Institutes of Technology planning an 80% fee hike

The New Year may spell bad news for engineering aspirants, with the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) planning an 80% fee hike. The decision to hike fees for undergraduate courses from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 annually will be taken at an IIT Council meeting on Monday.The last hike had occurred in 2008-09, when the fees were doubled from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 annually. The increase has been recommended by the IIT standing committee last November.A government panel has recommended an increase in tuition fee for IIT students from an annual Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh-2.5 lakh (Rs 8-Rs 10 lakh over four years) to help the premier schools improve their standards both in terms of physical and intellectual infrastructure. At the B. Tech level, the IITs admit around 10,000 students every year after a national-level entrance that tests around 500,000 students annually.

HRD ministry officials said the revision was overdue and was required to bring the IIT fee structure on a par with other top central government institutions like the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), which charge at least three times the fee of the IITs. Even second-rung deemed universities have fee structures ranging from Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 2 lakh annually. The IITs, on the other hand, continue to charge Rs 50,000 for an intensive course.Other recommendations that are part of the agenda include setting up of a "green office" which will include carrying out a green audit and ensure inclusion of green technology-related courses in the curriculum.

The Kakodkar committee had also emphasized the need for IITs to be in the forefront of development of technology for sustainable growth. The panel felt that working on environmental issues such as pollution-control technologies will serve as one of the reasons for IITs to engage more with the society.Currently, the six new IITs have been more aggressive in using green technology as they are in the process of setting up their permanent campus. For instance, IIT-Jodhpur has set up a solar field to meet most of its energy needs and IIT-Mandi is also using green technology to build its campus

Computer software programs for free

Employment Security Department has expanded a popular service that allows Washington residents to learn computer software programs for free.For the past two years, the department provided free access to online Microsoft courses. Now, under a contract with Skillsoft, the course selection has been broadened to include software by Adobe, Apple, IBM, Intuit, SAP and others.

In addition, users no longer are limited to taking courses only for software they own. As a result, the entire collection of Web-based courses is available to every registered learner.All working-age residents of Washington are eligible for the free courses both the employed and unemployed. Registered users can take as many courses as they want, at their own pace, on their own schedule.Registrations are processed through WorkSource, which is part of the state’s workforce development system. To learn more and to begin registration, go online.

Students get free university courses online

More than 200,000 people across the world have signed up to free online courses offered by Edinburgh University.The university was the first in the UK to join the Coursera consortium, which brings together universities from around the world offering free courses across a range of subjects.

Expand free student access to quality online college courses

Georgia Tech has been tapped to participate in a national effort to expand free student access to quality online college courses.The college received $150,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create three introductory courses to be taught online. The classes in physics, psychology,Materials Science and first-year composition will be offered next fall and geared toward students who have yet to start college or earn a degree.The foundation awarded grants to nine colleges, including Duke University and Ohio State University, to develop these massive open online courses, also known as MOOCs. It was part of a series of 12 awards worth more than $3 million to invest in this growing market.

“MOOCs are an exciting innovation,Dan Greenstein, director of postsecondary success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in a statement. “They hold great promise but are not without challenges, and we are still discovering their full potential.These online courses are part of a series of higher education experiments as colleges test what services they can provide through advanced technology and improved efficiency. It comes as many question the cost of higher education and students demand more control over what they learn and where they go to class.MOOCs allow thousands of students regardless of age, location or income to learn and acquire skills without paying tuition or earning a degree.

Students currently don’t receive credit for these courses, but there is an effort to change that.The Gates Foundation’s awards included a grant to the American Council on Education, an umbrella group for higher education, to determine whether some of these online courses should be eligible for credit. Students would treat the credits just like others when they transfer from one college to another.Colleges will offer courses to ACE for potential accreditation and Tech is studying this option, said Richard DeMillo, director of the institute’s Center for 21st Century Universities.

