List of Free, Reputable Online Learning Sites Updated

I've just reorganized and added a few more entries to the page. Below are some Q&A generated by the news - please feel free to leave comments or write in with your own questions. Enjoy!

Q: Nela, I've signed up for quite a few of these, but I've never gotten motivated to keep at it. Any suggestions for how to keep at it? Have you used any of them yourself?

A: Denise - great question! I've used most of the ones on the first list at one time or another. In my experience, "necessity creates ability" - i.e., I've basically used them only when I've had to!

We get stuck on things when we A) have too many options and B) don't have a clear idea of our goals. I would recommend taking a moment to think about the following:

1. What is it that you hope to get out of taking one of these courses? 
2. Dow does the course contribute to your overall career trajectory? 

Once you have a clear idea of those two, I think you'll have an easier time making a decision and sticking to it. We'd all take ALL of those classes if we had "world enough and time" (to steal from Shakespeare)!

[That said, the other thing that creates ability is...procrastination. And I can tell you I use TED.com and plato.stanford.edu when I catch (or...create ;-)) a "free" moment. Also, plato.stanford.edu is curated by academic experts, which makes it an even better reference than wikipedia, so I frequently use it to cite things.]

Write to us! What are your favorite reputable online learning sites? Do you have any tips on how to translate impulse into action? Or how to separate the 'wants' from the 'needs?' 

Nurturing our pleasure instincts is important, too -  how do you make time for the sheer 'wants?'