Free Practical Distance Learning Courses

On this site most of the learning that is discussed is formal learning from post secondary institutions. However, not everyone who wants to learn is interested in college or university courses. There are many free distance learning courses offered online making it possible for anyone who wants to learn in a less formal way to do so. Courses are offered at all different levels from elementary to university level to general interest type courses that teach you how to do crafts or cook or fix your car. Whatever you are interested in there is information online to help you learn how to do it. Many times the information is offered in a structured way as a course and many times these courses are offered at no cost. There may be some costs involved if you require books or materials for the subject but the course itself is free.

I happened upon a website that offers many free courses the other day and think that it is a worthwhile site for you to check out if the subject you are interested in is included. The site is GCFLearnFree.org and is funded by the Goodwill Community Foundation Inc., the non-profit organization that runs the Goodwill thrift stores. According to the GCF site, they believe that “there’s freedom in the ability to learn what you want, when you want, regardless of your circumstances.” You just need to go to their website, find the list of 23 subjects with over 85 topics listed and then click on the topic you are interested in learning about. That will take you to the lessons for that topic and then you can just click on the lessons to do them.

The 23 subjects include career, computer, everyday life, various Microsoft courses such as Word and Excel, money, math, reading, internet, and social media. The social media subject includes Internet basics, Facebook and Twitter as the topics. The Microsoft topics cover Office 2000 up to Office 2010. Everyday life is a subject that has lessons on many of the day to day life skills such as grocery shopping, counting change, paying bills, and getting a prescription filled. These are just a few of the topics that are available to learn about on this site. GCF is now offering free mobile apps that will make it possible for people to learn on the go. There is only one course in MS Word 2010 being offered at present, but at least they are trying to keep up with new technology and making it more convenient for learners.

There are also classes available which will give you continuing education credits and a certificate of completion at the end. However, there is at the moment only a very limited choice of 2007 or 2010 Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access. If you are hoping to get a job in an office and need to learn or update your skills in these programs, these courses give you a certificate of completion. The other lessons from this site are very worthwhile to take but there is no formal recognition that you have completed training in the topic. You would be able to talk about what you know how to do based on what you learned but you would not be able to provide proof through a certificate or diploma. But that is not always necessary. The important factor is that you have learned the skills.

I use MS Word 2007 and have looked at the lessons on the GCF site. Although I know the basics, I plan to return to the lessons to learn to use graphics, shapes, and tables. I always seem to have to search to find out how to do something when I insert a table into a document. I think the Word lessons here will help.

Anyone who needs to learn some of the basic life skills, basic work skills, or wants to improve some of their skills for personal use, should visit this site to learn some of the skills at no cost. They are also very convenient since you can work at your own pace and take as much time as you want to complete the lessons. No one will know or care if you have to go through the lesson 10 or more times before you feel comfortable with the topic. That is one of the advantages of free distance learning courses. So enjoy yourself learning what you want at your convenience.
The URL for the site is: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/