That credit review combined with the type of courses Georgia Tech and others will develop through the Gates Foundation unites the MOOC movement with the state and national completion agenda, a push to have more adults earn some type of certificate or degree beyond a high school diploma.These Gates Foundation awards address one of higher education’s most pressing problems: bending the cost curve and improving learning outcomes for introductory courses,” DeMillo said.If we are successful, courses like these will be a shift in both quality and cost for the vast majority of American college students.Tech entered the MOOC arena this semester by joining Coursera, a group founded in 2011 by professors from Stanford University that is now one of the largest providers of these classes.More than 40,000 students registered for Tech’s first free Coursera class, Computational Investing Part I. Registration is currently open for eight different Coursera courses led by Tech professors, and so far more than 140,000 students have signed up.Emory University also belongs to Coursera and is scheduled to offer its first courses next semester.

Top free online courses

So it’s little wonder many courses in the latest trend of free education are aimed squarely at entrepreneurs. While some may still view free, online courses with a sense of derision, the truth is these resources are quality sources of knowledge.There are plenty online, but we’ve put some work into finding the 10 best, free online courses. Take your pick and learn something new.

 Foundation of business strategy

A lot of entrepreneurs don’t understand strategy. It depends on having a long-term view and predicting what will happen in the lead-up to implementing it. And if you’re running a business, it’s critical when thinking long term. If you don’t understand strategy, you don’t understand how to make decisions.Michael Lenox from the University of Virginia runs this course designed to think critically about strategy. This one isn’t just for the entrepreneur  anyone with some sort of strategy involved in their business would do well to have a look.

 Leading strategic innovation

“Innovation” is hard work. It’s difficult to foster a culture of innovation or creativity in a business, especially if you’re not especially inclined that way. But this course, run by Vanderbilt professor David Owens, is designed to at least get you on the right path.The basic principle of the course is that you can manage people when innovation is your goal. It’s almost like a psychology course, learning how to manage people when what you really want is creativity.

 Introduction to operations management

Operations management sounds like such a useless term. But at its most basic level, all it means is just learning to improve processes within your business, whether that’s productivity or customer service.This six-week course, run by Wharton School professor Andrew Heller, breaks down the basics of managing these types of processes. According to the course description, you’ll study the Six Sigma system, and even the Toyota production process.

Web development

Businesses depend on good web development, but so few entrepreneurs actually understand it or how it works. This course, run but Reddit founder Steve Huffman and web developer Anthony Teate, explains the ins and outs of development and the knowledge required to run a blog application and then scale it.Be forewarned – the course requires some moderate programming and computer science experience. But if you’re a savvy entrepreneur in these areas, then it should be able to help you out.

 How to build a start-up

It sounds pretty simple, but starting a new business is incredibly difficult. And while many experienced businesspeople end up starting their own companies, many do it for the very first time and don’t have a clue what they’re doing.This course at Udacity is run by Steve Blank, an entrepreneur who has started several businesses in Silicon Valley. He’s taught entrepreneurship at Stanford, Berkeley, Columbia and other universities.The course assumes no prior knowledge and it’s a solid introduction to starting your own business.

Free online courses from Coursera

Minnesota officials have sent a you're-not-welcome-here letter to Coursera, a California-based startup that partners with universities such as Princeton and the California Institute of Technology to offer free, online college courses.The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on the dispute, which so far has cropped up only in Minnesota.

Coursera has been informed by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education that under Minnesota Statutes (136A.61 to 136A.71), a university cannot offer online courses to Minnesota residents unless the university has received authorization from the State of Minnesota to do so. If you are a resident of Minnesota, you agree that either (1) you will not take courses on Coursera, or (2) for each class that you take, the majority of work you do for the class will be done from outside the State of Minnesota.

Slate.com also covers the issue, awarding Minnesota the grand prize for "most creative use of government to stifle innovation.Minneosta officials defended the move, adding that the 20-year-old law is designed to protect consumers, because they presumably might lose the money they didn't spend.Coursera is one of a growing number of sources of free college-level courses, often presented by top-shelf colleges themselves. The catch is that there's little interaction with professors; students watch videos and take tests that are graded by computer or by other students.Most other colleges don't accept the courses as credit. The sector also includes players like edX, operated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley.

