To maintain their status as experts, consultants require a variety of cost-effective and efficient ways to continue to learn. Open courseware is an excellent option. With big name colleges like Yale and MIT participating in open course initiatives, getting free information and educational materials online is not only easy, but has become a popular option for those looking for a little guidance on what to read or how to study for a particular subject without investing the time or money in college courses. Open courseware classes can help expand your knowledge base and keep your skills up-to-date. So how can you make the most of these free resources online? Here are some helpful tips.
- Search through everything. There are hundreds, possibly even thousands of free courses, podcasts and lectures from some of the top schools and organizations in the world. Use tools like the open courseware finder and peruse college websites to find all the goodies you can to keep your mind active and learning. You might be surprised by the number of courses that will meet your personal needs and interests.
- Use the syllabus as a guide. Many courses publish a syllabus online. This can be a great place to go to look for books to read on a subject, articles to look up and a way to find a logical progression for your study of a subject, even if you don’t want to use the rest of the course materials.
- Watch free lectures. If you don’t feel like going through an entire course online, you can always take advantage of free lectures offered through colleges like Harvard and Princeton. They’ll highlight some of the greatest thinkers and cutting-edge research, while only taking up an hour or so of your time.
- Try something new. Because you’re not paying for it, open courseware is a great opportunity to pursue a new subject area, in addition to improving expertise in your current field. This is a chance to learn about things you might be reluctant to try if you had to pay.
- Treat it like a real course. If you want to be industrious, try treating the courses in the open courseware forum as though they are real courses, by following the syllabus, reading or watching lecture material and doing your own versions of class projects.
- Find a friend. You may find that you get more out of open courseware classes when you engage in a course with another professional. Find one who shares your interests and do the reading and listen to lectures on a similar schedule so you can work together to better understand the topics.
- Seek out additional information. A free course is a great way to start learning about a subject but what if you want more? One approach is to research additional books written by the professor or on a similar subject, and continue on your path to learning.
- Enjoy. If nothing else, learning through an open courseware offering should be enjoyable, as you are pursuing course material in which you’re interested and working at your own pace. If its not enjoyable and not a requirement for your profession, try a different class or a different subject.
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