, Programmr hosts contests, connects you with fellow programmers and even lets you make demo apps right there on the website to truly assist you in showcasing your skills.
Create amazing things with Programmr.
Books are an amazing source of knowledge, but unfortunately, many people don’t have the time (or the patience) to read hundreds of pages on a consistent basis. Blinkist has identified this problem and aims to solve it by helping people to best utilize their free time. While waiting on line for your morning coffee or your few minutes at the bus stop, use Blinkist to read short ideas and quotes from some of the top non-fiction works available. Blinkist can also recommend other books to you based on the selections that you are making, all without taking up too much time or money like a traditional book.
Make the most of your time with Blinkist.
Creative Live is a collection of amazing online classes available for viewing 24/7. What separates Creative Live from other class streaming services is the type of courses offered there. Whether you are looking to gain more knowledge in a career oriented topic (perhaps, business) or you are looking to take your hobby to the next level (photography anyone?) Creative Live has the class for you.
Sign up and let your interest be your guide. Creative Live.
In today’s world, knowing how to program can be the answer to improving your resume and furthering your career. With Dash, learning all the fundamentals and intricacies of HTML, CSS and JavaScript can become an achievable reality. Follow Dash’s step-by-step instructions to learn these languages which in turn, will be the key in creating new websites. Learn, gain new skills and start coding.
It’s time to get on the coding bandwagon. It’s time to Dash.
With a vision to make world-class education available to anyone for free, Coursera is a determined and capable of helping you get the learning opportunity of your dreams. Coursera has a partnership with some of the leading universities (Ivy League schools included) which helps them to create the best curriculum for each subject. Courses can be taken in your own time and at your own convenience, so you’ll never feel pressured or hurried like at a regular college.
It’s college from your computer. It’s Coursera.
Creativity is one of the most treasured aspects of childhood, and DIY has created a way to foster this character trait in children around the world. Any child who signs up for a DIY account gets his/her own profile page, replete with patches for completing different skill missions. Such missions include becoming an animator, an athlete or even a backyard farmer. Basically, DIY teaches children the positive message that they can accomplish any dream that they are willing to work for.
Let your kids be awesome with DIY.
No one likes taking tests, but the reality is, tests like the SATS, MCATS and LSATS have huge implications on your future. Bench Prep is here to make these life-changing tests a little bit more manageable. With dozens of courses and other test-prep features, Bench Prep is fully equipped to give you the tools that you need to succeed on your tests. Additionally, Bench Prep is accessible on all of your devices, so you can sit and study with your laptop in the library and also make some progress with your phone on the bus.
With over 400,000 thousand students helped and counting, its a no-brainer to start Bench Prep.
J.K. Rowling doesn’t write like Shakespeare and Harlan Coben doesn’t write like Edgar Allen Poe. On top of the fact that writing styles change, thousands of English words are created, changed and occasionally killed off from modern tongue. Dead Words is a tribute in their memories. Each word on Dead Words was once a real English word, but now doesn’t appear in mainstream dictionaries. The words are graphically designed in different beautiful ways that illustrate the word’s meaning and history.
Look back to the past and pay your respects to Dead Words.
In a generation where children are becoming more and more tech-savy, it was a prudent move for two brothers to create apps that are specifically designed to encourage and educate the youth. Storybots is their invention. With apps that can put your child’s face in actual e-book stories, help you children learn the abc’s and more, Storybots is a website and a collection of apps that parents and children will love equally. The content is designed for children 3-8 years old and has won several app awards already, so you know that you are giving your child premium quality work.
Help educate our youth. Try Story Bots.
With a tagline of, “No setup, no hassle, just learning”, it is no surprise that Code School continues to be one of the best spots to learn coding online. Code School prides itself on its ability to teach new technologies in a simple and clear way. The courses basically submerge you in a topic, giving you a short intro video and then start asking you to solve challenges. This way, you learn by doing, a learning method that is proven to be effective.
Class is in session. It’s time to go to Code School.
With over 3 million students and 16,00 courses, Udemy is quickly becoming one of the best, and most popular places to learn about virtually anything. Many courses at Udemy are given by expert professors who can teach you how to code, start a business, dance and more. Additionally, if you feel like you are qualified to teach a subject, hop on to Udemy and make a course in whatever format you choose to help spread your knowledge with the world. You can even set a price for your course and make some money for yourself.
Learn and teach whatever you wish at Udemy.
Many websites offer classes to mimic college courses, but few have actual college courses, taught and graded by actual college professors. Created by Harvard and MIT, Edx.org is an amazing place where you can take real college courses and learn different amazing subjects. Many of the courses utilize amazing technologies like virtual labs and molecule builders so you can truly get the full course experience. And, to make it even more college-like, edX has social learning tools so that you can meet driven and intelligent people, just like you.
Learn from home. Learn from edX.
Ted talks are famous for spreading amazing and thoughtful ideas to anyone who wants to give them a listen. To continue their progress, the makers of Ted have decided to spread their groundbreaking platform to the educational arena with TED-Ed. TED-Ed is a remarkable collection of videos, many of which have stunning animation and all of which, are worth watching. The videos are intended to be stimulating while sparking conversation and spreading knowledge around the world.
