The Internet has opened up such an amazing wealth of knowledge to us that perviously we either just didn’t have access to or it was far to expensive to really enjoy. Today you can learn everything from how to paint or ballroom dance at home to playing guitar, piano or drums. It’s quite amazing when you really stop to think about it.
I am talking about this first hand as well. If you read my previous post on my stubborn guitar path and learning to play at home on my own then you have already heard me talk about guitar lessons online before. I’m a huge fan of teaching yourself new things and I cannot say enough good things about what I learned by enrolling at JamPlay an online guitar lesson site.
This experience has prompted me to think and explore the other things that you can learn online, and where you can get the knowledge and instruction from to learn them. What I’ve realized is that if there is something you could potentially take a private class on then chances are there is formal instruction, free videos by amateurs and even paid courses available on the Internet net.
Here’s my process when I’m looking to learn something new.
1 – Always Start with YouTube
If it’s something instructional I want to learn I always start with YouTube. It’s amazing, but quite literally YouTube is becoming a search engine all of its own. If I want to learn a new guitar riff I search it in youtube. If I am looking for how to say a word in a language I don’t know I search it in YouTube. If I want to learn something about how to build something around the house I search it in YouTube. It’s my first stop and I’d suggest you make it yours as well since the amount of content on there is amazing.
2 – Use Google
Next I’ll search google and depending on what I’m looking for I’ll look for pages on websites such as eHow, Expert Village or even Yahoo Answers. Each of these websites is an excellent source of quick answers and knowledge. If it’s something more in-depth then a single answer I’m looking to learn then I’ll generally look for a course, ebook or DVD that will teach it to me.
3 – Wikipedia
If it’s knowledge you’re after then Wikipedia is rarely wrong. I always search out facts on Wikipedia and love finding the stuff that I do. It’s amazing that such a great resource is free to us. I think back to when I was a kid and my parents bought a set of encyclopedias. I can only guess what it probably cost them.