For many people across the world, education begins and ends when they’re still a child. School may begin and end at different times, but once they leave compulsory schooling, they head out into the world of work to start earning a wage. Yet we’re always learning from the world around us – from our jobs, the television shows we watch, the podcasts we listen to, and the courses we take. Sustaining life-long education can help you stay curious and creative, while also giving you the skills you need to make the most of your career. Here’s how you can keep yourself educated throughout your life.
Books
They say that the video is slowly replacing the written word as the most important source of information in our world. That may be true, but books also contain a great wealth of information on every topic under the sun and take you away from the distractions of the internet and social media to a place of quiet solitude in which learning is better facilitated.
If you become interested in a topic, it’s well worth heading to your local bookstore to ask whether there are any books on that subject in stock. You can also check online to see the highest-rated books in that category, which you can purchase online and have delivered to your door.
Online Courses
You can take any number of courses online. Some are free and will take a mere few hours to complete. Others are full-throttle adventures into a new subject that can take years to complete. Some will offer you a certificate on completion of the course, while others will offer you a qualification that could significantly boost your career prospects and your chance of finding the best job to suit your skills and passions.
If you’re interested in taking a course in business, for instance, you’ll find no GMAT MBA programs online that will cater towards your own schedule and could lead you to a fulfilling life in private business. You can also find your calling through online courses in everything from literature to logistics – so these are fantastic resources to further your education.
Night Classes
While online learning is certainly an exciting prospect for those who cannot take time off to learn in person, those who have their evenings free from work may well prefer to go to night classes. These typically involve learning a new language alongside other people who are interested in picking up the same skills as you. As such, this is a great way to make friends and further your life-long education.
Night classes tend to be a little more expensive than online courses, seeing as there are rental fees for the room used. Still, they’re a brilliant way to sit yourself down for a short lesson once or twice a week, setting aside an evening that you might otherwise spend slouched on the couch or relaxing with loved ones to work on your education.
Podcasts
The rise of podcasts has been truly astronomical over the past ten years. Now, most of the population has a podcast app and a few podcast regulars that they tune into every week. Some podcasts are purely entertaining, but others are educational – created in order to inform you about world events or to teach you something about the world.
It’s these educational podcasts that can be a huge help to those who are pushed for time. You can pick them up on the daily commute or when you’re taking your lunch break from work. It’s a relatively passive way to onboard new information that you can put to work in your job or in your day-to-day life. Read up on the best educational podcasts to start this strand of your educational journey today.
Mentors
Senior people, be they relatives, colleagues, or teachers, are excellent sources of knowledge that you might not be able to source elsewhere. Front here experience alone, they’re great fountains of know-how and expertise that you can dip into whenever you’d like. People are often happy to share their knowledge with others, either in a workplace setting or across generations of a family.
Just as fathers teach sons to shave, there are thousands of skills that are passed down from generation to generation. Meanwhile, senior colleagues will be more than happy to pass their expertise on to you if you approach them asking for some training, mentoring, or feedback. So, make use of this social, nourishing form of life-long education in order to enjoy being taught by someone close to you.
YouTube
While it’s certainly a source of a huge amount of entertainment – from cat videos to sports highlights to music videos – YouTube also hosts plenty of educational content. All of it’s free, which is fantastic news for those who wish to further their education without paying out for the privilege. You’ll find lectures from some of the world’s most admired scholars on YouTube, as well as practical tutorials from mechanics, builders, makers, and crafters.
You’ll also find series – the kinds of videos that you can watch throughout the course of an entire month in order to learn a new skill, language, or field of information. So next time you fire up YouTube, be aware that there’s a gigantic library of educational material at your fingertips, should you choose to access it.
Curiosity
Maintaining your curiosity is vital for lifelong learning. The educational resources and opportunities listed above will only become interesting to you if you are interested in how things work, in learning about new things, or in learning how to perform a certain skill.
Your curiosity is something you need to actively invest in. You need to go to libraries, museums, and galleries in order to expose yourself to new and exciting parts of the world that might otherwise remain hidden to you. Most of all, you need to cherish your thirst for knowledge, as this will ensure you’re set up for life-long learning.
Make a note of these educational opportunities so that next time you’re looking to quench your thirst for knowledge, you’ll have several avenues to go down and explore.