How to Get a Free Education On-line

We are one of the most fortunate generations that ever lived. We have all the knowledge of the world at our fingertips. In the United States even the poor and homeless can access this information at a public library. Through the Internet we can gather information on any topic under the sun.

The Internet can also be overwhelming. How does a person start to educate oneself on-line? Let me suggest a couple of places to start.

First, most people are familiar by now with the imperative, "Google it!" Google is one of the largest search engines available. To begin your search for knowledge on any subject, go to Google. In the search box simply type a phrase that relates to the topic that you are curious about. For example, you could type "how to raise rabbits", "where to buy Jimmy Choo shoes", how does electricity work" or absolutely anything that comes to your mind.

When conducting such a search, the result will be a long list of possible websites that may answer your question. Google computers find the articles that contain the closest wording to your question and put the best match at the top of the list. Clicking on and checking out these websites is called "surfing". Surfing can help you answer your question and introduce you to new information that will probably spark more questions.

In all fairness, there are many good search engines out there. Ask, Yahoo, Excite, Dog Pile, Bing, Alta Vista and many others also will give you a list of websites that will match your request. Google is still my favorite.

What if you want more visual information? What if you don't really like to read? There is good news for you on the Internet as well. Try You Tube for videos made by people all over the world on ever different topic in almost every language. This site also has a search bar where you can type in your topic of interest. There are thousands of videos made by people who have done a successful experiment and by home video want to share their knowledge. You can watch videos on "organic gardening", "off-grid living", "raw foods for health", "jewelry making" or "learning Spanish".

A slight word of caution is required about You Tube. You should know that this site is inhabited by many young people who are just fooling around making crazy videos for play. Be discerning in your choices. Not everything you hear on a video is going to be accurate, but in fairness, not everything you hear from college professors is accurate either!

Lastly, what about real current education? How can a person learn about cutting edge technology or the latest in academic research? That is also possible on-line. For lectures by people in the top of their fields try TED Talks. This site has videos of speakers from around the world talking about everything in the fields of technology, education, entertainment and design. Each talk is about twenty minutes long. You can hear a fourteen-year-old Malawian boy tell how he built a wind-powered, electric generator from spare parts after seeing pictures in a book from his small local library or listen to James Cameron talk about his life before Avatar. The talks and speakers offered on this site are amazing.

Now you know where to go to get the knowledge. It is up to you what you do with it!