Lifelong Learning Online Opportunities for Seniors

For many of us, learning is lifelong, and numerous online education opportunities make it easier to access from the comfort of our homes.

Pick a topic, let’s say birding. Well, you’ll have to be more specific. Do you want Birding 101, or do you want to learn about hawks or songbirds, or bird colors and songs? The Cornell Lab Bird Academy offers several courses on a wide range of birding topics for both novices and veterans.

Or music. Do you want to hone your skills as a guitar player (blues or acoustic?) or become a better vocalist (jazz, pop or R&B?). Berklee Online, the child of Berklee College of Music, offers 4-week and 12-week non-credit courses taught by Berklee faculty and industry experts.

Many of us have been taking online courses for years, but it seems that colleges especially have expanded their offerings over the last few years.

Online courses are offered by hundreds of colleges worldwide — for credit, not for credit, or just for fun. There are thousands of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that are always free, and some online providers are offering additional free courses.

Now could be the perfect time to enroll in a free online course. MOOCs are great for learning specific skills, but some of the most popular online courses aim to be more mind-opening.

Explore Free College Courses

One of the many perks associated with aging is the ability to audit classes for free at many U.S. colleges and universities. Classes are often available online and can be accessed free of charge. 

Five of the best free online courses, according to BestColleges! are:

1. Marketing in a Digital World, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;
2. Data Science, John Hopkins University;
3. Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphones to DSLR, Michigan State University;
4. Modern & Contemporary Poetry (ModPo), University of Pennsylvania;
5. What is a Mind? University of Cape Town

Coursera has added content to its free course offerings. For instance, free mental health and wellness courses includes “Psychological First Aid” from John Hopkins University and “Healing with the Arts” from University of Florida. 

Coursera is also a good source for online courses offered by more than 300 universities and companies across the world, including Stanford University, Yale University, Case Western Reserve University and the American Museum of Natural History. (Most courses are free to audit.)

Other sites for college and industry-taught courses are Udacity and edX.

Lifelong Learning Programs

For years lifelong learning programs have been offering low-cost courses for older adults at colleges, continuing care retirement communities like Kendal at Oberlin and other sites. Now, though, courses are virtual, which means you can check out centers near and far.

Lorain County Community College’s Center for LifeLong Learning offers several virtual and in-person classes for adults 50 and older. Visit their website to learn about the current offerings.

For seniors interested in travel but are unable to visit places of interest physically, RoadScholar has put together lists of virtual travel tours, online lectures, classes and museum tours. 

The Kendal Corporation is also compiling lists of educational, cultural and other virtual resources, blogs, and programs on its Life Enrichment and Engagement page.