Free Courses To Another Five thousand College Students

Treehouse Offers Free Courses To Another 5,000 College Students.Last November, Treehouse revealed its ambitious goal to teach anyone and everyone to write code and design for the Web, iOS and Android. Combining the best of Lynda.com and Codecademy, Team Treehouse uses quality video, some lite testing, gamification and project-based learning to teach you to code, even if you’re the world’s biggest Luddite.Quick to grow its user base and revenues, last month Treehouse decided to give back to its community by doling out $3 million-worth of free tech education to 2,500 college students.Treehouse’s so-called “scholarship program” offered 2,500 free “Gold” accounts to college students in the U.S. for a full two years. To participate, you had to be able to prove you’re actually a college student, like having a valid edu email address, for example. As Gold plans are $50/month, it worked out to $3 million-worth of free Treehouse  the equivalent of what they’d collectively have to pay out of pocket.

As to whether or not the scholarship program was a success? Treehouse Founder & CEO Ryan Carson told us that he was “blown away” by the positive response, and the ensuing barrage of comments on the announcement on its blog and on Twitter, proved that students were very excited about a more optimal way to get job-ready.Carson said that there was a wide range of representation from colleges and universities in the U.S., with students participating in the scholarship program from U.C. Berkeley, Colgate, UPenn, Michigan, MIT, NYU, Stanford, Harvard, Duke and more.In fact, Treehouse received enough interest in the program that it was forced to turn students away. This, combined with the fact the program was for U.S. students only, has led Treehouse to decide to do it all again, but this time go international and double the size of the scholarship.

On its blog yesterday, Treehouse officially announced Round 2, saying that the demand “from across the pond, down under and all across the globe” was so strong that it’s now offering 5,000 two-year Gold accounts.This time, the scholarship is open to students around the world of any age as long as you’re currently a student or graduated within the last year and you’re not a current Treehouse student.To read the blog post on the annoucementcheck here, and to read out more-in-depth coverage on Treehouse from TC, go here.

Colleges Offer Free Online Courses

 From Harvard to Stanford, a growing number of elite universities are throwing open their digital doors to the masses. They’re offering their most popular courses online for no charge, allowing anyone with an Internet connection to learn from world-renowned scholars and scientists.The proliferation of so-called massive open online courses, or MOOCs, has the potential to transform higher education at a time when colleges and universities are grappling with shrinking budgets, rising costs and protests over soaring tuition and student debt.

Supporters say these online courses can lower teaching costs, improve learning online and on campus, and significantly expand access to higher education, which could fuel technological innovation and economic growth.

Global e-learning is transforming higher education

 IMAGINE a university degree that is like a passport: a subject from Swinburne stamped alongside another from Sydney University, with courses from overseas colleges such as Stanford or Harvard thrown in. You could earn your degree without travelling further than your laptop, and far more cheaply than on campus.Far-fetched? The proliferation of websites offering courses from top universities - MIT and Stanford among them - and the globalisation of learning generally means this scenario may one day be possible. Higher education is in the middle of a digital revolution, and who has access to it, and how it is done, will shift dramatically in the next few years.

''The world of tertiary education is changing fundamentally, and the pace of change is greater than ever before,'' says Monash University vice-chancellor Ed Byrne, likening it to the 15th-century invention of the printing press. "People are being educated in a totally global context for the first time.Online tertiary study is not new, but what is starting to happen is the opening up of information and resources from some of the world's leading universities, often for free, which can be used anywhere, by anyone. This year the $16 million US-based outfit Coursera came online. Featuring partnerships with some of the leading universities, it joins groups such as Udacity and the edX project between MIT and Harvard. Coursera already has 1 million enrolments, including 7000 from Australia.These changes mean that potentially millions of people who otherwise may have had no opportunity to access higher education can do so for free, via institutions that charge about $50,000 a year if you enrol on campus.Students can also get a lot of exposure while studying in such universities and different course Global Production Engineering,Computer Science and Intelligent Software Systems.