Be part of the educational revolution. Be part of TED.
Textbooks for college are often heavy, boring and worst of all, very expensive. Luckily, Boundless is here to make our lives a little easier. When you tell Boundless what book you’ve been assigned, this amazing website scours the internet to find the content that best matches your needs. Boundless also helps you take notes, highlight important sentences and even has tests cards so that you can best grasp the material. Additionally, Boundless helps you create and share study guides, an amazing way to prepare for your tests.
Stop buying textbooks, just go Boundless.
Getting good grades in school is crucial for advancing in education and in the work-force. Study Blue is an amazing platform that will make getting those grades as easy as using your smartphone. Over 175 million pieces of content are available in any subject for you to view and work through. You can use Study Blue on your computer, or on your mobile device, and go through millions of flash cards that are going to prepare you quickly and effectively for your upcoming tests.
Join 4.5 million students and start studying properly. Start with Study Blue.
The fashion industry is a fast paced ever-changing world that begs people to be creative and to keep up with the times. Mastered, an website dedicated to college quality courses on fashion, can help you do just that. These courses are similar to the courses offered on other college-like websites like Saylor.org, but the sole focus is fashion. You can take courses on design, growing your fashion business and more. The courses are taught by industry leaders so you know that you’re getting the best fashion education possible.
Dress (and prepare) for success with Mastered.
Since the 6th century, Chess has been a game that has entertained people from all around the world. The best players get world-wide recognition, and there are always people looking to play a game in the park or on a weekend. In order to bring out the best player in you, it’s a good idea to check out Chessacademy.com. Chess Academy has video lessons, excersises and puzzles to help you shore up your game and to teach you new tricks. Chess Academy also tracks your performance and recommends lessons that are perfect for your skill level and abilities.
If you want to be able to say “Check Mate”, you’d be wise to visit The Chess Academy.
While other websites offer courses at very high prices, Mindsy understands the budget of a student and gives you access to over 5,500 courses at one low monthly rate. Most of the courses are taught in video format and range in topics from Art to Technology and everything in between. So, if you are looking to improve your education, help yourself in the workplace or maybe even pick up a new hobby, you should definitely check out the wonderful program that Mindsy is running.
Learn a little, everyday. Be Mindsy.
Crowd-funding has been used to assist startups, advance medical research and to help run charities. Now, Wishbone is extending this successful fund-raising tactic to the educational arena. Wishbone is an amazing organization that unites low-income students with people who have the money to help them out. This money goes to help these young men and women to pay for higher educational schooling and althetic programs. 100% of the money goes to the student that you sponsor, so this really is a charity worth investing in.
Everyone deserves a chance. Give one at Wishbone.
For classes like History and English, taking notes and doing homework with a standard word-processor has never been a issue. However, doing math on a computer has always been a challenge. Thanks to Fast Fig, math is no longer a problem. Fast Fig makes it easy to type, edit and solve any type of math equation, from algebra to calculus, and it works on any internet enabled device. Fast Fig also offers a product that lets teachers give math tests, complete with scrap paper and work shown so that the teacher can grade the whole problem, not just the answer.
A math processor for any and all of your devices. It’s Fast Fig.
Slader is the solution to all of your homework problems. Here’s how it works. When you log onto Slater, you are immediately prompted to select the textbook that you are working with. After that, simply enter in the page number and all the answers will be presented to you. What’s more valuable however, is that Slater has a detailed explanation by all the answers to show you how they arrived at that solution.
Get a little help with your homework. Get Slader.
Everyday, we are faced with hundreds of decisions, things we want to accomplish and necessities that need to be taken care of. WikiHow can help you with all of that. This amazing website has clear and concise instructions about how to do virtually anything, from training for a 10k, to getting stains out of your shorts and even to changing an air-conditioning filter. Many of these instructions come with visuals to help you best understand them, and best of all, it’s free.
No more need to ask questions, just wikiHow it!
Slide Rule boasts that you can find anything that you want to learn on their website. They’re boasting for good reason. With nearly 18,000 courses and millions of users, Slide Rule is taking education a step ahead, to the internet. Browse through a myriad of categories or choose a “Learning Path,” which has groups of lessons specifically designed to help you learn steadily yet progressively.
Knowledge unshackled. It’s Slide Rule.
My personal favorite way to learn online is Khan Academy. This amazing service was created by Salman Khan to provide “a free, world class education for anyone, anywhere.” The website has over 6,000 small classes to teach you the details of any subject, and has over 100,000 practice problems so you can test your newfound skills. This fantastic website has been endorsed by people like Bill Gates and has received several awards for being a revolutionary educational tool.
Learn it all at Khan Academy.
We’ve presented you with 50 amazing educational resources and there’s a decent chance that you have more of your own. How are you going to keep track of them all? With Wibki, saving and discovering new amazing websites is a piece of cake. Simply create an account, click the add button, and compile all the websites that you find useful and intriguing. You can also utilize their “Discover” feature, to see more of the best that the web has to offer. It’s your one-stop hub to the rest of the internet. Give it a shot, you won’t regret it.
Unleash the internet with Wibki.
