The Best Free Training

Topic:   Free college courses (currently mostly math, computer-related, web development, etc.)
Format:  Complete courses, some available for credit, that include brief videos, quizzes, practice exercises, and more
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

This is a brief video tour of the Udacity collection of free college-level courses. From the website: “Our mission is to bring accessible, affordable, engaging, and highly effective higher education to the world. We believe that higher education is a basic human right, and we seek to empower our students to advance their education and careers…. We are reinventing education for the 21st century by bridging the gap between real-world skills, relevant education, and employment. Our students will be fluent in new technology, modern mathematics, science, and critical thinking. They will marry skills with creativity and humanity to learn, think, and do. Udacians are curious and engaged world citizens.”

Learn more in the video above or visit the Udacity website:  https://www.udacity.com/

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Topic:   An overview of Netvibes (an alternative to iGoogle & Google Reader) & how to use it to support research & self-directed learning
Format:  Website that aggregates (collects) RSS feeds (i.e, the latest publications of articles & posts) from blogs and news-oriented websites and allows access from any device (computer, tablet, smart phone, etc.)
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

This video tour of Netvibes shows: 1) how it supports self-directed learning & research by keeping you laser-focused on your chosen topics, and 2) how you can set up your own Netvibes internet “dashboard” that you can access from your computer, tablet, or smart phone.

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Topic:   Web apps & extensions for Google Chrome (recommendations & how to use)
Format:  Video reviews with written articles in a “how-to” format
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

This is a brief video tour of the new blog, Web Apps Reviews: The Best Chrome Apps & Extensions for Education. Whether you are a self-directed learner or an educator/home schooling parent, this blog can show you how to get more power from your Google Chrome web browser to enhance your teaching & learning activities.

From the website: “Web App Reviews is a site dedicated to reviewing the best Chrome Web Apps and Extensions for Education. As schools are moving more and more towards cloud-based services, it is important to find high quality resources for the classroom… Each review includes a written blog post and a short video covering what the web app or extension does as well as practical ideas for use in schools.”

URL:  http://www.webappreviews.org/

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Topic:  Science, all grade levels
Format: Comprehensive website with info and activities for students and teachers (all levels) and ordinary citizens
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

Here’s my video tour of the website Understanding Science: How Science Really Works. This amazing site is filled with resources for teachers and students of science.

According to the site, it’s goal is to “to (1) improve teacher understanding of the nature of the scientific enterprise, (2) provide resources and strategies that encourage and enable K-16 teachers to reinforce the nature of science throughout their science teaching, and (3) provide a clear and informative reference for students and the general public that accurately portrays the scientific endeavor.”

URL:  http://undsci.berkeley.edu/index.php

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Topic:  All academic, college-level topics
Format: Database allowing searches, saved searches, and direct access to free university courses
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

Over the years we’ve reviewed lots of great free courses from major universities. (See list of related reviews at the end of this article.) Unfortunately, if you’re searching for a particular course or content area, it’s hard to find and compare what’s available without visiting each university’s site. And while you’re searching, it’s difficult to capture and organize that list of potential courses so you can later decide which is best for you.

The Online Courses Directory (with its database of over 500 free online university courses) addresses these issues head-on! It provides a powerful user interface to help with searching, saving custom lists of courses, and tracking your progress. The video above provides my quick tour and review of the site. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Topic:  Gardening, landscaping, and related topics
Format: Websites & PDFs with online training (many formats)
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

(Note: Please scroll to the bottom of this article to see the complete list of great free gardening/landscaping resources we’ve reviewed at The Best Free Training.)

It’s that time of year again: It’s time for spring planting here in the Northern Hemisphere. And with so many nutritional experts telling us to “Eat fresh. Buy local. Eat organic,” maybe it’s time to think about growing your own produce!  Whether you live on 20 acres in the country or are living in a small apartment in the city, this guide will show you how to get started.

The Urban Farming Toolkit is a free, easy-to-use PDF guide will teach you the whys and the hows (step-by-step) of urban farming. What’s more, it’s loaded with lists of resources where you can get more information.  Here’s the complete table of contents:

Read the rest of this entry »

• Good news:  This website is LOADED with reviews of hundreds and hundreds of free training items.
• Bad news: It’s hard to find stuff because there are so many pages to sort through!!
• The solution:  I’ve put together this video tour to show you how to get the most out of the site and how to search for that special training item you’ve been looking for.  Enjoy!

Link to Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QLche6io7Ew

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