Mark Twain once said: “Never let formal education get in the way of your learning.” However, for many people, the COVID-19 pandemic may have thrown a wrench in your plans to pursue personal development what with work-from-home or stay-home notices being issued all around the globe.
But learning doesn’t stop just because you can’t (and shouldn’t) leave your home. Thanks to the convenience of e-learning, you can still enhance your skills and up your career game while fuelling your passion during this challenging lockdown period.
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So, whether you are planning to focus on learning something new (just for the fun of it) or upgrading your professional skills or even to take your hobbies and creative streak to the next level, this list of websites would definitely help you choose your options. It has both free and low-priced websites, so dive into the sea of possibilities!
When it comes to online learning, Udemy is one of the top sources. It offers over 80,000 courses to more than 24 million students. Since its mission is to improve lives through learning, it features an extensive and multi-language library on a wide range of courses from business, entrepreneurship, programming, academics, arts to even health and fitness, music and games.
However, Udemy courses are created by individuals; so, as long as you are a self-proclaimed expert, you can create and design your own Udemy course, promote it and earn student tuition charges. While none of the courses are university-accredited, they can largely improve your skills.
If you are on the other side of the table, i.e. interested in learning, then you would be pleased to know of the discounted rates. While the listing price of courses is usually in the hundreds, they often go on sale and range $19.99 to $39.99.
So, if you have a course in mind that you would like to sign up for, just be patient and wait for the sale. (Psst! Just sign up for their mailer and they will notify you when a sale comes. There is more than one sale a month, so there is no need to panic).
edX is a massive open online course (MOOC) provider that was a started as a collaboration between Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Today, it offers a wide range of university-level courses from a diverse range of organisations and disciplines. From Architecture, Life Sciences, Food & Nutrition, to Philosophy, it has more than 1,800 courses, taught with materials from some of the top universities in the world such as Harvard, MIT and UC Berkeley.
Another bonus point of signing up on edX is that you also get accredited credentials from some of the top universities. This can be achieved through edX’s MicroMasters program, edX’s Professional Certificate program or even a Master’s degree online. If you feel that you are just there to learn, and don’t need the certification, then go for ‘audit course’ option, where you can read and learn edX courses for free.
Data science and anything related to artificial intelligence are the latest trend. So, if you want to get into this field, you’ve got to pick up the language of data. Actually, it’s important regardless of your career or the field that you are working in.
Why? Because data is going to be the common language in time to come. DataCamp offers interactive R and Python courses on topics in data science, statistics, and machine learning. Through its online learning platform, it wants to make data skills and data fluency a skill for the masses. It currently runs on a subscription-based model and costs US$29 (~S$40) per month.
One of the highlights of DataCamp is its career track courses. There are currently seven career tracks that you can choose from. The career tracks range from data scientist with R/Python to data analyst to quantitative analyst. The completion of one of its career tracks will significantly boost your knowledge and credentials for a data science related role.
As humans, it’s our tendency to be curious about everything around us, yet, as we enter into the professional world, we start losing out on our curiosity quotient. We no longer ask questions about how things work, unlike when we were kids.
Luckily, websites like HowStuffWorks remind us to be inquisitive and learn new things or gain fresh perspectives. From interesting topics ranging from space to life hacks, there is no limit on the questions that you can explore! Surely, you are bound to find some definitive answers on HowStuffWorks as long as you have a question in mind.
Singaporeans are known to be fluent bilinguals — most of us are fluent in both English and our mother tongue. But in today’s globalised world where the ability to communicate in more than two languages is an indisputable edge, why not spend time learning a new language?
Moreover, learning a new language helps you understand the associated cultural practices, attitudes, values and norms. Sometimes, it even opens up new doors for you. Duolingo comes as a freemium language-learning platform that caters to over 300 million learners. It offers a good collection from popular languages such as Spanish, French, and German to exotic languages such as Hebrew, Swahili, and Hawaiian.
It even comes with gamification to make learning fun. (Plus, you can even learn languages such as Klingon, High Valyrian and Navajo, if you happen to know what they are!)
You must check out Allrecipes to learn or enhance your cooking and baking. It’s a food-focused online social networking service that shares cooking inspiration. You can discover different cooking styles, recipes and even find like-minded friends.
If you are also one of those who run out of ideas for dinner frequently, then this is a good platform for a suggestion. And, who knows, you might even find yourself turning into a MasterChef in no time!
Another website that is good at offering bite-size knowledge titbits is Curiosity. It has an excellent collection of most inspiring articles and videos from across the globe. So, what else makes it different?
Its podcast format where you can just listen to it (like music) and gain insights into many genres of topics such as ‘Offbeat Adventures’, ‘Amazing Places’, ‘Mind & Body’, ‘Personal Growth’, ‘Puzzles & Quizzes’ and ’Science & Technology’. You can sign up for Curiosity’s mailing list so that you get the best articles curated for you each morning.
Surfing isn’t exactly the kind of sports you can do in Singapore. However, it doesn’t mean that this should stop you from exploring it, if you’ve been dreaming about riding on waves like those surfers at the Red Bull Cape Fear.
Surfedukators is a comprehensive website that teaches you everything there is to know about surfing. From surf techniques to choosing your surf gear, to safety tips and even maintaining your health for surfing — there’s tons of information that’s great for a beginner. Furthermore, it also includes travel tips, surfing insurance tips and surf maps of good surfing locations around the world.
Coursera offers hundreds of interesting lectures, classes and programmes from more than 190 of the world’s best universities. Not only will you get to learn various skills such as business analytics, Python and other in-demand fields, you’ll also get to do it at your own pace.
Its training and development programmes have helped many a candidate successfully upgrade their skillset and each programme comes with valid certification, too.
Investopedia is one of the leading sources of financial content on the web. While it offers a plethora of content, from market news, retirement strategies and investing in education to insights from financial advisors, it also provides useful resources to prepare for your finance exams such as Certified Financial Analyst (CFA).
Even if you are unfamiliar or new to finance, you don’t have to worry about not being able to understand a thing. Investopedia is a good source to understand complex financial jargons. Also, its content is of a high standard and often cites scholarly works to back up its views.
The only downside is that Investopedia only caters to an audience in the US market. However, Investopedia could be a good source for Singaporeans to get exposure to a different stock market.
This article first appeared on BankBazaar.sg, a leading online marketplace in Singapore that helps consumers compare and apply for financial products such as credit cards and loans.
Additional Reporting: Hazel Vincent De Paul
This post was updated on March 31, 2020.
