Online training courses for free should not be dismissed lightly. Some people are still under the impression that you have to pay money to learn. But the Internet has evened the playing field for those who cannot afford hefty tuition fees.
Basic Considerations
If you have been using the Internet for a while, you know the biggest problem is usually information overload. The same thing can happen when you look for online learning resources. You might end up with a lot of links that will take hours to browse through. That is why you need to take a systematic approach.
Your Requirements
What do you want to do? Are you a student who wants to earn a degree or credit online? Or are you a professional who wants to continue their education? Or are you looking to combine online and campus learning? These are different people with different needs and there are specific websites that will train them regardless of the course.
Courses and Other Issues
No matter what course you are taking, chances are there are resources on the Internet. Suppose you are taking up web graphics design. There are courses and tutorials that explain how to use photo editing programs, make special effects and apply colors properly. Whether you are taking up counseling, social studies, biology, another language etc there are free resources on the web you can use.
The Available Materials
The resources differ depending on the course. However, the vast majority of the data on the web consists of text. Online universities post their classroom lessons online. These archived texts can be accessed by anyone who visits their site.
Aside from classroom texts, these courses also consist of lecture notes, seminar information, teacher and students discussions, results of past exams and so on.
Audio and Video
There are also a lot of sites that offer audio tools. These used to be considered as extras in online education, but they are becoming more and more commonplace. Audio tools make it easier for students to comprehend lessons.
Often, audio materials can be downloaded and stored in mp3 players. Once on your player, you can listen to the lessons even if the computer is turned off or your Internet connection is down.
A lot of online training courses for free now employ video. They consist of prerecorded material which can be viewed or downloaded to your hard disk. Others consist of live broadcasts which you can view on the web.