You probably have heard about the free tutorials at Kahn Acadamy but what about the free courses at Audacity. They offer a dozen or so courses in computer science, intro statistics, algorithims and cryptography. Courses are free and for a fee you can take a test and get a certificate. CodeAcadamy offers courses in computer coding. Free for now with the possibility of a premium service later on.
The iEarn Collaboration Center iEARN projects are designed and facilitated by educators and students worldwide, and result in a range of collaborative final "products." The Global Connections & Exchange Program (GCE) is funded by the US State Department with the goal of "connecting students and teachers in the US to those in countries with significant Muslim populations" - mainly through technology.
Activate the journal of technology-rich learning "These web-based resources are intended for librarians, technology coordinators, students, parents, teachers, and administrators. However, others interested in life-long learning will also find useful information."
Apple Learning Interchange An Apple site that includes participating in: online forums and chats; online projects; staff development courses; newsletters; and sharing your ideas, lessons and favorite Internet resources with your colleagues.
The Awesome Library organizes your exploration of the World Wide Web with 14,000 carefully reviewed resources, the top 5 percent in education.
The Bridge, Ocean Sciences Education Teacher Resources Center, a selection of the best online resources for marine science education. Part of the National Marine Educators Association which brings together those interested in the study and enjoyment of the world of water-both fresh and salt. Affiliated with the National Science Teachers Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, NMEA provides a valuable focus for marine and aquatic studies world-wide.
Free Textbooks "CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S. and worldwide. Using an open-content, web-based collaborative model termed the 'FlexBook', CK-12 intends to pioneer the generation and distribution of high quality educational content that will serve both as core text as well as provide an adaptive environment for learning. CK-12 allows one to customize and produce content by re-purposing to suit what needs to be taught, using different modules that may suit a learner's learning style, region, language, or level of skill, while adhering to the local education standards."
ClassZone Internet research tutorials, activities and quizzes. Quizzes are available online or as PDFs
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (part of the Smithsonian) offers free lesson plans in the areas of math, science, language, arts, social studies and technology. Grade levels are from pre-K to High School
Connexion is "a place to view and share educational material made of small knowledge chunks called modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports, etc. Anyone may view or contribute." Some of these small chunks are quite extensive and contributed by university professors.
Education World "The Educators Best Friend " TM, so they say. Seems to be oriented to the younger crowd. It does feature an "education site only" search engine.
Need financial aid? Finaid has comprehensive information on loans and scholarships, even a financial calculator to tell you how much you need.
Freetech4teachers is a frequently updated site with excellent resources for teachers as well as lesson plans. The author obviously spends a lot of time searching the internet for great sites.
Google in Education Teacher and student resources from the preeminent knowledge indexer.
High School Ace a guide to free high-quality online learning resources for teens
The Internet Schoolhouse is designed with the classroom teacher and school curriculum in mind. The site provides a safe place on the net for students to begin work quickly and safely, and helps to keep students on task.
In Time "integrates new technologies into the methods of education" "INTIME enables educators to watch online video vignettes of PreK-12 teachers from various grades and subjects integrate technology into their classrooms using numerous teaching strategies."
Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything is a portal page to her technology resource support sites, a categorized list of sites on the Internet found to be useful for enhancing curriculum and teacher professional growth. This site is as close to a definitive list of resources as exists on the internet.
The Massachusetts Cultural Council gives away $15 million each year. Grants are available to four categories of applicants: nonprofit organizations, schools, municipalities and individual artists.
Massachusetts Mentor provides comprehensive information on colleges in Massachusetts:
-
admission policies
-
admission applications online
-
financial aid
-
campus tours
-
comparative view of college class size, tuition cost, etc.
-
student planner
-
student - campus match
If you're thinking of going to college in Massachusetts, you should definitely check this page.
Massachusetts Online Network for Education (MassONE) "MassONE is the Commonwealth's set of web-based tools for communication, collaboration, and curriculum planning, which are designed to support K-12 standards-based teaching and learning."
Massachusetts Teachers' Domain "offers free access to thousands of classroom-ready media tools, including video clips, interactive activities, and lesson plans-all aligned with the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks. This rich resource collection is pulled from a variety of sources, including public television programming, government agencies, museums, libraries, and academic institutions. "
Media Awareness Network which provides "quick and easy access to thousands of documents to help teachers, parents, librarians and others promote critical thinking in young people about the media." A pay-for Canadian site with teaching units and classroom activities. Includes a free Glossary of Media Terms
MIT's Open Courseware program offers all of MIT's courses online for free. This link is to their page which features courses applicable to high school students and teachers.
Moodle "is a course management system (CMS) - a free, Open Source software package designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities."
The New York Times Learning Network is a free service for students in grades 6-12, their teachers and parents. The site is updated Monday through Friday throughout the school year. Students can read the day's top stories using Knowledge Tools, take a news quiz, write a letter to the editor, or ask a reporter a question. Teachers can access a daily lesson plan written in partnership with The Bank Street College of Education in New York City. Each lesson plan and the article it references can be printed out for classroom use. Previous lessons are available in the archive. Educators can also read the latest education news from the newspaper. Parents can join an online discussion, read a recent product review or participate with their children in the activities in the student section. In addition, visitors can browse Navigator, our list of recommended Web sites, access special news indexes on both current and historic events, or take a look back at a historic New York Times front page in the On This Day section.
Perdue University has a set of research guides, tutorials and resources for students.
Plato in Massachusetts aligns to Massachusetts state and district standards It provided computer-assisted instruction for middle schools and high schools with a
comprehensive, age-appropriate solution.
Quizlet "is the largest flash cards and study games web site with over 5 million free sets of flashcards covering every possible subject. It's the best place to play educational games, memorize vocabulary and study online."
rubrics4teachers The URL pretty much says it all. Rubrics by grade, by subject, even a rubric generator.
SAT Online Register online for the SAT, send reports to colleges, search for scholarships. And yes, this being the United States they even have the SAT store; alas no T-shirts.
School Matters An education site provided by Standard and Poor. Has information about "benchmarks" in education, business education articles, ACT, SAT, other standardized exams and information about school districts.
Teachers' Domain from PBS "is a free digital media service for educational use from public broadcasting and its partners. You'll find thousands of media resources, support materials, and tools for classroom lessons, individualized learning programs, and teacher professional learning communities."
Trails "is a knowledge assessment with multiple-choice questions targeting a variety of information literacy skills based on 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th grade standards. This Web-based system was developed to provide an easily accessible and flexible tool for school librarians and teachers to identify strengths and weaknesses in the information-seeking skills of their students."
Temple University's Media Education Lab includes a lesson plan for copyright and fair use as well as many other media related teaching resources.
"The Media Education Lab is one of the leading providers of multimedia curriculum resources for K-12 media literacy education."
A search engine and teacher's resource. "At Thinkfinity.org, you'll find primary source materials, interactive student resources and grade-specific research lists." "All of Thinkfinity.org's 55,000 standards-based K-12 lesson plans, student materials, interactive tools and reference materials are reviewed by the nation's leading education organizations to ensure that content is accurate, up-to-date, unbiased and appropriate for students."
The WAC Clearinghouse (Writing Across the Curriculum) "in partnership with the International Network of Writing Across the Curriculum Programs, publishes journals, books, and other resources for teachers who use writing in their courses. (It) offers access to open-access, scholarly books, including original monographs and edited collections. Some books are published in print format with the National Council of Teachers of English or Parlor Press. Books to DateWe also offer digital editions of out-of-print, landmark publications ..."
WatchKnow offers thousands of free educational videos for K-12. There is a neat slider for the age filter.