Scratch

Topics: Programming
Explanation Quality: Good
Medium: Code; Video
Type of Content: Educational

Scratch is a little different from the other websites I've posted about. Created by the MIT Media Lab, it allows you to program your own games and animations without any background knowledge of coding! It does this by taking a small chunk of code (something like "move to this position" or "change the background color") and formatting it as a puzzle piece. You then can connect all the pieces together into a script that does something cool.

This is a look inside a program I created. As you can see, there are multiple scripts (the segments on the far right of the screenshot). In the middle, there are some of the puzzle pieces you can drag over. The screen on the right shows my program.

You can either dive in right away, or watch some video tutorials first. I like this site because it's a good way to start out with programming. There is no syntax to learn, and you can immediately see if your program works. Most new users are in their teens, but anyone can join. I actually first used Scratch way back in middle school. If you have a lot of experience with computers and programming you might not find Scratch interesting (though there are a ton of commands to choose from, there are some limitations). But if you have little/no experience, or are bored and want to make a fun game, this is worthwhile to check out.

What if?

Topics: Anything is fair game
Explanation Quality: Good
Medium: Text
Type of Content: Answers to questions

If you've ever asked yourself a ridiculous hypothetical question, xkcd's what if? is the place for you. Here Rundall Munroe answers reader submitted questions ranging from "How close would you have to be to a supernova to get a lethal dose of neutrino radiation?" (answer: a little more than the distance from the sun to Mars) to "If cows could photosynthesize, how much less food would they need?" (answer: a few handfuls of grain).

 

Although the questions may sound ridiculous, the answers are not. Well, maybe they are, but they're accurate. Munroe researches all of his responses thoroughly. He even cites his sources! I enjoy this site because it's funny and informative. I learn a lot of random facts through reading these. And, each post always includes several illustrations. So if you're wondering "what if?", go check it out!

EdX

Topics: All (Business, Sciences, Philosophy, Economics, Engineering, History, Law, Humanities, etc.)
Explanation Quality: Best
Medium: Video, Text, Powerpoint, Interactive exercises, Problem Sets
Type of Content: Educational

EdX is a collection of free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC's). If you've never heard of them, MOOC's are courses (normally college courses) that anyone, anywhere can take as long as they have access to the internet. Carnegie Mellon University's Open Learning Initiative is another example of them. However, there are a few key differences. One is that edX currently offers a total of 50 courses from13 different schools. If a course has already finished running, many still allow you to look through the lectures and notes. Most courses will give you a certificate of mastery upon completion. Overall, these are more like taking a real college course, just online.

A screenshot from my Quantum Mechanics class

I am currently signed up for a class on quantum mechanics from The University of California, Berkeley. It runs for 10 weeks. 8 of those weeks are classes, one is a midterm, and one is a final. Every Saturday the material for the next week is released. This is two video lectures (though each is broken up into smaller segments), a copy of the course notes, and a set of homework problems. If you want credit for the homework, it has to be completed by the next Sunday. You can audit any course and simply watch the videos and read the notes, but if you want a certificate, you need to get at least a certain grade. In my course this is an 80%.

There are several other helpful features. The discussion forum is really helpful if you don't understand something. There are also TA's who occasionally post hints or other useful information. In other courses, there can be interactive labs. For example, some chemistry courses have a molecule editor which allows you to "create" molecules in order to answer questions, or just get a feel for how things work.

So far, I really love this site. If you want to learn a new subject, this is definitely a good place to check out. Not all of the courses are entry level though. Each will state its prerequisites on its main page. For example, my course requires knowledge of linear algebra to complete. But it is still worthwhile to check around, even if you don't have anything in particular you want to learn. You map find something that surprises you.

Princeton Journal Watch

Topics: Science
Explanation Quality: Best
Medium: Text
Type of Content: Research, News

Princeton Journal Watch is a blog about research conducted at - you guessed it - Princeton University. Each post gives a description of a recently published research article. They seem to come from all the (science) departments of the university. It is a good way to see what new discoveries are happening. The other great thing about it is that all the posts are written so that a layperson can read them. In other words, even if you don't have background in the topic, you will still understand what the research was about. A lot of the things are really interesting. To get an idea of the type of stuff they have, they last few posts they wrote (at the time of my writing this) are: "Princeton Researchers Use Mobile Phones to Measure Happiness"; "How Will Crops Fare Under Climate Change? Depends on How You Ask"; and "A Faster Vessel for Charting the Brain". All the posts link to an abstract of the article. The only downside is you (usually) can't read the full article without buying it. But I don't mind, because I don't have the background to understand the actual articles anyway. So overall, it's a good place to go for some easy to understand information on complex topics.

