Educate Yourself for Free ^Featured

As an entrepreneur, you may find that you need to have a deeper understanding of your craft or of marketing yourself, or even economics or sociological behaviors. Also, as an entrepreneur, you may not have the extra money or time to attend college classes.

There are many obstacles to pursuing education while also building a business. Thankfully, several Universities from around the world are offering free online course materials for public use. Some offer simple reading lists, either providing them for download or recommending books. Some present audio or video classes for viewing. While none will provide college course credit, they will provide knowledge.

An unlikely but very useful place to start is iTunes. Known predominantly for their music, apps, and media, iTunes also offers iTunes U. The last category on the top menu bar, iTunes U provides information sorted by college or subject. Anyone with a compatible device can now download the iTunes U app to access courses from a huge catalog of digital content. The app is free and the educational content and courses are free as well. The app has recently been updated to check for course updates automatically. If you have an iPad, or any Apple device, this is a fantastic resource. Sample courses: Yale Astronomy; Ohio State General Chemistry; Stanford Programming Methodology.

Open Culture offers a list of 750 free online courses. Most are available via YouTube, web video, or iTunes. The course list is broken down into categories of study, such as Business, Computer Science, Psychology, Sociology, and more. If you are looking for written content, this is not the best resource for you.

Einztein beta calls itself “the social learning network for higher education and lifelong learners”. Members may join Learning Groups, such as Business & Management Strategy. Within the group, members discuss various aspects of the group’s subject. Some learning groups are affiliated with colleges, such as the University of Notre Dame OCW. This is a social networking approach to learning. If you believe that this method – mainly discussion – is conducive to your learning style, try it out.

Coursera offers a variety of courses from around the world for free. Users may browse through courses that are starting soon and use filters for languages and categories to make wading through over 400 courses more manageable. At the moment, there are 39 Business and Management courses from business models to risk management, to social psychology. Some classes receive a Statement of Accomplishment upon completing the course. One of the nice things on Coursera is that they have negotiated with several educational networks and publishers to offer access to chapters and normally fee-based websites for free.

Education is an ongoing process. Lifelong learners make the best entrepreneurs. By taking free courses from these sources, you are able to continue your education and build upon it, improving your understanding of business concepts, human behaviors, technology, and more. The generosity of the universities and websites is truly exceptional. Take advantage of the opportunity to better yourself and don’t forget to contribute back to these institutions when you become a success!