The major difference is that students cannot receive degrees from those universities, which, for the moment at least, is a way for prestigious colleges to protect the cachet associated with their names.But the opportunity to learn from some of the world's leading academics is an attractive one for students like Kevin Chai, a researcher at the University of New South Wales who has completed a Stanford University course in machine learning through Coursera. The course, which used short lecture videos with integrated quiz questions, went for 10 weeks and required five to seven hours of work each week.I found these courses to be very appealing when compared to local courses because you can receive a first-class education for free and be taught by renowned professors who are leaders in their field," he says.When he finished the course, Dr Chai received a certificate of completion for no charge.Melbourne student Vishnu Chari, who is doing a master's in business law at Monash University, is also studying cryptography through Coursera, and plans to do more subjects. ''Just things that are interesting but I haven't had the time in my university course to undertake,'' he says.Coursera co-founder Andrew Ng, a Stanford professor, told The Sunday Age that although the venture has committed to not becoming a university, already some colleges are offering course credits for Coursera certificates. There are 116 courses on offer, such as Calculus from the University of Pennsylvania or Critical Thinking in Global Challenges at the University of Edinburgh. ''What we have seen also is there are a few universities that are incorporating some of our material into their own classrooms,'' he says.

In Australia, universities have been slower to embrace the digital revolution, but it is now gaining pace. Some are experimenting with the consortiums of free online university studies, known as MOOCs (the Massive Online Open Course) - or putting some of their own resources online for free. For example, La Trobe has begun offering subjects through Apple's iTunes U, joining universities such as Oxford and Yale. In second semester, students will be able to download lectures and readings from first-year subject ''The Roman World'' while it is being taught.In Australia, the biggest online tertiary outfit is Open Universities, which is owned by seven universities - Curtin, Griffith, Monash, RMIT, Swinburne, Macquarie and the University of South Australia. It has been growing at 20 per cent each year in the past five years, offering most of its 1400 online courses to anyone, regardless of educational background. It now has about 55,000, predominantly Australian, students.Chief executive Paul Wappett says global e-learning initiatives like Coursera, and edX are legitimising online education. "There's a lot of money being poured into disruptive models in education from Silicon Valley, India and China. Everyone in the sector here can't afford to be complacent about that. Any university that doesn't have an online offering in five years' time will have missed the boat."

In addition to its online degrees in business, social science, communication and technology, Swinburne has a program in which it makes some of its learning resources freely available, but if students want accreditation for that learning, they need to pay for it.Pro-vice chancellor Professor Gilly Salmon says universities might agree to allow free access to their resources because of altruism - to allow people who may not be able to afford higher education access to it - or the chance to showcase their academic work to the world.The University of Southern Queensland is a member of a global consortium that operates similarly to Coursera, involving UNESCO and universities in New Zealand and Canada. The Open Education Resource University, which is in development, will offer learning resources for free, but accreditation will need to be paid for.Deakin University is embracing "cloud" learning, which enables students to undertake work anywhere, at any time. Vice-chancellor Jane den Hollander says the university is keeping a "watching brief" on Coursera.She can foresee a time when a student who completes a Coursera or similar certificate online may then be able to use that to gain course credit towards a Deakin degree, with one caveat: the ability to authenticate that students are who they say they are, and have completed the work themselves.


Richard James, a professor of higher education at Melbourne University, believes the extent to which institutions embrace the digital world will depend on how they position themselves in the marketplace: some more research-heavy universities may stick with a more traditional model.

Director of e-learning Professor Gregor Kennedy says while technology is enabling dynamic teaching, the on-campus experience continues to be prized - the university has only three undergraduate subjects and 100 graduate subjects delivered solely online.Melbourne University has a long history as a campus-based institution that has placed a premium on students engaging in the scholarly community on campus, and we've got a strong commitment to using technology to enhance that experience.Most academics who spoke to The Sunday Age do not believe online courses, or even degrees, will wholly replace the on-campus experience, or that they should: most accept there will always be courses that need classroom time, and the value of small-group instruction and the intellectual community that higher education provides.Whatever way universities choose to embrace the new digital world, Professor James says, they will need to rethink their business models.What you're going to see in the future is a more differentiated set of universities, because universities are going to have to work out new business models that adjust to what is probably a revolution.'But he is also wary of the globalised access to information, fearing it could lead to content homogenisation.

