Free Online Education

The World Wide Web (WWW), or simply Web, is ubiquitous, all-pervasive and indispensable today. The influence of the web is felt in all aspects of human life – on-line shopping, e-ticket reservation, e-hotel booking and e-mail correspondence to name a few, and the domain of education is no exception. The advent of the web and the internet has brought a fundamental shift in the field of education. Education over the web, or On-line education as it is popularly referred to, is the buzzword today. A myriad of universities and educational institutions have resorted to means of providing on-line education owing to its growing popularity and increasing demand. The learning society has embraced the on-line education with open arms after carefully deliberating the numerous benefits it offers. On-line education has garnered widespread popularity and acceptance thanks to the myriad advantages it provides over the traditional classroom education.

Owing to the on-line education, the geographical barriers are removed and students have easy access to diverse educational resources on-line. One of the leading institutes, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has come out with its OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative thereby providing open access to its course materials – lecture notes, readings, tests and video lectures, for its 1800 courses (http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm). The people who benefit out of this free on-line education are not only students but also college teachers, self-motivated self-learners and those who have the time, interest and quest to learn. There are no geographical barriers and the entire world becomes the virtual classroom. Such is the power and reach of on-line education.

There are lot of benefits in on-line education and the following, though not a comprehensive one is a suggestive list of key benefits.

1 Student-centric approach – On-line education is more student-centric. The “anyone, anytime, anywhere” concept works fine for on-line education. Anyone – refers to student, teacher, retiree, business professional or anyone interested in learning. Anytime – student has access to the on-line course materials 24 hours a day 7 days a week; also the student can access the course at a time the student feels comfortable and is mentally active and alert. Anywhere – the place of studies is no more an issue and the student can literally be anywhere – at home, office, college, or street. On-line education is fully centered on the comfort of the student and thus offers unimaginable liberty, flexibility and convenience to the students.

2 High quality – The global reach of on-line education has made it possible that the on-line instructors / mentors / teachers are of top-notch quality and belong to various parts of the world. An interesting example would be that of Mr.Gilbert Strang, who is a renowned Maths professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a specialist in Linear Algebra and has written many popular college textbooks. His Maths Linear Algebra course which is offered for free as part of the MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative is hugely popular and has been downloaded more than a million times. It is not only the few hundred students who attend the classroom in the MIT, are bestowed the privilege of taking Mr.Gilbert Strang’s course, but because of the global reach of on-line education, millions of students all over the world also have benefited from this elite Maths professor’s skills and course-ware.

3 Cost-effective – The good news is that on-line education can work out cheaper than traditional campus education. On-line education is affordable when compared to traditional education. It also saves quite a fortune in that one is saved from commuting in order to attend the classroom. Not only money, on-line education also saves the time and energy lost in managing a job, school and home. There is no dearth of free on-line education resources, of which a few are listed below:

3.1     http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php

3.2     http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/index.htm

3.3     http://itunes.stanford.edu/

4 Access to unlimited on-line resources – With many of the world’s top universities becoming part of the on-line education initiative and giving away their course-ware for free, on-line education students could have never asked for more. With the technological advancements, on-line education makes it possible to include resources in different media types – graphics, photos, audio, video and texts – thus going great length to captivate and sustain the interest of students. There is no time limit to access these on-line resources, whereas in a typical classroom set-up, the duration of a subject class is always rigid and fixed. The student can log into his virtual classroom anytime that best suits him and take his own time in going over the material any number of times until he has fully understood and is satisfied with it. Such a great degree of elasticity is possible only in on-line education.

Though the students are spoilt for choices in on-line education, the one thing that should be given due attention is that there is no face-to-face interaction with the tutor and that there is no one to closely monitor. There are lots of modes of interaction with the tutor – like chat, e-mail, forums etc., but the onus is more on the student to take care of his own studies and progress. But it is no cause to worry. This way, students become more responsible for them and become good in efficiently managing their time. Self-discipline and self-motivation is required in students to make on-line education a success, but the same holds good for traditional classroom education too. Last but not the least, factors like flexibility, accessibility and quality have all contributed greatly to glamorize and popularize the on-line education and there is no doubt in that the on-line education can deliver even greater benefits in the future.

It has been found that the learning process is fast and rewarding for the children when they pursue activities full of excitement. Just a common sense, we would like to do those works more readily that hits our interest and generally would like to avoid or do it with sad mind. Children are immature and they will only those things, which only touches one side of their emotions and that is happiness. Therefore targeting the happiness some online games have been baked using two most ingredients that is titillation & laughter with an informative essence and icing it with education. I am sure if this cake is served to your preschooler, you cannot hold him/her back from gnawing at it stuffing their brain with essential skill and knowledge. Such games are for sure a more practical approach to make their learning process fun and easy to remember that will keep your child and you from feeling drag.

