The United Nations recently announced the launch of the world’s first tuition-free online university. Named the University of the People, the school will open up access to higher education for many individuals around the world.
The UN explains:
For hundreds of millions of people around the world higher education is no more than a dream, Shai Reshef, the founder of the University of the People, told reporters. They are constrained by finances, the lack of institutions in their region, or they are not able to leave home to study at a university for personal reasons.
Mr. Reshef said that this University opened the [...]

USA Today reports that due to shrinking job opportunities, a growing number of teens are starting their own business. The young entrepreneurs interviewed for the article say that they are learning far more about business (and often making more money) by going out on their own than they would have by taking on a traditional job.
Bo Fishback, vice president of entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, explains the value of getting an early start in business:
Of course, selling can be tough work, Fishback says. But it teaches lessons. “If you get rejected 50 times as a 13-year-old, you get [...]

“Together we know everything” is a tag line of Moontoast, a new online video education service. This online marketplace of human knowledge is similar to The School of Everything in that it brings together teachers and people looking to learn a new skill.  Moontoast uses face to face live video chatting as its communication medium, so the learning experience can be more intimate and interactive. To get started teaching it’s as simple as making a profile and setting your rate. And although it’s fairly new there are a lot of interesting subjects already being offered on the site including: guitar [...]

Union Square Ventures recently held a session on Hacking Education. The goal of the gathering was to discuss the impact of the web on education, and how to innovate current educational systems. Jeff Jarvis was there, and offers up the entire “Google U” chapter from his What Would Google Do? book, which explores education in the age of Google. For more on the Hacking Education, check out the site, or follow the conversation on Twitter.
Jarvis begins:
Who needs a university when we have Google? All the world’s digital knowledge is available at a search. We can connect those who want to [...]

Richard Buckland is a computer science lecturer at the University of NSW who has pioneered the use of YouTube videos as learning aids at Australian universities. Seeing a need for more challenging computing classes in high schools, Buckland is now offering a class for high school students based almost entirely on the recordings of his first-year computing lectures.
High school students who want to learn more about computing and mathematics can take this advanced, first-year university level class for free. While studying the video lectures at home, participants will only have to come to the university one night a week for [...]

Seth Godin is running an alternative MBA program that has, at its heart, a new vision of learning about being a businessperson. Nine participants are currently learning about entrepreneurship, freelancing and marketing in a practical, real world apprenticeship with Godin rather than going the traditional business school route.
You can follow the group at the excellent SAMBA (Six Month MBA) blog, where they’ve recently come up with 999 new business ideas. The list is a testament to creative thinking that can act as a great catalyst for developing your own brilliant new ideas.
The first 20 to get your brain moving:
1. Prepackaged [...]

We’ve written a lot lately on the idea of alternative and open source education. Independent schools and learning centers are frequently being created to serve life-long learners and those who may not be able to afford the rising costs of higher education. And of course, there’s the ever widening pool of educational resources available online. Besides the sea of disparate knowledge comprising the web, there are also numerous instances of more formal offerings of educational materials, such as MIT’s open courseware.
Author John Robb, who has done extensive studies on networks, communities and international relations foresees this critical mass of freely [...]

The Temporary School of thought is reminiscent of a rave or outlaw party – only it’s dedicated to learning rather than dancing all night to techno. Like some kind of festival of underground schooling, Temporary School is being run all this week by a group of squatters in the prestigious Mayfair area of London. Classes take place in a beautiful townhouse and range from “infrastructure for anarchists” to book binding, laughter workshops, bicycle maintenance and gardening. Everything is free, the event is dedicated to the admirable ideals of mutual learning and skill sharing rather than making money. This is another [...]