In this thread I would like to discuss ways to get some quality education for free or for a small amount of money.
It won't give one any certificates (so no increased job opportunities, unless one is lucky), so it's for one's personal pleasure only.
If you're looking to increase your job opportunities, look somewhere else, not in this thread.
How to educate oneself for free (or very cheaply)
Moderators: Beex, Elgood81, Beerkeg, Ferefire
How to educate oneself for free (or very cheaply)
What I mean by quality is that it should provide correct information. There are some fake educational resources which do not really provide quality information (or they even provide wrong information) and it might be difficult for a person who is new to a certain field of knowledge to distinguish them.
E.g. institutions like major universities (or state-funded universities in general in countries which provide them) and state-funded scientific institutions usually provide good quality information.
E.g. institutions like major universities (or state-funded universities in general in countries which provide them) and state-funded scientific institutions usually provide good quality information.
How to educate oneself for free (or very cheaply)
The most important problem one will have is time. Education requires time. But when one is working, usually there is little time to spend on education.
So time management is the key here. And also ways to reduce the amount of time involved in educating oneself. E.g. sometimes practical exercises take more time than is really necessary. Some elements of practical exercises are just boring, repetitive things which do not teach you anything. It's important to reduce those elements as much as possible.
So time management is the key here. And also ways to reduce the amount of time involved in educating oneself. E.g. sometimes practical exercises take more time than is really necessary. Some elements of practical exercises are just boring, repetitive things which do not teach you anything. It's important to reduce those elements as much as possible.
How to educate oneself for free (or very cheaply)
How to organise your time?
There are two general approaches:
1. Use like 1h every day for education.
2. Spend like 7h at once (e.g. during the weekend).
Personally I think the second approach is better.
There is the thing called "context switching". You need to load enough information initially to your mind to be able to grasp new concepts. When you're busy with tasks related to your employment you must "unload" other information and "load" the information related to the work to be done. This "loading" and "unloading" takes time. So you might need to "load" those things again and again every day, if you use the first approach above.
So I recommend the second one. But of course people are different and the first approach might work better for you.
There are two general approaches:
1. Use like 1h every day for education.
2. Spend like 7h at once (e.g. during the weekend).
Personally I think the second approach is better.
There is the thing called "context switching". You need to load enough information initially to your mind to be able to grasp new concepts. When you're busy with tasks related to your employment you must "unload" other information and "load" the information related to the work to be done. This "loading" and "unloading" takes time. So you might need to "load" those things again and again every day, if you use the first approach above.
So I recommend the second one. But of course people are different and the first approach might work better for you.
How to educate oneself for free (or very cheaply)
Your mind works constantly on the information you loaded into it, even if you don't do it consciously.
So it's generally a good thing to load some information initially and let your mind work on it during the week unconsciously.
Another thing is to know when to stop. If some concepts seem to be difficult to learn, it means that maybe you should take a break. Your brain will unconsciously work on them and you can do some other stuff in the meantime, like the chores, shopping etc.
So it's generally a good thing to load some information initially and let your mind work on it during the week unconsciously.
Another thing is to know when to stop. If some concepts seem to be difficult to learn, it means that maybe you should take a break. Your brain will unconsciously work on them and you can do some other stuff in the meantime, like the chores, shopping etc.
How to educate oneself for free (or very cheaply)
Those are some very general things.
I'll post more later on with some specifics.
In general the first step is to make the following decisions:
1. What do you want to learn? (Something you're interested in. Learning boring stuff is too boring.
)
2. How much time can you spend on learning per week (probably only something like 8-16h if you're in employment.)
3. How to schedule the time? (Weekends are the best and it's good to do things in one go, but it's important to stop if the concepts seem to becoming too difficult and you're getting tired. So if you start e.g. on Saturday, you learn until you start getting tired/distracted and you can finish on Sunday after your brain processes the stuff over the night.
I'll post more later on with some specifics.
In general the first step is to make the following decisions:
1. What do you want to learn? (Something you're interested in. Learning boring stuff is too boring.
)2. How much time can you spend on learning per week (probably only something like 8-16h if you're in employment.)
3. How to schedule the time? (Weekends are the best and it's good to do things in one go, but it's important to stop if the concepts seem to becoming too difficult and you're getting tired. So if you start e.g. on Saturday, you learn until you start getting tired/distracted and you can finish on Sunday after your brain processes the stuff over the night.
How to educate oneself for free (or very cheaply)
OK, so today I would like to do a quick post about the following.
Believe in your own mental capabilities!
Some people might think that subjects like advanced mathematics or quantum mechanics are above them, and they will never be able to learn them. But in my opinion most of the time it's not the case. Of course, there will be differences in HOW FAST a person can learn things, but dedication and persistence is more important for being successful.
The main problem with advanced subjects is often not that they're very difficult, but that one needs to learn many other subjects first to even start learning them.
Let me give you an example. If one wants to learn, let's say, measure theory (in mathematics), one requires some knowledge of mathematical analysis and topology. For mathematical analysis, one needs to know about fields and numbers and algebra in general. And for both analysis and topology one needs to know about set theory. And to understand set theory one needs to understand mathematical logic.
This is the thing that makes stuff advanced. You must advance enough in your knowledge to be able to start learning it.
So it's important to understand and learn the prerequisites to what you want to learn first, before you try to learn the actual thing.
In my next post I will talk more about it.
But in general, if something seems impossible to learn, see the list of prerequisites and check, if you know all of them already.
Believe in your own mental capabilities!
Some people might think that subjects like advanced mathematics or quantum mechanics are above them, and they will never be able to learn them. But in my opinion most of the time it's not the case. Of course, there will be differences in HOW FAST a person can learn things, but dedication and persistence is more important for being successful.
The main problem with advanced subjects is often not that they're very difficult, but that one needs to learn many other subjects first to even start learning them.
Let me give you an example. If one wants to learn, let's say, measure theory (in mathematics), one requires some knowledge of mathematical analysis and topology. For mathematical analysis, one needs to know about fields and numbers and algebra in general. And for both analysis and topology one needs to know about set theory. And to understand set theory one needs to understand mathematical logic.
This is the thing that makes stuff advanced. You must advance enough in your knowledge to be able to start learning it.
So it's important to understand and learn the prerequisites to what you want to learn first, before you try to learn the actual thing.
In my next post I will talk more about it.
But in general, if something seems impossible to learn, see the list of prerequisites and check, if you know all of them already.
How to educate oneself for free (or very cheaply)
I think I will abandon this thread and focus on anime, as there is not much interest it seems.