There hasn’t been a time like this in a while, where there isn’t a lot you can do because you’re locked up at home, but there is also a lot you could do in the time that you have. You’re probably working or studying remotely, like we are. It keeps us occupied but when the work hours are over, you could spend it watching TV or you could indulge in some good old learning. Regardless of how old might be or what field you’re from, now is a great time to pick up some new skills. With the availability of the internet, we can now access resources all over the internet to pick up any topic of our choice. It could be anything, but we’re hinting towards programming, mathematics, sciences and languages. It’s a good idea to set up some sort of discipline too, a work desk where you can be focused for a set amount of time.
There is a lot you can learn and get deep into a subject. It’s hard to describe, because there really is a lot. You could be a school going student or a college student, or someone who has just finished graduation. There are topics for everyone, ranging from mathematics, to science to programming languages like Python, Javascript, React, C++ and more. The good news is that a lot of these resources are free and come from well-established institutions. Some of them might be paid, but they offer you an actual certificate that could boost your career and showcase your capabilities. If you go the free route, you might be able to learn all there is to learn, but not get a certificate. The courses aren’t just videos with a trainer talking. There are exercises, downloadable course ware to read, assignments to complete and more, depending on the kind of subject you’ve chosen.
If you work for an organization, you might already have access to some premium training content through services such as as LinkedIn Learning (previously known as Lynda). There is a wide range of content available on it, covering a range of topics that might be related to your work and others. It’s worth browsing through the topics and choosing ones you like.
Some of the popular universities have setup online learning environments. These are particularly great for school and college students. A lot of complex material has been simplified into easy-to-grasp chunks. One of the services that’s designed for school students is Khan Academy. They offer reading material, online classes, even examinations and certificates. Many universities have also tied up with online learning web services and offer their courses through them. Many of them even have apps for mobiles and tablets so you can learn no matter where you’re located. Here are just some of the popular ones.
| EDX | MIT Open Courseware | Coursera | Udacity |
| Udemy | Stanford Online | UC Berkeley – Class Central | Khan Academy |
If you’re trying to learn programming, there are a range of web sites that offer training in the form of practical exercises. You are taught the basics of the language, and you’re urged to practice in the browser environment itself. This means, you don’t need to install any third-party software and you could go through these exercises on your tablet, phone or computer. Codeacademy is a good example.
YouTube is one of the best mediums to find quality content. People with years of experience either teaching or working in an industry can be found there. There are a wide variety of topics offer their expertise through videos. Most of them create playlists of videos. Finding a channel to your liking can be tricky, but if you take programming as an example, you will find a lot of content. Most creators break down their topics into short videos so it’s easy to grasp a complex topic, and then you can go back to other tasks, before moving on to the next chapter.
A lot of resources and discussions around programming, mathematics and science take place on discussion boards. One of the most popular ones is Reddit. You will need to find a topic of your choice there. Most of the subreddits have sticky threads that list out popular resources for learning programming languages. You can follow them to get going. If you get stuck, you can ask for help on the discussion boards. There is also Discord, which is a community of voice and text chat rooms. Some of these servers are dedicated for programming. It’s a good place for discussion.
Books have always been considered the source educational content, but now they’re being replaced by eBooks. A Kindle is a great product to own at times like this. If you own one, you can simply access the eBooks store and download the content of your choice. eBooks also make content easily accessible on your smartphone or laptop.
We hope you can spark some interest in trying out to learn something new during this phase. Programming for example, can help simplify some of your work, take care of personal tasks, even help in your career growth at work. Some people just like to learn, and this could be a hobby you would like to pursue.
