How to get a Harvard Education for Free

Have you heard about M-O-O-C-s before?

MOOC or Massive Open Online Course is a growing online service that offers structured learning on specific topics for free. It offers a myriad of courses from cooking, astronomy, engineering, law, economics, business, the Beatles, greek drama – name it.

It combines video lectures, interactive forums, online quizzes, and free materials to facilitate learning.

Since I discovered this almost 4 years ago through an awesome MOOC named Edx, I have never stopped enrolling. Enrolling is one thing though, finishing is another story. Courses usually run for more than one month so it would require commitment and sustained interest to finish all requirements. But of course, finishing the course brings a different kind of intellectual satisfaction.

It is in Edx that I got my first Harvard labeled certificate. Edx also offers courses from other Ivy League Universities. It has a pretty awesome user-friendly interface with interactive apps (depends on the course). I also got other courses on Law and Governance from http://www.iversity.com and http://www.coursera.org. 

After getting the passing grade (which differs per course), a certificate will be issued. Some MOOCs offer “premium” certificates with a fee. But I would settle with Edx’s certificate of participation since it has an authentication code as well.

Whatever course you take, the learning experience is undeniable. The best part in my experience with MOOC is interacting with other students. Some courses open a facebook group and you can exchange thoughts and practices with students around the world. This is one powerful experience.

This is a better way for you to spend time online. You meet same-minded people and most importantly, you build networks of learning. It opens up new whole worlds.

Here are my top 4 suggested MOOC websites:

1. edx.org
2. coursera.org
3. iversity.org
4. http://oyc.yale.edu/

Here are other great MOOC sites

1. Udemy Free Courses– Udemy is an example of a site allows anyone to build or take online courses.  Udemy’s site exclaims, “Our goal is to disrupt and democratize education by enabling anyone to learn from the world’s experts.”The New York Times reported that Udemy, “recently announced a new Faculty Project, in which award-winning professors from universities like Dartmouth, the University of Virginia and Northwestern offer free online courses. Its co-founder, Gagen Biyani, said the site has more than 100,000 students enrolled in its courses, including several, outside the Faculty Project, that charge fees.”
2. ITunesU Free Courses– Apple’s free app “gives students access to all the materials for courses in a single place. Right in the app, they can play video or audio lectures. Read books and view presentations.”
3. Stanford Free Courses–  From Quantum Mechanics to The Future of the Internet, Stanford offers a variety of free courses.  Stanford’s – Introduction to Artificial Intelligence was highly successful. According to org,“160000 students from 190 countries signed up to Stanford’s Introduction to AI” course, with 23000 reportedly completing.”  Check out Stanford’s Engineering Everywhere link.
4. UC Berkeley Free Courses– From General Biology to Human Emotion, Berkley offers a variety of courses.  Check out:  Berkeley Webcasts and Berkeley RSS Feeds.
5. MIT Free Courses– Check out MIT’s RSS MOOC feed.  Also see:  MIT’s Open Courseware.
6. Duke Free Courses– Duke offers a variety of courses on ITunesU.
7. Harvard Free Courses– From Computer Science to Shakespeare, students may now get a free Harvard education. “Take a class for professional development, enrichment, and degree credit. Courses run in the fall, spring, or intensive January session. No application is required.”
8. UCLA Free Courses– Check out free courses such as their writing program that offers over 220 online writing courses each year.
9. Yale Free Courses– At Open Yale, the school offers “free and open access to a selection of introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University. The aim of the project is to expand access to educational materials for all who wish to learn.”

Sources:

http://www.bdpa-detroit.org/portal/index.php?Itemid=20&catid=29:education&id=57:moocs-top-10-sites-for-free-education-with-elite-universities&option=com_content&view=article