Online education is revolutionary in its convenience and accessibility, but it still requires a great deal of concentration, time, and the right set of tools for your learning style. There are both paid and free forms of online education, and often they complement each other well. A series of free videos or podcasts on a topic can provide additional context that is outside the scope of a course syllabus. Accessing these materials via laptop, tablet, or smartphone makes it easy to fill all your spare time with educational pursuits, but having a good study space at home is also important for longer periods of dedicated study that let you really absorb material. The sites listed here offer great tools to help anyone get the most out of any online education option they choose to pursue. From OpenCourseWare suites to video lecture series and even a few shops that sell learning supplies and dorm furniture, this list has everything you need to set yourself up for success in online learning.

One of the biggest benefits of online learning is that anyone can take advantage of it and create their own course catalog that fits their interests and schedule by using the wide range of free and paid courses that are offered. These sites mostly include free supplementary material and even advice on how to find and take advantage of great online educational materials.

Khan Academy Khan Academy provides free video libraries, interactive challenges and assessments for students. Parents, coaches and teachers can also keep track of what their student is learning. Where to Begin: Khan Academy “Tutorials”

Coursera Coursera offers online courses for free from top universities all over the world. A wide range or courses are offered, including biology, mathematics, business, computer science, humanities and more. Those looking to expand their knowledge, sharpen their resume, or advance their career will find the courses here to fulfill that need. Where to Begin: 29 New Schools, 92 New Courses, 5 Languages, 4 Continents and 2.7 Million Courserians

UDACITY Udacity was born at Stanford University when they opened a free class titled “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence.” This sparked so much interest that Udacity was born and more open courseware has been introduced. Where to Begin: Course Catalog

KnowledgeNet KnowledgeNet is a resource for a variety of courses centered around the field of IT and provides tools for certifications. Where to Begin: Courses

odijoo Odijoo is an online tool for educators to create and sell their own online courses. Where to Begin: Odijoo Overview

TutorPro TutorPro makes e-learning solutions for companies and provides a platform for developing teaching tools. Additionally, they provide consulting and development advice. Where to Begin: Development Tools

Compass Learning Compass Learning handles a variety of products; things like Odessey and Impact Teacher Academy are used to enhance the entire educational experience, bettering students and teachers alike. Where to Begin: Solutions

Getting Smart Getting Smart presents different avenues in education for increasing the effectiveness of methods and providing unique solutions. Where to Begin: edReformer

Curriculumbits.com Curriculmbits.com is a resource that sees the evolution of education focused on open-source entities that are readily accessible for the masses. They provide an extensive variety of resources accessible online or for download. Where to Begin: Online Resources

Study Guide Zone Study Guide Zone is a resource with guides for a variety of subjects with various goals in mind. They have study exams for GED, ACT, and SAT guides, among others. Where to Begin: Practice Questions

TED.com TED is one of the most acclaimed educational resources, constantly releasing new ideas via TED talks, a series that brings in some of the foremost experts in a given field and lets them elaborate on whatever subject they perfer. Where to Begin: TED Talks

Saylor Saylor believes in “harnessing technology to make education free.” It is a great resource for learning via the free classes in a variety of subjects on their website. Where to Begin: The Saylor Foundation Status

ACAS ACAS is geared towards providing new information and refreshing on topics relevant to employment. Where to Begin: Training

Atrixware ELearning Solutions Atrixware designs software tools for creating e-learning software and selling it to customers. The blog provides useful websites with good and free e-learning tools. Where to Begin: Weblearning

Articulate Network Rapid E-Learning Articulate’s blog on rapid e-learning has up-to-date information on many different topics and discussions to supplement the posts. Where to Begin: Convert Your Bullet Points to Interactive E-Learning with Video

Livemocha Livemocha is conscious of the rapid globalization taking place today. Through e-learning, they are hoping to expand on the amount of languages each person is fluent in. Where to Begin: Livemocha Blog

NEHA e-Learning The National Environmental Health Association implemented this website to increase the amount of tools health professionals have to succeed and does so through e-learning. Where to Begin: Free Viewing Courses