Deakin's Professor den Hollander also cautions that not all content is equal, and just because it comes from a prestigious university, doesn't make it necessarily the best material available.Since the deregulation of Australian universities this year - effectively exposing them to market forces and making competition for students more intense - Grattan Institute higher education program director Andrew Norton says there is legitimate concern that online higher education could cannibalise universities' more mainstream offerings, especially as, unlike say, Harvard or Stanford, most Australian universities do not turn away 90 per cent of student applicants.Professor den Hollander is alive to this possibility, too."Is it a threat? Absolutely," she says. "Are we in the market? Absolutely.

University not ready to offer free online courses

Wake Forest University is continuing to explore the rapidly changing world of online higher education, but it's not yet ready to join other prestigious universities in offering free online courses  classes.Known as massive open online courses, or MOOCs, these free classes are the latest trend in higher education, with seven of the top universities in U.S. News and World Report's annual compilation agreeing to put a host of classes online for anyone to take.Duke University is the latest to join the MOOC movement, announcing last week that it has joined Coursera, a startup company that has teamed with 17 universities to offer free online classes, ranging in everything from astrobiology to world music.

Other Coursera partners include Stanford, Princeton, Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania. Another company, edX, features courses from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Most universities do not offer college credit for the classes. However, the University of Washington, one of the new Coursera members, said it will offer college credit to be used toward a degree, for a fee.More than 650,000 people from 190 countries have taken classes through Coursera since it debuted last fall.The staff and faculty at Wake Forest have debated the merits of free online classes for several months, with no decisive stand coming from those talks, said Rogan Kersh, the university's new provost.To rush headlong into a new, exciting mode of delivery because it's new and exciting is a mistake," Kersh said. "There's a whole set of providers and ventures and combinations and coalitions of schools, and Wake is in that conversation on a bunch of fronts.

The debate often centers around two opposing viewpoints, Kersh said.You could view it as an end of itself, that this is how higher education should be and will be delivered," he said of MOOCs.On the other hand, there's a perspective that this is a wonderful set of tools that can enhance the pedagogical experience, but it's not an end of itself, that you're not providing the full education experience when you're putting it online.None of the 16 universities in the UNC system is offering free online classes, but administrators and members of the board of governors are interested in this trend, said Joni Worthington, a spokeswoman.Certainly online learning is an area of interest and focus, but there hasn't been any discussion to date about partnering with one of these initiatives," she said.

Davidson College is not interested in free online classes because it doesn't offer graduate programs or continuing education classes, said spokesman Bill Giduz.Most people who take online classes are graduate students or people with an interest in a particular subject.Until Wake sorts out whether it wants to offer free online courses, it is tapping into the power of the Internet in other ways.This fall, Wake is offering its first online degrees, a Master of Arts in counseling and a Master of Arts in human services.Sam Gladding, the chairman of the counseling department, said interest in the counseling program has been high, with about 250 inquiries over the past three months.The number of applicants will be capped at 30, doubling the number of students allowed in the on-campus program.So we can more than double the number of people in the program and teach people who could not afford to come to campus because of jobs or other circumstances," said Gladding, adding that students from as far as California have enrolled in the program. "I see it as an exciting and inviting way of offering education.Winston-Salem State University and Salem College have no plans to offer free online classes but do offer fee-based online degree programs.

The University of California, Berkeley will start offering free online courses

The University of California, Berkeley will start offering free online courses through a nonprofit initiative launched by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Officials say UC Berkeley courses on artificial intelligence and software engineering will be available.

The two Berkeley courses brings to seven the number of courses that edX will offer this fall.Officials say the online courses will be free and open to anyone with access to the Internet. Students who demonstrate mastery of the subjects and finish the coursework can receive certificates of completion.EdX officials say 154,000 students from more than 160 countries registered for MIT's first edX course this past spring. They plan to add more courses from more universities in the future.