Open Learning Initiative

Topics: Assorted
Explanation Quality: Best
Medium: Text, Practice Exercises
Type of Content: Teaching Material

Open Learning Initiative (OLI) is part of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). It offers free online courses that anyone can take. While there are only 18 at the moment, they still cover a variety of topics.

There are a couple of things about OLI that I really like. One is simply the style of the courses. They are written in a very accessible way. They are all self-paced. It starts out with a syllabus, and then a brief section with suggestions on how to most effectively use the online course.

The course is mainly composed of written explanations, sort of like those you would find in a textbook. At the beginning of each section is a description of what you will learn in that section. There are little exercises you can do to see if you understand the material (that's the "Did I Get This?" box in the picture). Most of the courses are introductory level, designed to be taken if you have little or no prior experience (or if you haven't thought about the subject in a long, long time).

I have personally been working my way through the Statistics course and the American English speech class. Although I'm only taking the Speech class for fun (technically I'm taking them both for fun, but I do seriously want to learn statistics, I just haven't been able to take a real class at school yet), I find it pretty interesting. To help show the correct way to pronounce things it offers audio files to listen to and diagrams to illustrate what is happening with your mouth and throat. The statistics class is more like a typical math class, with explanations and problems.

This is not a good website if you only need to look up a quick explanation for your chemistry homework. It is a good website if you want to seriously learn about a subject, if you are taking a class in it but your teacher is really bad at explaining so you want another resource you can use simultaneously, or if you found a new subject you think is interesting but you don't even know what you don't know and so have no idea where to start. If any of those sound like you (or even if they don't) it is worth checking out.

HyperPhysics

Topics: Physics, Math
Explanation Quality: Best
Medium: Text
Type of Content: Teaching Material

HyperPhysics is an interactive concept map. You can either search a specific topic, or just find it by following the path. One thing I really like about it is that if in the explanation of a concept, if they use a word for another concept you don't understand, you can follow the link from that word to an explanation of that idea. I find this really convenient.

None of the explanations are very long. They are in nice, manageable chunks. The information is also trustworthy, as it comes from Georgia State University. In general, information that comes from university websites is accurate.

There is also a small side branch of HyperPhysics called HyperMath. It is not as complete of a resource as HyperPhysics is, but can still be useful.

Khan Academy

Topics: Math, Science, Economics, Computer Science, Humanities
Explanation Quality: Better
Medium: Video, Practice Problems
Type of Content: Teaching Material

Many of you have probably already heard of Khan Academy. It is a website offering short videos and practice problems in a variety of subjects. It was originally created to help the creator tutor his cousin over the internet. The videos feature someone (in many it is the founder Sal) giving a short (under 20 minute) explanation while writing it out on the video screen.

There are videos in economics, math, history, and the sciences. There are only practice problems in chemistry and math, but the difficulty ranges from telling time to calculus. I find the practice problems very helpful. The videos are good too. He attempts to explain each thing in several ways, and does examples in the videos. I have one minor problem with them: I often watch videos to review something from class or to compile all the bits I have learned from different sources. So parts of the video are new things/things I didn't understand, and parts I already know. I end up not wanting to watch the parts I already understand, but I don't want to skip forward in case he mentions something else new. But as I said, this isn't really a big problem.

If you make an account, watching videos and doing problems earns you points and achievements which is a fun additional motivator. They also show stats of how much you have been working on skills or watching videos. Personally, I love things that chart my progress.

If you are a parent/teacher/helpful older sibling, you can monitor your child/student/younger sibling's progress. I have my little sister's account registered as a child account under mine so I can make sure she is still doing work over the summer. When I see that she hasn't done her tasks for the day (she is supposed to learn one skill of her choosing every day to make sure she is doing something educational with her time) I can then react appropriately. But don't worry, you don't need a coach or mentor to use this site. It is good for anyone who wants to learn something.

Brilliant

Topics: Math, Physics, Computer Science
Explanation Quality: Good
Medium: Problems, Text
Type of Content: Recreational, Practice Problems

Brilliant.org is one of my favorite math websites. It offers a a new set of problems every week in a variety of topics. Before you start doing problems in a certain topic, you do a few problems to determine your level. The site then places  you appropriately and you can get started with this week's problem set. You level up if you consistently do well.

What I like about it is that the problems are interesting. You don't immediately know how to go about solving something. I always end up with a few problems I can't figure out. At the end of the week, you can view solutions to all the problems. You can also offer your own solutions and help out others who didn't get it.

While the main section of the site has olympiad type problems, there is also a practice section where you can choose to work on specific techniques. It is helpful for reviewing topics from school. It also actually explains methods of solving the problems, instead of just throwing you in there. I personally don't use that section as much, because I have more fun with the main problem sets. There are also smaller weekly problem sets in physics and computer science. I expect the sections to expand in the near future but for now the bulk of the site is math.

So head on over and have some fun!