It is rather very difficult to hold the attention of your preschooler on one particular activity for a longer duration of time and pestering them to try to drill the numbers, alphabets and other preschool curriculum is as sweating as breaking rocks with a small hammer. An easy and effective solution to such perspiring job is to make fun approach to learning. Always remember that “practice makes any work perfect and repetition is what makes learning and memorizing any subject easy”. Therefore learning alphabets, numerical etc becomes easier if there is repetition and if repetition happens through simple day-to-day activities, then it becomes less tiring.

There are some fabulous free kids online games website on the Internet that are not only exciting but quite informative and educational. Though selecting the best game from so many could be time consuming but it will worthy. Some the online fun game sites demonstrate: Alphabets & Numbers, Fun Songs & Music, Shapes & Colors and Puzzles & Jigsaws all which are good exercise for the brain of your preschooler.

There are also other fun games sites with your kids favorite cartoon characters like Thomas Tank, Bob the Builder, Barbie Doll and many other that will make their learning more entertaining. It may be puzzle time with Thomas Tank Engine And Friends or simply let your grooming time for your preschooler who will be seen indulge dressing up her favorite Barbie Doll using his/her creativity. So getting involved with these popular characters will surely make learning more exciting, as it is these popular characters who they actually play online games with. Therefore you will agree with me that great graphics, visuals and sound effects have deep impact on CNS (central nervous system) of your preschooler enhancing their quality of learning process.

Children learn eye hand coordination and mental strategy. Some are even educational and they can learn about history and culture as in the age of empire game. Children are blank slates. It is up to us as parents and family to fill them full of knowledge. Children will themselves work to develop their focus and skills as they develop and these learning games will help.

Children’s Magazines are great for a child’s education and extending their interest over a period of time. The Internet has long been the ultimate magazine index for elementary and middle-school students, but there are some great web sites which are brand new and extend this facility still further! Coverage of one top Children’s magazine indexes reportedly now includes 58 popular children’s magazines and every issue includes citations to carefully selected Web sites.

ChildTopia is a toy/game for children. They will enjoy taking out the chips, shuffling them and re-loading them. The track gives the games a magical quality where new letters appear in the windows by moving the chips.

Children love good educational computer games because they are interesting and fun. What they don’t usually realize is that they get smarter each time they play these games.

But do always ensure that there are plenty of good books available for them to read. Encourage children to read through the many books they have available and to can get help with words they are stuck on. One way is use to use fun gadget called a Tag Pen. Use a Tag Pen by touching the Tag pen to the book page. LeapFrog also has the LeapPad with books organized by experience and difficulty grades to teach reading, phonics, vocabulary, math, science, music, and more.

Childrens puzzles , interactive wooden toys , wooden puzzles, learning games for toddlers , elementary learning games and puzzles can all be found at educational stores.

When you are with children be sure to ask them leading questions about themselves, when they are receptive to discussion. Children love talking about themselves and this is a great way to talk to your child, and help them learn about their own capabilities.

Teachers are encouraged to make their own quizzes for students and get scores by email. Teachers should bring their students by for some online learning and fun. You can even download Funbrain games to your computer so the kids can access them anytime. Teachers are catered for by support material for the objectives of the national curriculum regarding speaking and listening. There is nothing like a good competition to get children motivated, so do dream one up and get them to enter. Some businesses provide monetary support, and one example is supermarket offers of educational grants for computers in schools based upon shop loyalty points schemes. You’ll also find details of the monetary awards which BT makes available to schools on their web site.

Online education that combines instruction with fun learning games for children creates interactive learning and enjoyment. Learning games can help students concentrate on language arts, math, science, and social studies skills through an entertaining online curriculum.

There are even some free online learning games which can be quite good. Search for ‘Great kids online games’ to find some. Free online painting games are also abundant these days, for example to play for fun at Jelideli. Install the program and/or register, and then just choose one of the pictures from the selection, pick a colour and away we go! Free online educational games are the easy way to make learning fun for your children.

The fat is that nowadays for preschool and kindergarten age children there are many free educational games that teach matching and analytical skills.

FunBrain is a site which always has new educational games to try, but their old ones are just as much fun. The free educational games are divided by grade level or by subject. FunBrain features 30 free online, educational games for kids of all ages. In Stay Afloat, kids play a game similar to Hangman by choosing between science, history, or music categories.

This is a very important point for teachers and parents. When does a computer game become education, and when is it just entertainment?

What are the critical aspects that make a game educational, and something that would make us as teachers and parents spend our dollars, time and energy on it?

In my area of music there are all sorts of games: Some of the music games which are available today are nothing more than an evolution of the toy guitar that you’d give a toddler to play with. Some are almost like playing a real instrument, with real instrument sizes and materials used.

