In a fantastic diary of strategies for homeschooling on a budget, FloridaSNMOM mentioned several internet resources.
Her diary reminded me of a list I found a few weeks ago, linking to sources for free online courses. Most do not result in any form of certification for the student, but a few offer a certificate of completion (such as the AI class offered by Stanford).
Rather than bury such a long list in the comments over there, I figured a standalone diary would be a better place for such a long list. There are a number of entities out there offering free study opportunities (including some very well-regarded names), resulting in an impressive number of courses you, or your homeschooling child, can take from home.
I'm sure this list is not comprehensive, but it's a nice start!
More after the orange deedlybob:
update: edited to add MIT Open Courseware and iTunes U
Yale - 35 Free Courses
http://oyc.yale.edu/...
Each course includes a full set of class lectures produced in high-quality video accompanied by such other course materials as syllabi, suggested readings, exams, and problem sets.
Stanford University - 13 Free Courses
http://see.stanford.edu/
Focus on engineering.
MIT Open Courseware
http://ocw.mit.edu/...
Video, downloadable class notes, syllabi, lists of texts, etc.
MIT Courses online
http://mitx.mit.edu/
Complete with the interactive stuff that differentiates a collection of course materials from a course. Thank to dbebedb for the tip about this newer MIT offering.
Khan Academy - Thousands of FREE Courses
http://www.khanacademy.org/
A free world-class education for anyone anywhere. All of the site's resources are available to anyone. It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. The Khan Academy's materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.
Notre Dame - 72 FREE Courses
http://ocw.nd.edu/...
Notre Dame joins the OCW Consortium, "a worldwide community of hundreds of universities and associated organizations committed to advancing OpenCourseWare." Notre Dame's participation is consistent with its goal "to provide a forum where through free inquiry and open discussion the various lines of Catholic thought may intersect with all the forms of knowledge found in the arts, sciences, professions, and every other area of human scholarship and creativity."
University of Michigan - 77 FREE Courses
http://open.umich.edu/...
Find stuff and use it. Freely. Welcome to our collection of openly licensed educational resources (OER) from the University of Michigan. Ranging from course materials to videos to software tools to student work—this content is ready for downloading and remixing.
University of Cape Town - 148 FREE Courses
http://goo.gl/...
Learning content: syllabi, full courses, modules, learning objects, lecture notes, presentation and data collections. Tools: content development tools, online learning communities, and software to support the creation, delivery, use and improvement of open learning content.
University of California - 247 FREE Courses
http://ocw.uci.edu/...
The University launched its OpenCourseWare initiative in November 2006. As the first West Coast university and UC campus to join the OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC), our OCW project is growing rapidly with the addition of nearly10 new courses every month.
Tufts University - 49 FREE Courses
http://ocw.tufts.edu/...
Tufts University is committed to offering the world's learners free access to its many academic resources. Tufts OpenCourseWare (OCW) seeks to capitalize on the potential of the internet to eliminate borders and geographic distance as obstacles to the instantaneous exchange of knowledge and new ideas. Unlike distance learning programs that charge tuition, provide formal instruction and limit participation, OpenCourseWare offers all course materials free to everyone with online access.
Weber State University - 7 FREE Courses
http://ocw.weber.edu/...
Free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners throughout the world.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
http://ocw.jhsph.edu/
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's OPENCOURSEWARE (OCW) project provides access to content of the School's most popular courses.
IE University - 10 FREE Courses
http://ocw.ie.edu/...
Open collection of educational resources organized by courses.
Capilano University - 23 FREE Courses
http://ocw.capilanou.ca/...
Capilano provides a solid academic foundation and is committed to developing new and innovative programs in response to market demand. It offers a complete range of preparatory courses, university transfer courses, business and management studies, creative and applied arts programs, health and human services programs, plus a range of services in support of student learning and success.
Kaplan University - 11 FREE Courses
http://ocw.kaplan.edu/...
Kaplan University is a different school of thought.SM One that rewrites the rules of education with innovative technology and new ideas. One that develops talent. Your talent.
Jersey Institute of Technology - 20 FREE Courses
http://ocw.njit.edu/
NJIT is a member of the worldwide OpenCourseWare Consortium. NJIT’s OpenCourseWare (OCW) site offers free and open digital publication of high-quality educational materials, organized as courses. Some courses can be viewed in video, while others are only in audio. Course lecture notes and presentations are also posted for some courses.
Novell, Inc - 20 FREE Courses
http://ocw.novell.com/
Free and open digital publication of high quality educational materials, organized as courses.
People's Open Access Education Initiative - 16 FREE Courses
http://www.peoples-uni.org/
Courses are based on the concept of open education resources (OER), freely available on the Internet. Peoples-uni develops a standardise educational context around these open resources.
The Open University - 606 FREE Courses
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/...
Try over 600 free online courses from The Open University. Available from introductory to advanced level, each takes between 1 and 50 hours to study. Complete activities to assess your progress and compare your thoughts with sample answers. Sign up for free to track your progress, connect with other learners in our discussion forums and find the tools to help you learn.
Categories For Free Courses
http://www.ocwconsortium.org/...
iTunes University
http://www.apple.com/...
7:07 PM PT: Thanks to AuntieRa, here's another resource:
Online College Classes
http://www.onlinecollegeclasses.com/...
A compendium of online courses from different colleges, categorized by major (Art, Classics, Economics, etc.)
8:14 PM PT: From
U. C. Berkeley
webcast.berkeley.edu
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And thanks to Witgren
SciStarter
http://scistarter.com/
Science projects, including "science projects of the day" ideas.
Academic Earth
http://academicearth.org/
Another great compendium of courses, some for credit.
Open Culture
http://www.openculture.com/
Yet another compendium, focused on cultural and educational media.
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From Fonsia Don't forget your local library!
10:43 PM PT: A Couple of Language Resources
Foreign Service (courtesy of jennifree2bme):
www.fsi-language-courses.org
BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/...
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Other BBC Learning:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/...
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And Mnemosyne reminds us to check local community and technical colleges for free courses for some, such as senior citizens. Meanwhile jennifree2bme suggests it is also possible to audit courses for free at some schools.
Sun Mar 11, 2012 at 10:17 AM PT: -------
NYU Open Education thanks to Williston Barrett
http://www.nyu.edu/...
And a couple of sources from 888
Udemy
http://www.Udemy.com
"Social" learning on a wide range of topics (from other people not schools)
Live Mocha
http://www.LiveMocha.com
"Social" language learning (from other people not schools)
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Sun Mar 11, 2012 at 10:21 AM PT: -------
Harvard Course on Justice highly recommended by oc hope
http://www.justiceharvard.org/
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Sun Mar 11, 2012 at 11:47 AM PT: ------
A few more from jfdunphy
University of Wisconsin
http://Wisc-Online.com
All About Circuits
http://ww.AllAboutCircuits.com
Free Video Lectures
http://ww.freevideolectures.com
Sun Mar 11, 2012 at 11:49 AM PT: Carnegie-Mellon University from UnionJok
http://oli.web.cmu.edu/....
Click on "Independent Learners" to sign up as a non-credit, no-charge student.
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Coursera
https://www.coursera.org/...
Another site with a compendium of courses, thanks to debbedb
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Mon Mar 12, 2012 at 6:44 AM PT: New York Times
another from 888:
NY Times Know Now