Best Online Learning Resources

If you’re looking to learn something new, there are a variety of options online. No longer do you need years of student debt or a dorm that’s falling apart at the seams, just go online and learn whatever you want.

Online learning has really picked up and is on a definite upward trajectory. Without it, millions of children worldwide would have been without any substantial home learning during lockdown situations. Furthermore, it allows access to so many more resources than you could afford to buy if you wanted simply tangible options. Of course, with the use of online learning websites and apps, it is imperative to ensure you have a decent internet connection. Before going with my current provider, I ensured that I researched all internet options for my address and made my decision based on my findings. Now, we are lucky to have a speedy connection despite living in the sticks!

Read on for our picks of the best online learning resources that you can use to help your child.

1. Duolingo

Languages are an attractive way to connect with other people and cultures or improve your skill set. And might even be a necessity if you find yourself somewhere where miming isn’t a long-term solution.

There is an app to help out. Duolingo is a free mobile app designed to make learning a new language easier. You can set a daily goal, choosing from either 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes a day to go at your own pace. Choose from as many as 37 different languages including French, Spanish and German, but also Hawaiian, Hindi, and Klingon.

You can tailor your learning journey to suit your lifestyle and enjoy the fact that the cute graphics make it feel like a mobile game, for example like the online slots Netbet app.

2. Ted Ed

Ted Ed is an offshoot of the company that offers Ted Talks and, like Ted Talks they have a focus on philosophy and debate. 

You can browse lectures, videos, and ideas. Ted Ed’s YouTube channel is filled with beautifully animated and informative videos on everything from the science of tsunamis to the myth of Arachne. Add questions around any video for a personalized experience.

And of course, there are the Ted Talks. All are available for free on YouTube if you want to get in depth and up close about an idea.

3. BBC Bitesize

The tried-and-true BBC-owned learning platform has been with us since 1998 and makes a point of supporting the National Curriculum. Small, digestible, perhaps even “bitesize” lessons are free to roam through, with material for everyone from reception through to A-levels.

Lessons can come in game form or live from the BBC with recognisable characters of the CBBC alumni, and cover everything offered by British public schools. Track your progress with a learner guide as you study for exams.

Plus, an ongoing blog gives advice to parents on everything from engagement to confidence.

4. Scholastic Resource Bank

Scholastic, the name you’ll recognise from your children’s books, is offering a platform full of hundreds of engaging lessons on a variety of subjects. They also have the option to learn from a list of famous people, with names such as Neil Armstrong, Marie Curie and Roald Dahl covered.

Sign up for the topic of the day, for an extra miscellaneous lesson, which this week features Charles Darwin the Roman god, Vulcan.

5. Project Gutenberg

A wealth of children’s classic literature is just at your fingertips with Project Gutenberg. Housing more than 60,000 books, including the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen and Mark Twain, the free e-books site is the perfect place to get your little ones reading and will most likely hold curriculum literature.

Stories can be downloaded to a computer or e-reader, and many can even be downloaded as audiobooks.