If you can’t leave your house or apartment because of coronavirus, you could spend your time binge watching series. Or you could learn a foreign language, coding or how to grow you own food. We’ll show you which free online courses are available.
The CDC advises US citizens to stay home and practice social distancing due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
But how do you make the most of your time at home? Binge watching Netflix for weeks on end is, of course, an option, but even that gets boring after a while. Wouldn’t it make more sense to use your time wisely – for instance by continuing your education?
Thanks to the internet, learning from the comfort of your own home is simple – and often free. For example, you can improve your French, learn yoga or inform yourself about climate change without charge. Here are five free options to make the most of your time at home:
1. Online Continuing Education Courses
Do you want to get ahead in your job or change your career? Then visit a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). These continuing education programs are often offered by universities, but there are no access restrictions. Most of the time you can watch lectures in video format and take exams for free, certificates are available for a small fee. We have complied a list of MOOCs which offer a wide range of free courses:
- EdX: The platform was founded by the renowned colleges Harvard and MIT.
- Coursera: This site offers courses from a wide range of fields, for example economics, health and social sciences.
- Codecademy: Here you can learn different programming languages for free.
2. Get Informed About Sustainability
You can find all kinds of MOOCs on sustainability on the internet. Here’s a comprehensive list of courses on sustainable development on My Mooc. Why not delve into the topic of growing organic food, for example, or a six-week seminar on the risks and challenges of climate change?
Not sure where to start? Check out our article on sustainability for beginners:
If you don’t feel like taking a course, you can also listen to podcasts on the topic to learn more online:
- Zero Waste: Practical(ly) Zero Waste
- Sustainable living: Sustainable: The Podcast
- Environment and consumers: A Sustainable Mind – environment & sustainability podcast
Or you can listen to a Ted Talk. They are 18 minutes long at most, so you can play them while cooking, walking or lazing about. Some of the talks worth listening to on sustainability are:
- Greta Thunberg: School strike for climate
- Bea Johnson: Two adults, two children, zero waste
- Maxine Bédat: The High Cost of Our Cheap Fashion
3. Learn a Foreign Language Online
How about using all of your free time for learning a new language? That is fun, looks good on your resume and will be useful on your next vacation trip. There are numerous apps that allow you to train or learn foreign languages from the comfort of your home.
One of the best known is “Duolingo”. The app offers courses in 36 foreign languages, including High Valyrian, Scottish Gaelic and Klingon. Not all parts of the app are free, but the free version is enough to build up your vocabulary and use most of the exercises.
4. Piano, Origami, Yoga: Improve Your Skills or Learn New Ones
Have you always wanted to learn how to fold origami? Are your piano playing skills collecting dust, like the keyboard you have lying in the corner? Would you like to try yoga? Then use the next few weeks at home to brush up on your skills, or learn new ones. It is guaranteed to keep you busy and keep restlessness at bay.
There are numerous instructions and courses on the internet which are free and accessible to all, for example on YouTube. Here are a few ideas:
5. Acquire and Apply Practical Knowledge
We all have a list of things to do in and around the house or apartment. Maybe you need to clean up your room? Or clean your fridge? How about making your own soap or no poo shampoo instead of going out to buy some?
In daily life, there is usually not enough time to do things yourself. But now you have plenty of time – so instead of buying new items, try to repair broken ones, upcycle and repurpose old ones or make things yourself. Get inspired on Utopia.org:
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