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The world of free online education
Next month is the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web. In the last 25 years, we have seen posted letters turn into e-mail and witnessed the birth of social media. But for students and parents, the internet also brought something far more useful: free online education.
Private tuition can bring about huge benefits to young people but what about independent learning? There is a wealth of research supporting the benefits of teaching students to be self-starters and helping students develop an intrinsic motivation for learning – learning because they simply enjoy it.
Thankfully there are many places where young people can start to develop their independent learning journey. There are thousands of websites that can provide 24/7 access to a whole world of learning and the best part is that they’re free to use.
Free online education for young children
Crickweb offers fun and interactive educational games for children from their early years right through to Key Stage 2. Subjects covered include Maths, Science, Literacy and History.
If you’re focusing on providing a world education for your children, then National Geographic Kids offers a fun space for children to play games and videos that will teach them more about the natural environment.
Free online education for secondary school students
For children revising for secondary school exams, the BBC Bitesize website has some of the most in-depth revision aids and practice quizzes online. Now with a free app for tablets and smartphones, students have the option to benefit from Key Stage 1 Maths tuition all the way to GCSE level Science tuition.
Another popular free online education provider is S-Cools. Referred to as ‘The Revision Website’, S-Cools not only provides revision guides for GCSE and A-Level subjects, but they also have a forum space for students to group together and tutor each other as peers.
For students focusing on English literature, SparkNotes and EnglishBiz together offer comprehensive study notes on curriculum literature. Perfect for keeping an analytical mind on nights when your child isn’t with their English tutor!
Free online education for all ages
Perhaps you yourself want to study a new language or your child needs to revise their history? Memrise provides free online courses in a wide range of subjects presented as quizzes and games, which also make them fun to complete. Whether you use the website online or via the app, you get to track your progress as you go and pick up at home later where you left off earlier in the library.
If yourself or your child learns best via video courses then the Khan Academy is one of the best free education tools out there. The courses are based on sub topics within Science, History, etc., which gives great in-depth understanding to a topic without the need for private tuition. A similar website that offers free online education in advanced modular topics is FutureLearn.
Further sites that offer free and in-depth learning courses include EdX (which also offers a paid opportunity to earn recognised qualifications) and Udemy. Udemy also offers paid courses, but there is a huge library of free courses on offer on a wide range of topics from business marketing to world history.
The GT Scholars programme aims to help young people develop an intrinsic motivation for learning. We teach young people how to become better learners so that they can attain excellent grades across all subjects.
Why not subscribe to ‘In the know’? This is our weekly newsletter for parents. You’ll get updates on events and academic and career opportunities for 11-16 year olds. Click here to subscribe: www.gtscholars.org/contact-us
Katie Dawes has a BSc in Psychology from Sussex University and a background interest in motivational psychology. She writes about growth mindset, self-leadership and motivation for teens. Katie also enjoys travelling the world and runs a travel blog.
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