Free Online Courses from Top Universities

Last time, I mentioned there were free lectures on the Internet, that post is here.

Below is another useful website which offers online courses from top universities for anyone to take. Coursera is a startup founded by Stanford computer science professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, Its vision is to give everyone worldwide, with an Internet connection, access to the world-class education that has so far been available only to a select few.  Coursera hopes to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in.

When taking the courses, students will watch lectures taught by world-class professors, learn at their own pace, test their knowledge, and reinforce concepts through interactive exercises. Students will also join a global community of thousands of students learning alongside them. Courses are offered in a wide range of topics, spanning the Humanities, Medicine, Biology, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Business, Computer Science, and many others.

Coursera offers free online University level classes

Current partner universities of Coursera

With Free Lectures on the Internet, You Don't Need Tuition Anymore

The One-Minute Physics series were created Henry Reich, 25, who explains concepts of physics with the help of his black Crayola marker. By using time-lapsed drawing, he makes complex scientific topics interesting. I like this series a lot - great doodle animation which makes learning fun and more importantly, it is fast-paced (all clips last less than 2 minutes).



The Khan Academy is created in 2006 by American educator Salman Khan, a graduate of MIT. The website has a free online collection of more than 3000 micro lectures via video tutorials stored on YouTube teaching mathematics, history, healthcare and medicine, finance, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, economics, cosmology, organic chemistry, American civics, art history, microeconomics and computer science. Though the website offers a wealth of information with wide-ranging topics, personally I find most of the video clips rather long and draggy. Well, one man's meat is another man's poison. I heard Abhi (Lim Li's classmate at NUS High) enjoys watching the videos, esp. those on astronomy, physics and math.



The RSA Animate series of video clips present some very sophisticated ideas to viewers. The visual nature of the lectures helps comprehension and helps hold student interest, and aims to air exciting ideas from respected speakers on subjects from climate change to the credit crunch. I think this lecture series is really cool but it may be more suitable for mature learners e.g. JC and above students and adults.



Last but not least, our very own Singapore’s Open Lectures. A community of Junior College (JC) students past and present have banded together to offer free online lectures. The website carries video clips on topics in JC economics and chemistry. Lectures in physics, biology, mathematics and geography will be available later.

Good Resource for Math Olympiad Enthusiasts

Mathlinks (http://www.mathlinks.ro/index.php) is one of the best resources for high school students who are Maths Olympiad enthusiasts. You can find past year questions, answers, and forum discussions on all sorts of Maths competitions, such as IMO, APMO, AMC, USAMO as well as local Maths olympiads held within different countries.

My favourite is the following thread:
Forum » Olympiad Section » Geometry » Geometry Unsolved Problems