College offers free computer courses

Salem Community College will offer free courses training in Microsoft applications to businesses in March. Any New Jersey company or organization, regardless of size, is eligible for training at no cost.Classes include Windows (March 1),Word I (March 8),Word II (March 15), Excel I (March 22), and Excel II (March 29). Classes are held Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at SCC’s Salem Center, 174 E. Broadway, here.Courses are offered through the N.J. Workforce Consortium.

Hundred free courses available at National College of Ireland

The National College of Ireland (NCI) has urged jobseekers to consider retraining to close the skills gap in the ICT sector, with the announcement of two free Higher Diploma programmes in the areas of web technologies and software development.The courses are being offered under the Higher Education Authority (HEA) ICT Skills Initiative.NCI is offering up to 100 free college places under the scheme, which is aimed at unemployed graduates seeking to convert their skills and experience to a career in information and communications technology. It will allow people to gain the skills and qualifications required to avail of the very real opportunities available in Ireland's fast-growing and vibrant IT sector.

NCI is delighted to be chosen by the HEA as a provider under the HEA ICT Skills initiative for these two Higher Diplomas, said Deirdre Giblin, head of Professional Education and Training, NCI.Over the last few years NCI has worked very successfully with the relevant government departments and agencies to design, develop and deliver programmes that directly address current and future skills needs.NCI is holding an Information Evening on the available courses on Wednesday 8 February from 16:00-18:00 at its IFSC campus in Dublin

More institutions of higher learning offer basic computer science courses that cost nothing but time

Tutorials, forums, tips-and-tricks sites and the like abound on the Web and I use them constantly to improve my developer skills, but they often leave much to be desired.For example, it can take a long time to find just what I'm looking for. One of my pet peeves are tutorials that seem to offer just what I'm looking for but are undated, or the publication date is hard to find, so I waste time checking them out only to find that the content has been rendered obsolete for various reasons.

And the quality of information can vary greatly, as can the presentation. Well-meaning and informative tutorials can be spoiled when the author's grasp of English is so lacking that it becomes distracting and problematic. Also, where do you go if you have questions about the content? Authors may or may not respond to e-mail inquiries or comments, and forum responses can also be hit-and-miss. And how do you judge how well you've learned the material? How does your performance rank with others? What if you want to go more in-depth and really drill down into similar material?I'm thinking that free online courses offered by some of the top universities in the world such as Stanford and MIT might solve a lot of these issues.

For example, Stanford just finished up a course titled Introduction to Databases. Instructor Jennifer Widom said that Over 90,000 accounts were created, 25,000 students submitted at least some work for grading, and 6,500 students did well enough to receive a 'statement of accomplishment.You can still access all the online resources at the course Web site if you want to get a taste of the experience, which will soon be improved by optimizing the site for self-serve learning, Widom said.And Stanford next month will offer up Computer Science 101. Of course, these are introductory courses, but other new courses this year include Machine Learning, Game Theory and Design and Analysis of Algorithms I alas, no database-specific offerings are on tap for you database developers.

At MIT, Introduction to Computer Science and Programming is the No. 1 most-visited course in the school's OpenCourseWare initiative. This program is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content and doesn't offer certificates and structured teacher-pupil interaction. Other popular MIT offerings include Introduction to C++ and Introduction to Algorithms. Again, these are introductory, but you could also delve into Performance Engineering of Software Systems or the graduate-level Spatial Database Management and Advanced Geographic Information Systems. You can check out the OpenCourseWare Consortium for information on a huge amount of courseware available from hundreds of other schools and organizations.

Even better, MIT this spring will launch a more structured online learning program, similar to Stanford's, called MITx.Carnegie Mellon University will be offering Secure Coding , Principles of Computing and other courses through its Open Learning Initiative (OLI) program. The university will release details when they become available.The Harvard University Extension School participates in the OLI with courses such as Bits: The Computer Science of Digital Information.

