These online videos, courses and tutorials can help back up what gets taught at school, or you can just use them if you’re curious!

To quote Benjamin Franklin, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

Wise words, but what if you could improve your or your child’s education with an investment of only time?

Thanks to the internet, it is possible for students of all ages to jumpstart their knowledge of almost any subject without having to lighten their wallets.

Go online and you can find almost countless courses and tutorials, long and short, to help everyone from primary school students and above to build their knowledge. 

To make it even easier to learn, many of these courses are presented in video format, with a range of languages accessible.

These destinations all offer free courses on a variety of school-based subjects.

Just keep your download cap in mind, especially if you’re streaming on mobile!

CrashCourse

Students can pick up basic knowledge on a range of topics for free with the help of CrashCourse, a YouTube channel full of generally 10 – 15 minute episodes.

The agenda for the Green brothers, the driving force behind CrashCourse, is simply to create educational content in the hopes that it will be useful to people of all ages.

This YouTube channel aims to make learning fun, so you or your kids should enjoy watching short courses on subjects including: World History, Economics, Psychology, Biology, Philosophy and lots more.

Watch as many CrashCourse videos as you like via the YouTube page.

Khan Academy

As mentioned in our piece about brushing up on your tech skills, Khan Academy provides free online courses.

Designed for students of all ages, Khan provides beginner level sessions in maths, science, history, the arts, economics and more. Currently, the service boasts over 52 million learners.

To create its library of free video courses, this not-for-profit organisation has partnered with prestigious outlets including NASA, The Museum of Modern Art and MIT.

You can sign up for one or more subjects and learn at your own pace by viewing a curriculum of short videos.

Visit khanacademy.org

e-learning for kids

Set up as a way to supplement classroom learning, e-learning for kids is a global, non-profit organisation for children ages 5 - 12.

The focus is on encouraging skills in maths, science, reading and keyboarding as well as building a community for parents and educators to share insights in childhood education.

In 2016, students took over 4 million digital lessons through this portal. As well as offering the basics of arithmetic and English, there are also ‘life lessons’, covering issues like stress, bullying, communication and family issues.

This website has less of a focus on video, but does still employ interactive animations in its lessons.

TED-Ed

Want to find out how to master your sense of smell, how the sandwich was invented or what caused the French Revolution? TED-Ed is your destination of choice.

Supported by Melinda Gates (among others), TED-Ed produces original, animated videos from short lectures on a range of subjects.

Some are quirky, some are unusual and some are directly fact based, but each clip will give you practical and handy information (like why John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich wanted be able to eat with one hand).  

Udemy

Another high level offering, Udemy’s free courses cover everything from accounting to computer coding, photoshop to video production, neuroscience to the subtle powers of influencing others.

Each course has a series of video lectures of varying lengths that you can access once you have created an account.

If you’re wondering which session will be suitable, previous viewers have added their reviews at the bottom of each course summary along with a rating out of five.

Udemy is a global learning location and hosts courses from presenters all over the world.

In his 2011 TED Talk, Khan Academy’s founder Salman Khan points out the benefits of video learning, explaining that you can pause and repeat at your own pace and in your own time.

Online video tutorials also mean you are free to learn anywhere that you have connectivity.

As a parent, you can sit down with your child and watch together to help your child boost their knowledge and understanding of a subject they may be struggling with.

As an adult, you can catch up on things you may have missed out on in order to boost your own knowledge and even support your career.

Access to online education resources is taking Australia by storm; just make sure you use a safe password when you sign up to any online service.