Ever since the MIT launched its Open Courseware program, free online education has been the buzz word throughout the world. Stanford University, Harvard, Berkeley, every top university started following the trend. There are now hundreds of universities that offer open courseware for those who value knowledge and distance learning. These free online courses usually comprise of lecture notes, videos, handouts, quizzes, assignments and interaction with virtual classmates and sometimes the supervisor, too. The popular Khan Academy had also started its interactive lessons where viewers would get involved in the lecture pertaining to a specific topic while three important aspects were effectively addressed. To ensure that the attention of the viewer was focused on the video lecture, quizzes were then embedded on to the lecture and the video would not proceed till the viewer answered the question right. This revealed tremendous outcomes and promoted the cause of online education since this side of the industry saw more class participation than ever before. The other aspect was the language barrier, Khan Academy translated and made available its lessons in tens of languages across the globe so as to attract the most diverse audience possible. The third and most critical factor remained the price point as large educational institutes began expecting ROI and recently the online education sector experienced some hiccups. This post will shed some light on the Top 5 Free Online Virtual Education Portals out there that would enable you to avail free courses on varied subjects and earn certifications at the end of the day.

The Top 5 list was compiled keeping in mind some aspects which we would mention before hand to set the context. The overall feel, quantity and quality of content, the drive-to-action, level of recognition and contribution from prestigious universities and the virtual classroom experience was kept in focus, in determining the list. Visit the corresponding links to explore each entry further. Coursera leads the online education portals list due to the number of courses offered, their frequency and quality of delivery. This startup has already gathered over 20 million dollars through venture capitalists with the service offering over 200 courses from 33 international schools with a student base of over 2 million (for reference, click here). It has also started to provide for-credit courses at nominal prices which would benefit all those engaged in distance learning.

1. Coursera

1Coursera

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2. edX

2edX

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3. Udacity

3Udacity

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4. Canvas Network

4Canvas Network

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5. Khan Academy

5Khan Academy

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