Online course start-ups offer free college

An emerging group of entrepreneurs with influential backing is seeking to lower the cost of higher education from as much as tens of thousands of dollars a year to nearly nothing.These new arrivals are harnessing the Internet to offer online courses, which isn’t new. But their classes are free, or almost free. Most traditional universities have refused to award academic credit for such online studies.Now the start-ups are discovering a way around that monopoly, by inventing credentials that graduates can take directly to employers instead of university degrees.

If I were the universities, I might be a little nervous, said Alana Harrington, director of Saylor.
org, a nonprofit organization based in the District. Established by entrepreneur Michael Saylor, it offers 200 free online college courses in 12 majors.Another nonprofit initiative is Peer-to-Peer University, based in California. Known as P2PU, it offers free online courses and is supported by the Hewlett Foundation and Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox Web browser.A third is University of the People, also based in California, which offers more than 40 online courses. It charges students a one-time $10 to $50 application fee. Among its backers is the Clinton Global Initiative.

The content these providers supply comes from top universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkeley, Tufts University and the University of Michigan. Those are among about 250 institutions worldwide that have put a collective 15,000 courses online in what has become known as the open-courseware movement.
The universities aim to widen access to course content for prospective students and others. At MIT, a pioneer of open courseware, half of incoming freshmen report that they’ve looked at MIT online courses and a third say it influenced their decision to go there.

But the material, which includes videos of lectures, can also be scooped up by others and organized into catalogues of free courses.Some providers develop their own content. StraighterLine, a Baltimore for-profit company, charges students $99 a month plus a $39 registration fee for each of more than 30 online courses.These start-ups have a tiny share of a fast-growing online market. An estimated 6.1 million students a year pay for online courses from traditional or for-profit universities.By contrast, University of the People has registered 1,100 students in two years. StraighterLine says it enrolled 4,000 in the past two years. Saylor.org doesn’t have a count of how many students take its courses; P2PU says that about 25,000 users have opened accounts on its Web site since 2009 but that there is no tally of how many have finished courses.Still, analysts say the notion of free or very low-cost online college is gaining attention from students who often must borrow heavily to pay spiraling tuition costs at traditional schools.Maybe these upstarts don’t have all the bells and whistles of the beautiful campuses. But people are deciding it’s not worth paying for that, said Michael Horn, director for education at the Innosight Institute, a nonprofit think tank.

Educate yourself for free and on your own time with these awesome resources

Though the years spent from kindergarten through senior year of college may have seemed grueling, they left us with a wealth of knowledge we use in our daily lives and, hopefully, in our careers. But for many, entering the job market can mean an abrupt end to formal education. Unless you decide to quit your job and go back to school or add hours of night courses to your day, it can be hard to educate yourself on a new topic.

Luckily, there's good news for those with a desire to continue their education: There are many ways you can develop new skills and gain knowledge for free in your spare time. Many universities and other educational institutions offer free online courses, complete with tests, quizzes, reading material, study guides, and even textbooks. An actual degree from a university might cost you a pretty penny and leave you knee deep in student loans, but you can still further your education without dropping thousands of dollars.

Whether you're a painter who wants to learn how to code a website or a programmer who wants to learn more about art during the Age of Enlightenment, there are dozens of online resources. Even current students can benefit as educational resources complement studies open to those who don't have access to them or can't afford private tutoring.We've rounded up 10 tools that will have you hitting those e-books. Don't wait until you're retired to audit university classes for free; now is the time to educate yourself.

MLL offering free online courses

The Mount Laurel Library on Walt Whitman Drive is offering online continuing education courses designed for use by patrons of public libraries.The Universal Class Library Edition provides more than 540 courses, with real instructors guiding the learning and grading the lessons. The courses include video-based lessons, a collaborative learning environment, and certificates of achievement. Some have continuing education units.You have to have a Mount Laurel Library card, but with that the courses are all free, said Joan M. Serpico, the library's manager of special projects.

The course offerings are in several categories, including exercise and fitness, entrepreneurship, art and music, home and garden care, cooking,computers Science and technology, Public health and medicine, homeschooling, job assistance, law and legal issues, parenting, and pet and animal care.The library is offering the courses in conjunction with Recorded Books of Prince Frederick, Md.

