Freely Educate

Order Free Loan Materials from the National Gallery of Art (plus a lot more!)

 
The National Gallery of Art has art to view.  Duh, you guessed that, right?  But they offer much, more more than just a gallery of art to view.  The NGA online site also offers:

A Lending Library.  You choose the items (DVDs, slides, teacher packets) and the National Gallery of Art will loan them out to you, free, for a certain length of time, like a library would.  They'll ship the items right to your door!  Your only cost is the return postage (this is open to all teachers, including homeschooling teachers).

Interactive lessons which include lesson plans and printables for several subjects  (you will find these lessons listed at the top of the home page, and more if you scroll down to "super-learner interactives")

My favorite section of the site for teaching is the search feature, which allows the educator to search through the National Gallery of Art's vast collection by curriculum, topic, or artist. This is also accessed on the home page. 

And, finally, set the kids loose at NGA for Kids, a kid-friendly site with more art-related features, games and interactive fun than I could tell you about in this little paragraph.  It's so big that I should highlight the NGA for Kids site on its own someday. 

Free College Courses!

Carnegie Mellon University's Open Learning Initiative (OLI) is for the adult who wants to learn, for the college student who wants to take an online course, and for the instructor who wants to teach from a ready-made curriculum. 

For Students:  OLI's Open & Free courses are just that -- open and free.  They are open to anyone around the world who wants access to learning and they are 100% free.  Any catch?  You won't receive credit or a diploma from Carnegie Mellon, but you may arrange that with your local school*.  The current  Open & Free courses available at OLI are:

For Teachers: Go to the "Teach an Academic Course using OLI" page for more information on how to set up the courses for students.  NOTE:  The instructor account is free.  The students that you add under an instructor account are free for some courses, but a few courses charge $15-25 maintenance fee per student.  OLI suggests that you contact them if the amount of money suggested will prevent a student from taking the course.  All of the fees (free included) are listed in a blue sidebar box on the instructor's information page. 

What's the difference between an Open & Free Course or an Instructor Account?  This:

*Will I receive credit? Students will not receive credit from Carnegie Mellon for courses taken; however, students may convince a school to offer credit or diplomas for the courses taken at OLI.  See the FAQ page for more information on how to get credit for the courses. Many schools are already accepting OLI courses, so check with yours.

Here is another link to the Open Learning Initiative homepage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Free Resources for Teachers, Including Standards-Correlated Lessons for K-12

The quality of free educational finds seems to be improving each year.  Today's freebie is definitely one of those high quality resources. 

SMART Exchange offers free downloadable lessons* and lesson plans for teachers (including homeschoolers).  There is a teacher forum on the site, where you can bounce ideas off other teachers.  You may upload content you'd like to share. And, best of all, there is a search feature built into the site where you can find lessons specific to your state's standards and specific to the grade(s) you are teaching.

The free resources are available in a dozen or so subjects, ranging from Citizenship to Math, and from English as a Second Language to Special Education.  Here is a screenshot of the most downloaded subjects (as of March 18, 2010):

03/20/10 Update:  A FreelyEducate.com reader asked how to view the files.  Mark @ SmartTech replied, "If you don't have Notebook software installed, you can use a free web-based viewer at http://express.smarttech.com to open and edit them."~ Thanks, Mark!

Are you from a non-US country?  If so, click on the small flag in the top right corner of the SMART Exchange site to view the site in another language.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Thank you, Katherine, for sharing this high quality, 100% free educational find with us! Want to share one, too?  Just email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com. ~ Lori

For Preschool through 6th Grade: Free Curriculum in All Subjects

Today we have another one of those vast sites that offer something in many subject areas.  The Learning Site is primarily for preschool through about 6th grade.  You're going to have to visit it yourself to see all there is to offer you!

Here are a few screenshots of random pages within The Learning Site:

At least one area of the site (math) requires registration, including adding the author's name of a Harcourt textbook as a password.  Other than that area, and perhaps another that I haven't yet noticed, the site can be freely used, even without registration.

~~~~

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this high quality, 100% free educational find with us! Do you have a resource to share, too?  Email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com

Here are a few screenshots of random pages within The Learning Site:

At least one area of the site (math) requires registration, including adding the author's name of a Harcourt textbook as a password.  Other than that area, and perhaps another that I haven't yet noticed, the site can be freely used, even without registration.

~~~~

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this high quality, 100% free educational find with us! Do you have a resource to share, too?  Email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com

A Free Language Learning Program Similar to Rosetta Stone

The New York Times describes LiveMocha as "Learning from a native speaker, without leaving home."

After joining Live Mocha (you must register for a user name/password, and you must be over 12 years old*) you choose a language you want to learn.  From there, you have several options:  you can work on ...