Where do we draw the line?  Music teachers are definitely split on this issue. Most I know still teach the same way they always have, and probably won’t be spending money on too many games. However there is real educational value in some aspects of the game.

The question that we need to ask ourselves when thinking about any game activity is: “What is this teaching me (or them, if thinking about your children or your students) that I didn’t know before?”

Learning something is the process of taking something which is unknown and making it known. That’s as simple as it is.  Are you making anything known that wasn’t already when you are playing that computer game? If you are simply playing one level of one game over and over again nothing will happen except that you’ll be good at that one thing. You’ll really know that one thing, but nothing else.

If however when playing a music game you are constantly introducing new songs, and you use the music game as a vehicle to move forward with skills, then you’ll find this to be a well worthwhile educational experience.

Music game developers should consult instrument specialists when building games about specific instruments, so that playing the game does not negatively impact students technique when playing the real thing. I believe that most of the game companies do that research, however there is always cheaper versions who cut out the features and cut down on the educational value.

If you always ask this question: What is this game teaching me that I previously didn’t know? Then you’ll find that time spent on games will always help… besides being great fun!

Many times parents look online for educational games for their kids to play online. Some of these games can be found for free, but most of them are charge a small fee. As a teacher, you I highly recommend allowing your children to play these games as the advantages are many.

Advantages of Online Games:

Computer Technology is a requirement in many states
Computer games generally do not require additional resources
Most computer games only require an internet connection
Computer games support the curriculum found in the classroom

Benefits of Online Games for Preschoolers
When preschool children are exposed to online games, the results are phenomenal. The vivid pictures combined with words allow children to phonics without them even realizing it. Talk about learning reading skills while having fun

Math sites are even more numerous. Cute little animal characters bee bop around the screen offering kids all kinds of incentives to play. Many math sites are aimed at children from 2 to 5 years old. While this may sound young to you, it is a perfect age. Kids have the hand eye coordination to move a mouse and click a button. The characters sing and dance away, encouraging them to count along.

Benefits of Online Games for Middle School
My middle school students have sat there and played Sudoku and that race car game for hours. (It was after a standardized test.) Granted, they did not have much else to do in class but they also did not complain either. They often ask to go to these sites and play the games.

While the math games are more popular for middle school students, some kids really like the science games. It really depends on the kid’s interest. I have seen kids really get into stock market games and business games. There is one online game site that has kids building elaborate empires. It is completely free and they do everything from running factories and building web pages.

Downloads for the iPod

If you have a teen in your house, you have definitely heard about iPod apps. It may be worth considering letting your pre-teen, teen or tween download a few education games for the iPod. There are a couple of free games and a few games that you can get for a fee that are educational.

Many of the iPod games are just like the online versions except smaller. You won’t get as many levels and the graphics aren’t quite as good.

If you are getting it for your toddler, I would check out of the free version first. Oftentimes, you can find a “Lite” version of the games. These are super simple versions that only have a 5-minute trial or just one level.

In any case, educational games are out there and are worth checking out. Look around and you will see.

Technology is a field that encompasses several areas, though students might not be aware of many of them when considering an educational tract in technology. Technology based fields outside of the obvious can be found in educational tracts such as science and mathematics, in addition to more popular tracts such as information technology and computer science.

Nanotechnology is a field with explosive growth potential, yet because far more than a bachelor degree is required for employment within the discipline, few colleges push it as a viable field of study. Unlike database administration, information security, infrastructure maintenance or any of the many fields associated with computer networking, nanotechnology is among the technology based sciences left out in the cold.

Robotics is another field that draws heavily on a math and science background yet also carries the connotation of being a technology based specialization. Without question, robotics is exclusive, yet the field of robotics is beginning to have an effect on the products that shape our daily lives.

By popularizing technology based sciences that are outside the mainstream, educational institutions can help further the disciplines while exposing students to potential growth areas. Indeed, many areas of technology require degree completion at or beyond the master’s level, but the very nature of technology suggests that an above average academic record should be necessary.

The problem so many institutions encounter is the perception that information technology is the only technology for which employment opportunities exist. Additionally, career tracks heavy on math and science are not always the easiest sell to students. By focusing more on the technological aspects of specific educational opportunities, colleges and universities can generate excitement and interest in those areas instead of moving students toward already inundated educational tracts in information technology.

Science and technology are intertwined, yet traditional sciences may not appeal to students because of the employment opportunities that arise from them. By focusing a larger portion of admissions and recruitment efforts on cutting edge technology based sciences, academia can further the knowledge base of these fields of study while encouraging students to think outside traditional lines. Many of the best scientists working in advanced areas such as robotics and nanotechnology are either overseas or foreign born. In order to remain competitive in fields such as these, educational institutions have to make U.S. students more aware of their existence.