For all our lifelong learners, here’s a listing of some credible websites to explore.
With your Peoria Public Library card you can access and borrow from our ever-growing collection of books, movies, magazines, music and dozens of research databases, but the internet offers a wealth of trustworthy, free information – if you know where to look.
What you can do…
Take a college course at MIT or Yale. Watch world-renowned researchers discuss important topics of our times. Take an online tour of the Smithsonian. Our list of resources and descriptions will give you an idea of the endless possibilities to enhance your education! (By clicking on the underlined titles you will be linked directly to the resources’ sites.)
Alison
Offers more than 2,000 free online courses across nine categories, including IT, science, health, business, marketing and more. Classes are free, but professional certificates include a fee.
Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative
Dozens of online college courses are offered for free or at minimal cost to cover textbooks and other materials.
EdX
Founded by MIT and Harvard University and connected to more than 160 colleges and universities, EdX is an open-source platform where you can take many courses for free or, for a fee, attain professional certification and degrees.
Khan Academy
This nonprofit offers a wide variety of Pre-K to college courses with standards-aligned videos, lessons and practice questions. Free.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library and has made many of their resources available online freely, including exhibits, research and programs.
MIT Open Learning Library
The MIT Open Learning Library offers free, select courses and educational content available to anyone in the world at any time. Learn at your own pace. More than a dozen subject areas offered.
Open Culture
Open Culture curates an extensive set of free learning resources from across the globe, including courses, lectures from leading academics, free audiobooks, movies, ebooks, and digital textbooks. The K-12 education section provides video tutorials, apps, books, and websites for K-12 learning. Free.
Open Yale Courses
Open Yale Courses (OYC) provides lectures and other materials from selected Yale University courses to the public free of charge via the Internet. The courses span the full range of liberal arts disciplines, including humanities, social sciences, and physical and biological sciences. No registration required.
National Archives
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation’s record keeper. Review primary source materials from our nation’s history, much of it digitized. Explore their online databases to find your family’s history, view online copies of historic documents, including America’s founding documents, and take online classes and programs.
PBS Learning Media
PBS has curated free, standards-aligned videos, interactive and lesson plans for educators and lifelong learners alike. Search by subject or grade level.
SmithsonianX
Since its founding in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution has grown into the world’s largest museum and research complex, consisting of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park and nine research facilities. Nearly 500 PhDs serve as scientists, researchers, historians, curators and scholars for the Smithsonian. Numerous online courses are offered for free covering a wide variety of subjects.
Stanford Online
Hundreds of free courses taught by Stanford instructors and industry experts.
TED-Ed
A supplement to the motivational web series, TED-Ed is an online education platform site full of short animated video lessons on a variety of subjects. Created by volunteer teachers, industry experts and respected institutions such as PBS. Many of the videos also include supplemental materials and quizzes.