    ...lessons (the lessons are very similar to Rosetta Stone to me, but hundreds of $$ cheaper, since - of course - Live Mocha is free)

    ...practice by submitting a written or recorded response to certain phrases or questions.  Your work will then be critiqued by native speakers (other members of LiveMocha, who speak that language).   My (botched) first attempt at speaking Spanish was critiqued by 4 native Spanish speakers.  The feedback is invaluable, and I think the best part of LiveMocha.

    ...tutor others who are learning your native language.  I critiqued an audio from a native Mandarin speaker who is learning English, and I critiqued a written response from a native Spanish speaker.

Go to Livemocha and then come back here to let us know what you think!  Here is what one professor thought of it:

"Livemocha is the best online language program I have seen and used—vastly superior to Rosetta Stone in terms of cost and the variety of language functions it offers."

Dr. Steven J. Sacco, Language Professor, San Diego State University
PhD in Foreign Language Education

*since this is a "social" site, meaning, you can chat/exchange content with others around the world, you will want to monitor children on the site

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

The New York Times describes LiveMocha as "Learning from a native speaker, without leaving home."

After joining Live Mocha (you must register for a user name/password, and you must be over 12 years old*) you choose a language you want to learn.  From there, you have several options:  you can work on ...

    ...lessons (the lessons are very similar to Rosetta Stone to me, but hundreds of $$ cheaper, since - of course - Live Mocha is free)

    ...practice by submitting a written or recorded response to certain phrases or questions.  Your work will then be critiqued by native speakers (other members of LiveMocha, who speak that language).   My (botched) first attempt at speaking Spanish was critiqued by 4 native Spanish speakers.  The feedback is invaluable, and I think the best part of LiveMocha.

    ...tutor others who are learning your native language.  I critiqued an audio from a native Mandarin speaker who is learning English, and I critiqued a written response from a native Spanish speaker.

Go to Livemocha and then come back here to let us know what you think!  Here is what one professor thought of it:

"Livemocha is the best online language program I have seen and used—vastly superior to Rosetta Stone in terms of cost and the variety of language functions it offers."

Dr. Steven J. Sacco, Language Professor, San Diego State University
PhD in Foreign Language Education

*since this is a "social" site, meaning, you can chat/exchange content with others around the world, you will want to monitor children on the site

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

Languages: Free Audio & Video Courses

If you're looking for a free language course in French, Spanish, German, Greek, Portuguese, Italian, or Chinese, check out what the BBC has to offer:

I spent some time browsing BBC Languages site this afternoon (especially to be sure this isn't another UK-only site!), and found many teacher aides on the site, such as Beginner Courses and Foreign-Language TV.    

~~~~~~~~~~

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

The BBC Learning Zone: Educational Videos in Many Subjects (UK only?)

(Note: A reader pointed out that these videos seem to be only available to those watching from the UK (I guess they are looking at our IP addresses?).  I wasn't able to view one either ("not available in your area," the screen said), but haven't yet researched how to get around that.  So, for now, this one seems to be just for you in the UK!)

If you like to use videos in your school, you'll probably love frequenting the BBC Learning Zone.  The list of available videos is so long I couldn't possibly justify taking the time to list them, and the subjects?  That's a very long list, too.  Just go to the BBC Learning Zone site and you'll see what I mean:

 
 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate 

(Thank you, Alice, for sharing this high quality, 100% free educational find with us!)

The Learning Site: Free Lessons in Many Subject Areas for Preschool - Elementary

Today we have another one of those vast sites that offer something in many subject areas.  The Learning Site is primarily for preschool through about 6th grade.  You're going to have to visit it yourself to see all there is to offer you!

Here are a few screenshots of random pages within The Learning Site:

At least one area of the site (math) requires registration, including adding the author's name of a Harcourt textbook as a password.  Other than that area, and perhaps another, the site can be freely used, even without registration.

~~~~

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this high quality, 100% free educational find with us! Do you have a resource to share, too?  Email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com

Free Hebrew Grammar Lessons

Want your students to learn Hebrew and Hebrew grammar, but don't know how to teach it?  Below are links to Hebrew grammar lessons from the Hebrew for Christians website.  The Hebrew lessons include audio lessons for help with pronunciation. 