Paul’s E-Learning Resources Paul’s E-learning Resources is a blog that attempts to connect educators with tools and enhanced learning opportunities for students. Where to Begin: Resources

TeachAde TeachAde is a resource for K-12 teachers to expand on educational tools they have previously used. Where to Begin: Resources

Alison Alison has a goal of enabling anyone to educate themselves for free. The website provides tools for learning yourself, but also looks at working with educators. Where to Begin: Diploma Courses

E-Learning Center E-Learning Center is a comprehensive site for learning subjects relevant to IT and Web Development. Some content is free, though some do require a paid subscription to access it. Where to Begin: Free Courses

gcflearnfree.org GCF Learn Free centers their curriculum around technology, literacy, and math skills in an attempt to provide for those who may not have certain means. Where to Begin: Classes

iBerry The goal of iBerry is to connect those interested in high education with the information and resources desired. The website is centered around “Open Education”, a belief that education should be easily and readily accessible. Where to Begin: Open Education Directory

Distance Learning The Annenburg Learner is committed to upholding the values of The Annenburg Foundation, a group with a belief in the advancement and development of effective means for the professional development of teachers. Where to Begin: Graduate Credit

Findtutorials.com Findtutorials.com compiles tutorials from across the Internet in a wide variety of subjects and then the quality is voted on, which shifts the tutorial up or down the list based on quality and relevance. Where to Begin: Index

the eLearning Coach the eLearning Coach provides tips for online learning. The site includes practical content, strategies, product reviews and resources to help the viewer understand online learning. Where to Begin: 13 Ways to Learn in 2013

Trello Trello helps get you organized. Whether it’s remodeling a house or getting your office on the same page for a project, their card system will help you get organized, gather opinions, assign tasks and collaborate in real time. Where to Begin: How to use Trello like a pro

WIZIQ WIZIQ is a great online resource for learning. With access to professors, tutors and more, the site allows teachers and students to meet online in real time for virtual classes. Where to Begin: Learning to Teach & Teaching to Learn

iHomework iHomework helps students stay organized on their mobile device. Students can enter assignments, class information, tasks and more to help manage their academic career. Where to Begin: iHomework for iOS

Creative Commons Creative Commons helps you share your creativity and knowledge on the Internet with their tools and licenses. Where to Begin: Before Licensing

The eLearning Guild The eLearning Guild is a place for e-learning professionals to come together to share their knowledge and experience with each other. With online forums, learning solutions magazine, certificate programs, webinars and more, e-learning professionals can make it much more successful. Where to Begin: Why Games Don’t Teach

eLearn Magazine eLearning professionals can come to eLearn Magazine to produce more original and effective online courses. With a place to express opinions, read reviews, blog posts, research and case studies, and best practice tips, eLearning teachers can find tons of useful information to help them build their portfolio. Where to Begin: Assuming You Have A Training Problem

ReadyGo ReadyGo is a place to create e-Learning and m-Learning courses. Geared towards organizations, ReadyGo can help employers create courses for their employees to take, handle strategic consulting, project management and much more. Where to Begin: e-Learning and m-Learning Consulting Services



Course Buffet Course Buffet is a search engine for finding open courseware from a variety of sites. This saves the user from jumping around from various open courseware sites that usually are university-specific. Where to Begin: About

Faculty Focus Faculty Focus is designed for university professors. It provides a forum for discussing issues in higher education and includes an informative blog. Where to Begin: Improving Teaching One Class at a Time

Center for Online Learning, Research and Service The Center for Online Learning, Research, and Service is a service of the University of Illinois-Springfield and provides support for scholarly research. Where to Begin: Learning

2U 2U provides technical and logistical support and infrastructure to universities that want to develop an online program to supplement their other educational offerings. Where to Begin: About

Individualized Learning Solutions Individualized Learning Solutions looks at various education theories and attempts to make sense of issues in contemporary education. The website works with children at the root of the problem: how children learn. Where to Begin: Technology

Latitude Learning Latitude Learning is a Learning Management System, or LMS, that helps businesses manage the educational offerings they and their employees use. This can be used by companies who offer training for employees, or companies that manage a whole suite of online educational products for other clients. Where to Begin: Standard LMS