Free computer courses available

Conway Adult Education Center Computer Training Department, of Conway is offering some free training computer courses.Get acquainted with Gmail this workshop will help assist you getting use to the look and features of Gmail; offered Jan. 25, Feb. 1 or Feb. 8 from 1–3:30 p.m.

Introduction to Computer this is a basic class for beginners to help take some of the mystery out of your computer. Offered Monday and Wednesday from 9–11:30 a.m., Feb. 6–15.Registration is on-going until classes begin or fill. Seating for the courses is limited so please register early.

Free English Courses available through the Harrison Public Library this month

A beginner's English as a second language course will be available through the Harrison Public Library this month, free of charge.The course, courtesy of Westchester Community college's English Language Institute, will help locals learn basic vocabulary, grammar, speaking and listening skills. Classes are free and students must only purchase textbooks for $27 in cash.

Learning English isn't always an easy task, and with Harrison's diverse population, Harrison Library Director Galina Chernykh said this course would be a simple and cheap opportunity for residents to learn the language.The Harrison library has been known to be at the forefront of multi-language services, being the first library in Westchester to feature a Japanese section and hosting a regular Russian story time program held weekly.

All classes will be held at the West Harrison Branch Library, 2 Madison St. Registration will be available on Tuesday, Jan. 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.Applicants will be interviewed at their registration to determine the best level to suit them. Classes will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. beginning Tuesday, Jan. 24 through Thursday, May 3.

Free college education for your child

For most parents, there are two major areas of a child’s life that play a decisive role education and marriage. Parents try hard to ensure that they can provide the best education for their children within their means as well as save sufficiently to spend as lavishly as possible during the child’s marriage.However, in several cases, one is late in realising that the child wants to go abroad to study and that the family does not have sufficient funds to support the child’s dream. While there are several financial institutions that provide education loans, the burden of repaying such credit generally falls on the child once he starts his professional career.

Moreover, the requirement for finances may be higher when your child wants to pursue a post graduate degree or specialised course.In addition, financial institutions have a broad list of ‘approved’ institutes your child can attend. Availing an education loan is easier for these institutions. There are cases when a course in some institutes cannot be funded by a loan. Hence, it is better to be prepared in advance for such eventualities.Considering the fact that the rupee has started depreciating against the dollar, a degree from a foreign university has become dearer. It is important that parents try to plan a debt-free college education for the child.

Here are a few things to consider.If you have kids and have not started planning for their future, then start now. There is no substitute for starting early when it comes to planning for a financial goal. The longer the term, the easier it is for you to take advantage of compounding. Just to give you an example: If one starts investing today with Rs 10,000 per month for 10 years, then the returns will be higher than someone who starts investing Rs 20,000 per month for five years, even though the capital invested in both cases is Rs 12 lakh.Understand your child’s ambitions: While growing up, children are often confused about what they would like to do in their professional careers. Parents at this stage need to do two things First, constantly keep communicating with the child about his/her career aspirations and interests, among other things. Second, identify possible career choices that you would like your child to pursue. For example, if you want your child to study for an MBA degree,Master of Architecture, start investing in a fund for it.Short-list possible universities: Once you are aware about the subjects/courses that your child might like to pursue, you can start identifying the various universities where your child can study, along with their fees. If you are contemplating on sending your child to another city or country also factor in the cost of accommodation, among other things.

Inflationary hits: Don’t forget to account for inflation based on your time horizon. A financial planner can help you here to determine the average increase in education costs (in correlation to inflation) and the likely cost of the same after 5-10 years.Define your investment strategy: The one thing you don’t want to do is take a risk with the investment being created to fund your child’s future. However, the trick here is adopting a balanced approach where you take exposure to both equity and debt instruments. You could also consider investments in other asset classes.
The macro picture: While planning for your child’s education is important and vital, you should not lose sight of other financial goals. You need to ensure that the investment plan for your child’s education can be plugged into your overall financial plan.Education plays a major role in defining a child’s future. By beginning a financial plan for your child, you will gift him the freedom of enjoying a debt-free education.