“No Regrets” Education

According to Kathryn Schulz, author of Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, the top regret experienced by most people in their lives is their education (followed by issues related to their careers, romance, and parenting). However, just because you regret your choice of education, that doesn’t mean that you’re stuck for the rest of your life, even if you can’t afford to go to college due to time or money considerations.  You can always learn. 

The public library has always been a place that people turn to when they are seeking information. We have the resources that allow people to teach themselves what they need to know to fulfill their intellectual curiosity and improve their lives.

Here, at the library, we can help you once you make the decision to use your regret to fuel your desire to obtain more knowledge.

The Edupunks' Guide: How to Write a Personal Learning Plan teaches you how to write a personal learning plan, how to teach yourself online, how to build your personal learning network, 7 ways to get college credit without taking a college course, etc. Free eBook download.

Open Culture: 400 Free Online Courses from Top Universities is a listing of free online audio and video courses from different sources broken down into broad subject areas.

The OpenCourseWare Consortium provides resources and information on Open Courseware

YouTube EDU brings learners and educators together in a global video classroom.

TED Talks shares the best ideas from the TED Conference with the world, for free. More than 900 TED Talks are now available.

The Floating University students can receive Ivy League instruction at community college prices and choose from an online menu of courses taught by famous professors.

Ironically (or appropriately), the best way to learn about computers is on the computer.  Learn beginner programming, word processing, spreadsheets, and more at Home and Learn, GCF Learn Free, Free Computer Tutorials, and more advanced topics at TechTutorials.

Free with your library card:

LearningExpressLibrary - A comprehensive, interactive online learning platform of practice tests and tutorial course series.

Foreign Language Study Audio Books - Downloadable audio books: beginners to advance.

E-Books: Business and Career -Instant access. Large selection. All formats available for PC, Mac, eBook readers and other mobile devices.

Education is great—but it’s not a replacement for genuine, life-long interest in a field.  There’s another word for life-long interest in learning something:  dedication.  And no matter how you discover the things you’re dedicated to, that’s not something to regret.