If you are planning to have more free time in 2023 – or you want to make better use of the spare time you already have – you might opt to learn something new.
Whether you decide to take up an instrument, learn a new language, or get to grips with the history of Renaissance art, you’ll find free courses online that could help.
Here’s a rundown of some of the best websites and course providers to help you learn a new skill for free in 2023.
1. EdX
Developed by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the EdX platform hosts thousands of university-level courses from institutions all over the world.
From Harvard and MIT themselves to Berkley and Boston University, there are plenty of US schools represented. You’ll also find courses from Paris’s Sorbonne, the University of Madrid and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
There are more than 160 institutions to choose from in all with more than half a million students registered.
You’ll find business courses covering marketing management and innovative business model creation alongside science and technology and the arts. You might consider “Backyard Meteorology: The Science of Weather” from Harvard or enrol on a University of Madrid course studying “European Paintings: From Leonardo to Rembrandt to Goya”.
Online courses are taught via video lectures from global experts, incorporating graphics and charts with interactive elements. You’ll then be encouraged to test yourself on what you have learned through online quizzes and expand your learning through online forums and lists of further reading.
Take a look at the vast array of courses on offer and see what you might learn.
2. YouTube
While it’s long been the home of cute cat videos and “epic fails”, there is more to YouTube’s video-streaming service if you know where to look.
If you need help learning a practical skill, but you want to be able to dip in and out as needed, YouTube could hold the answer.
Experts in their field sit alongside amateur enthusiasts and hobbyists so you might need to spend some time picking your favourites, but the site covers a dizzyingly wide array of topics.
If you’re looking to learn the guitar, Justin Guitar (aka Justin Sandercoe) has more than a million subscribers to his YouTube channel that offers free guitar tutorials, with more than a decade’s worth of lessons to choose from.
Garden Answer, meanwhile, is perfect for those looking to take up gardening in the new year, offering essential tips on all the basics you’ll need.
3. OpenLearn
OpenLearn from the Open University gives you a chance to study for any of around 1000 courses. You’ll join 2 million students who have gained a degree-level qualification through the Open University, studying at your own pace.
Courses are split into eight broad categories including:
- Health, sports, and psychology
- Education and development
- History and the arts
- Money and business
- Society, politics, and law
Not only is OpenLearn a great way to learn something new, absolutely free, but it will also give you a taste of online learning, and what the Open University has to offer.
It might even inspire you to take on a full undergraduate or postgraduate degree course.
4. Duolingo
Make 2023 the year you finally learn a new language with the fun and absorbing app and website, Duolingo.
You’ll join millions of users worldwide, learning the reading, listening, and speaking skills you need to become fluent in one of 40 languages.
Whether you’re planning a retirement in Spain, a holiday to Hungary, or you just want to impress your friends and colleagues with your grasp of Klingon, you’ll find the app can help. You’ll also find lessons in High Valyrian, a language spoken in the fictional Westeros and Essos from the TV phenomenon Game of Thrones.
Using the concept of gamification to make learning fun and reward progress, the site’s AI can help to tailor each lesson to your level and speed of progress.
5. Project Gutenburg
Reading is an incredible source of knowledge and Project Gutenburg is a great place to access over 60,000 works of literature for free.
An online library of books now out of copyright, you can search classics of fiction and non-fiction and download them in various formats, including to your Kindle.
You’ll find classics of world literature and non-fiction works of travel, history, and science, perfect for filling in your knowledge gaps or learning something new.