The curriculum also includes free downloads such as songs, flashcards, and more.

~~~~

Thank you, Abbey, for sharing this high quality, 100% free educational find with us! Want to share one, too?  Email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com.
Subscribe to FreelyEducate here
Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

Generation Cures: Give Back While Learning

Generation Cures from Children’s Hospital Boston is an award-winning free online community that offers educational digital content (games, videos, music, webisodes and creativity challenges) that immerses tweens in the world of math and science, as well as the power of social responsibility. 

The Generation Cures team is now introducing “In the Classroom” providing web-based supplemental curriculum materials for elementary and middle school teachers and students, Grades 4-7, based on Generation Cures content.

Building on the language arts, math and science curriculum currently found in middle and elementary school classrooms, this innovative program leverages the site’s content including Zebrafish, a web-based story about a fledgling high school band, the interactive learning game Caduceus, which transports students into a virtual world of science and alchemy, and Kid Vids short “behind-the-scenes” videos created by former patients and young philanthropists.

In the Classroom sample lessons plans, classroom activities and other resources are available on the site and support a variety of learning goals, including:

• Language Arts – Story, character, and plot development; vocabulary, creative writing
• Math – Logic, critical problem solving and spatial relations
• Science – Scientific inquiry, life cycles, biology terms
  

In the Classroom teacher resources include:

Web-based curriculum materials

Sample lesson plans

Online comics

School visits from Generation Cures creators to lead classroom lessons or school-wide assemblies

Class fundraising activities that are managed online so teachers do not have to collect money or process additional paperwork

In the Classroom officially launches on Friday, November 13 and you can check out the content here. 

For Massachusetts readers of FreelyEducate.com, Generation Cures is offering a free workshop to be held on Saturday, November 14 to introduce the new curriculum. Each participating teacher will receive a $75 gift card from Staples and a $75 gift card from Best Buy. For more information and to register for the event, email teachers@generationcures.org

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Connexions: A Free, Open-Education Site for All Grade Levels

Once again, I am awed by what others have taken the time to build and offer on the internet for educators for...free!  100%, no-string-attached free!  Connexions is one of those open-source (free) sites that amaze me.  Because the site is so vast and my (sleepy) mind too small to decipher it all tonight, I'll let an author at Connexions do the explaining:

"Connexions is a non-commercial, open-education resource for teachers and students. All materials are under a Creative Commons attribution license, and so may be freely downloaded, copied, shared, and altered. Because the content is submitted by many different educators, there is a very wide variety of subject matter and "grade level", from pre-school to university.

The Connexions commons can be searched from its home page (http://cnx.org). Or, people who are looking specifically for music education materials may find useful two modules that I have published there, "Music in Connexions: A User's Guide", and "Music in Connexions: A K-12 Teacher's Guide",  both of which explain how to use the site and how to find relevant material. Thank you for your attention and consideration."  ~ Catherine Schmidt-Jones

Thank you, Catherine,  for letting us know about Connexions!

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

Have a free educational resource to share? Want to be highlighted in a review and/or giveaway of your educational product?  Email me at loriseaborg@gmail.com

Language Learning at LiveMocha

I have had so much fun the past two days while reviewing LiveMocha, a language learning site, for you.

The New York Times describes the site as "Learning from a native speaker, without leaving home."

After joining Live Mocha (you must register for a user name/password, and you must be over 12 years old*) you choose a language you want to learn.  From there, you have several options:  you can work on ...

    ...lessons (the lessons are very similar to Rosetta Stone to me, but hundreds of $$ cheaper, since - of course - Live Mocha is free)

    ...practice by submitting a written or recorded response to certain phrases or questions.  Your work will then be critiqued by native speakers (other members of LiveMocha, who speak that language).   My (botched) first attempt at speaking Spanish was critiqued by 4 native Spanish speakers.  The feedback is invaluable, and I think the best part of LiveMocha.

    ...tutor others who are learning your native language.  I critiqued an audio from a native Mandarin speaker who is learning English, and I critiqued a written response from a native Spanish speaker.

Go to Livemocha and then come back here to let me know what you think!

*since this is a "social" site, meaning, you can chat/exchange content with others around the world, you will want to monitor your children on the site

Free Courses from M.I.T. (college level!)

I'm feeling guilty about being away from the computer for the past two days.  I have lots of really good excuses, but, well, instead of blabbering on about those, how about if I give you one of the best educational freebie finds out there? 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (the famous M.I.T.) offers over 1800 of their courses online, for free.  Through this program, you may read through the syllabus, course materials, lecture notes, assignments, exams, videos, and more, as if you are taking a course straight from MIT (you won't get college credit or a diploma; they are offering the knowledge only).

M.I.T. describes OpenCourseWare as:

MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.

MIT OpenCourseWare is a free publication of MIT course materials that reflects almost all the undergraduate and graduate subjects taught at MIT.

I hope you'll take the time to browse through the site and the course offerings (start at the list of  1800 courses or go to the list of the most visited courses to get started).  It is truly amazing that they have taken so much time and money to offer these courses for free. 

Learn from the Peace Corps

The Peace Corps has created a teacher-friendly site for learning from Peace Corps volunteers around the world.

The Peace Corps describes the site as, "Bring dozens of Peace Corps Volunteer stories, letters, and folk tales with standards-based lessons to your class. Also discover ways to involve students in service learning."

Offered on the site:

• Lesson Plans by subject area, region and grade level:

            -- for grades 3-5

            -- for grades 6-8

            -- for grades 9-12

• Enrichment Projects (including an interactive game in which children work as Peace Corp volunteers in a fictional village)
• Service Learning           
• Language Learning (how about learning some Bambara in Mali?)

There is quite a bit more, so be sure to go to the main Educators page at the Peace Corp site as well as the areas above.