Some Knowledge

So, you’re bored and you want to take a college course in something interesting?  Well, there’s no need to apply for college, move to California, or pay tuition.  Just go to UC Berkeley Webcasts and click on a course that looks interesting.  There are many hours of lectures available here as podcasts.  You can listen to them all in series, or just pick the topics that interest you.  Some of these even have video so you will see the presentations the different professors give along with the lectures.

You will not have to buy textbooks, take tests, do homework, or any of the other things that colleges like to annoy people with.  The lectures are free and cover a good range of basic subjects.  Every semester the choice of classes changes.  If you feel like it, go ahead and take notes.  It’s part of the college experience that you learn both by listening and doing, so any notes you take will reinforce the learning you get from any of these courses.

Over the last summer I listened to a complete semester’s worth of lectures on nutrition.  It was very interesting to be able to listen to a person explaining things and answering questions.  This is the one advantage that a college education has over learning things on your own from books.  There is a person there to answer your questions.  While it is a one-way stream of audio and you really cannot ask questions, there are students who are in the classes who will probably ask the same questions you might have.  How easy is that?

You will not get college credit for auditing these classes.  I suppose there are some places where you can take classes for credit online, but they charge money.  This is free information, in a form designed so that people can learn.  What more could you ask for free?  Perhaps in the future this will catch on with other colleges and universities and you will be able to listen to lectures on advanced subjects.  For now, a few things that may be of interest to people is a good start.