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How recent it may seem, when I was a undergrad student (2007-2011) the internet was useless in terms of academic study. Whatever you read from Wikipedia was wrong, all you could do in Youtube was watch some cat videos, and there were no quality resources to access. We had to go to the library to find books (which were mostly outdated) to read out about the subject matter.
Oku! Sen okumayınca, gereksiz bilgilerle doluyor beynin. Sonuç: Duyarsız bir insan. Thousands of free e-books at https://t.co/TsaPho4Muf
— Mesut Erzurumluoğlu (@mesuturkiye) December 24, 2014
Nowadays there are tens of fantastic websites (e.g. Google classes, scientific blogs, past exam papers) and Youtube channels (e.g. Khan Academy, Crash Course) where people have taken the time to organise high-quality courses and/or videos which explain the subject clearly in a relatively short amount of time. Also a lot of the stuff in Wikipedia is top notch nowadays. However what really stands out for me is Coursera. High quality courses for free, tailored to your interest(s) and learning at your own pace; and if you try hard enough you get a certificate (an example below) – which could look good on your CV. I really wish Coursera (and others) was around when I was an undergraduate student.
The point of this post is that youngsters must make the best of the internet nowadays. It has turned into a fantastic resource for learning anything you want! *It just takes a simple Google search most of the time…
*also see my Recommended Websites post for other educative websites
‘Game Theory’ Coursera course certificate
‘Game Theory’ Coursera course certificate
To prove a point, these are the MOOCs I have finished so far (from Feb 2012 to July 2014):
Ones relevant to my research area/interests:
Google’s Python Class by Google Developers
Statistics in Medicine by Stanford University
Computing for Data analysis by John Hopkins University
Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression by University of Melbourne
Computational Molecular Evolution by Technical University of Denmark
Introduction to Systems Biology by Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
For fun/recreational learning:
Game Theory by Stanford University & University of British Columbia
Introduction to Philosophy by University of Edinburgh
Exploring Quantum Physics by University of Maryland
Archaelogy’s Dirty Little Secrets by Brown University
Think Again: How to Reason and Argue by Duke University
Constitutional Struggles in the Muslim World by University of Copenhagen
Crytography by University of Stanford
An ordinary blog by an ordinary bloke 