Free Online Resources

With the Covid-19 pandemic bringing the pace of our lives to a crawl, many of us are now finding ourselves with more free time than we may know what to do with. Luckily there is a huge range of free online resources that can open a path into a new skill, language or field of knowledge. 

Whether it be building on that high school French class you took years ago or dusting off that old guitar, there are a multitude of ways that we can stay engaged, connected and still able to grow. 

Learn Something New

EdX offers online classes from universities such as Harvard, Stanford and MIT. You can take a course or even a full degree on a broad range of subjects. Offerings include architecture, engineering, science, mathematics, design, computer science, law, history and much more.

Khan Academy is an excellent resource for all ages. This non-profit organisation believes every child deserves the chance to learn. They offer lessons for children from kindergarten age all the way through to university level, so there are some great lessons for adult learners too. The content is fun and engaging and makes learning easy.

Duolingo is the perfect place to start if you want to learn a new language. There are over 30 to choose from! Learning with Duolingo is fun and addictive. Earn points for correct answers, race against the clock, and level up in this game style app.

Babbel is another great way to learn a language although this one is a paid service.

TedEd is a collection of educational videos about really interesting subjects from science and nature to history and psychology. If you want to learn some fun facts to impress your mates here would be a great place to start. They are also offering free educational videos for kids not attending school. Parents can sign up to get lesson plans and daily videos by email.

Every course on Coursera is taught by top instructors from world-class universities and companies, so you can learn something new anytime, anywhere. Hundreds of free courses give you access to video lectures, homework exercises, and community discussion forums.

Alison is one of the world’s largest free learning platforms for education and skills training. There are over 1000 high quality courses available, all absolutely free to complete. You can complete a short certificate in just 3 hours or take a more in depth diploma course.

Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of classes for creative and curious people, on topics including illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing, and more. There are free courses available or take advantage of 2 months free. It does require a credit card to remember to unsubscribe if you don’t want to be charged.

Your local library can provide access to online Ebook libraries and learning. If you are South Australian, the Libraries SA OneCard gives you access to Libby and Overdrive Ebooks and audiobooks as well as online courses through LinkedIn Learning. Sign up using a SA address or check with your local library.

Stay Fit & Healthy At Home

Nike Training – We may be stuck indoors, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be active. We can move, sweat, get stronger and thrive. It’s time to go all-in by working out with NTC live in your living room. Over the coming weeks, they’ll provide you with workouts, nutrition advice and expert help, so we can all come back from this stronger than ever. Join in with a community of living room athletes.

The Aura Mindfulness app provides meditations, stories, life coaching, and so much more.
If you are feeling stressed, anxious, or having trouble sleeping, simply tell Aura and find strength & rest.
Get Aura Premium for free for 3 months by using the code: “FINDPEACE2020” at aurahealth.io/redeem. No credit card is required.

The Down Dog Yoga app has been made completely free until May 1st. Anyone who wants to practice at home can do so on the web or with the app available for Apple and Android. You will have access to Down Dog Yoga, Yoga for Beginners, High Intensity Interval Training, a ballet inspired workout and the 7 Minute Workout program.

Centr – Free 6 week trial.
WORK OUT WITH WORLD-CLASS TRAINERS. Train at home with HIIT, boxing, yoga, strength training, MMA & more. Log your goal and set your workout intensity. There are classes available for all ability levels from beginner to advanced.

Get Creative

Affinity Creative Software
Free 90 Day Trial

To provide some support during this incredibly difficult time, Affinity are now offering a 90-day free trial of all the Mac and Windows versions of their whole creative suite.

Affinity Photo-Create the perfect images with the fastest, smoothest and most precise photo editor around.

Affinity Design-Bring your visions to life with the ultimate graphic design and illustration app.

Affinity Publisher-Experience next-level professional publishing with this groundbreaking creative software.

Spark AR is a free Augmented Reality software you can use to make your own filters for Facebook and Instagram Stories.
There are loads of free tutorials to help you learn on YouTube. This one is definitely a challenging but satisfying project for the tech-savvy. 

Get three free months of guitar, bass or ukelele lessons with Fender Play.
Learn with professional-quality video and learn by playing songs you love. You can practise anywhere, any time, on any device

There are over 300 How-to-Draw art videos on the Circle Line Art School YouTube Channel.
Learn techniques for drawing perspective, buildings, landscapes, optical illusions, portraits and objects.

If you are a current user of any of the Adobe Creative Software you can snag 2 free months using your existing plan by following these steps.

Just For Fun

Even if the sun is shining and the flowers have already started to bloom where you live, health and safety are on everybody’s mind right now. Closing the shades and playing video games can be one of the good ways to relax and pass the time when you stay at home. GOG are here to help you choose your next great adventure with this selection of free games from our catalog.

The Board Game Arena (BGA) is an online board games platform with 175 different games. With BGA, you can play online, either in real-time or turn-based, against players from around the whole world. In order to play, the only thing you need is your browser!

Learn To Code

Codecademy is the perfect place to start you coding journey. Learn to build a website with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, focus on programming or dive into data science. Whether you are looking for a career change or just a side project, knowledge of coding is a valuable skill to have.

W3Schools is a expansive knowledge bank of web development tutorial references covering languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, Python & much more. W3Schools has focus on simplicity and straight-forward learning.

FreeCodeCamp has 2000 hours of lessons to help you learn to code for free.
You can learn to code by completing interactive lessons, coding challenges and building projects. There is an active community you can connect with on the forum and there are also thousands of freeCodeCamp study groups around the world.

Unity Learn– Unity is a platform, also called a game engine, lets anyone create powerful video games or other real-time 2D or 3D applications.
During the COVID-19 crisis, they’re committed to supporting the community with complimentary access to Unity Learn Premium for three months (March 19 through June 20). Get exclusive access to Unity experts, live interactive sessions, on-demand learning resources, and more.

Great For Kids

Canon Creative Park – Free Papercraft. Download printable PDF patterns and instructions to create 3D animals, flowers, buildings and vehicles from paper. If you have a printer at home this is a great activity for kid

Audible have made their collection of audio books for children available for free for as long as schools are closed. Right now, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning, and just being kids.

Good Luck
& Stay Safe

Don’t be one of those people who spends their whole time in isolation on Netflix when there are so many options to learn & create. Post in the comments if you use any of these resources or have any other suggestions.