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The Self-Directed Student Toolbox: 100 Web Resources for Lifelong Learners

Published on Tuesday 18th of September, 2007

According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), at least a quarter of the adult population fails to reach the minimum literacy levels needed to cope adequately with the demands of everyday life and work, let alone structural economic and social change. This information was gathered from a survey conducted in 12 OECD countries, which include the U.S., the U.K., and Australia. On the other hand, many adults are turning away from the television and turning on to lifelong learning through traditional classes, online schools, and travel.

Lifelong learning means that individuals can have access to and are willing to participate in ongoing, not recurrent, education. This "learning to learn" philosophy can begin with toddlers and it can extend throughout a person's life with branches that can extend into various experiences and careers. Since lifelong learning has become a prerogative for many organizations, it would be impossible to list them all here. Instead, we've chosen the best resources for adult learners in ten categories to develop a self-directed toolbox that can lead you, the lifelong learner, to other resources that you may need to meet personal goals.

Adult Education Guides | Audio and Video | Blogs | Career | Disabilities | Distance Education | Finances | Resources | School Skills | Travel

Adult Education Guides

The sites listed below will help you to prepare for lifelong learning practices, from attitudes about learning to information you'll need to gain credit for life experiences.

  1. About.com Adult Continuing Education: Kimeiko Hotta Dover, a college professor and the mother of three, brings topics about adult education to readers.
  2. Adult Student: This companion to The Adult Student's Guide to Survival and Success, 5th Edition, by Al Siebert and Mary Karr, provides tons of links for the adult student who attends college or who is thinking about returning to school.
  3. Adult Student Center: Resources for inspiration and information on returning to and succeeding in college at any age. Explore your options and learn how to develop good study habits and make career transitions.
  4. Back to College: Browse through articles on returning to school and frequently asked questions in the admissions area. Locate online courses or traditional or online degree programs, find out how to get credit for life experience, or get help deciding on a major.
  5. CETE: The Center on Education and Training for Employment draws upon the resources provided by The Ohio State University and its College of Education to enhance the workforce development system and to help all individuals gain the skills they need for work that is valued.
  6. CLEP: The College-Level Examination Program® or CLEP provides students of any age with the opportunity to demonstrate college-level achievement through a program of exams in undergraduate college courses. There are 2,900 colleges that grant credit and/or advanced standing for CLEP exams.
  7. College Planning: This guide, along with a checklist for motivations, is for adults who plan to return to college. The guide is a new extension to the College Planning Web site.
  8. National College Transition Network: The ABE-to-College Transition Project goal is aimed at GED graduates, Adult Diploma graduates, and adults who have been out of school for some time. The program of study is free and consists of instruction in pre-college reading, writing, and math skills as well as computer and Internet skills.
  9. Students.gov: Students.gov is an official U.S. government web site designed to provide you with easy access to information and resources from the U.S. government – all the info you need, in one place, from all parts of the government, no matter your age.
  10. Study Guides and Strategies: The Study Guides and Strategies web site is authored, developed and maintained by Joe Landsberger as a learner-centric educational public service. These student guides are collaboratively maintained across institutional and national boundaries. You'll be prepared to learn through lifelong, distance, and/or online education through the topics covered on this site.

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Audio and Video

Audio and video resources that provide information. inspiration, and fodder for lifelong learning.

  1. 236 Open Courseware Collections, Podcasts, and Videos: Our listing of open courseware includes dozens of audio and video courses that are free to access. You can also learn how to create a video resume from our site.
  2. CET Connect: Cincinnati Public Media offers videos from various programs in their lifelong learning category.
  3. iLearn Radio: How many times have you listened to the TV or radio or even podcasts and MP3's in the background while you did other things and then heard something you just HAD to write down? Find more of those notable listening experiences at this Web site.
  4. Learning Works: This site is an Australian lifelong learning radio initiative with online audio resources.
  5. Media Rights: MediaRights.org is an innovative non-profit, based in New York, but accessible around the world via their website that helps to showcase important social issue documentaries and puts media makers, educators, librarians, nonprofits, and activists in contact with each other to enable the use of documentaries to generate discussion and encourage action on contemporary social issues.
  6. NACADA Audio Downloads: The National Academic Advising Association provides audio files that center on academic advising.
  7. PodCityGuides: Pick your local city or a city you plan to visit. You can download as many CityGuides as you want for free.
  8. Talking Books: Free downloads are available from this retailer. If you have an iPod you will first need to burn the audio book to CD and then transfer it into iTunes.
  9. The Spoken Alexandria Project: The Spoken Alexandria Project is creating a free Creative Commons library of spoken word recordings, consisting of classics in the public domain and modern works (with permission). AAC, Ogg Vorbis, and MP3 audiobooks available for free download and redistribution.
  10. YouTube: This link will take you to the "lifelong learning" category in YouTube, where you'll learn more about the lifelong learning process from numerous sources.

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Blogs

The following blogs contain various perspectives on lifelong learning from teachers to students.

  1. Center for Teaching & Learning: A Weblog of thoughts from the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia. Be sure to check out their links as well for some interesting reading.
  2. e-learning and distance learning blog: Ideas, resources, and links about e-learning and distance learning based on the blog writers' (male and female) "unofficial vantage point at Texas Woman's University."
  3. E-Learning Queen: The E-Learning Queen explores all manner of online and distributed training and education, from instructional design to the construction and implementation of entire e-learning solutions for individuals from K-12 to military to corporate and nonprofit organizations.
  4. Emerge: For anyone interested in producing and using audio and video as lifelong learning tools. This blog is supported by JSIC, an organization that manages research and development programs in the use of ICT in teaching, learning and research to build knowledge; develop services, infrastructure or applications; and provide guidance and leadership.
  5. Experiencing E-Learning: Mainly geared toward instructors, this blog offers advice and tools for any individual who is interested in lifelong learning.
  6. Information Literacy Weblog: News and reports about information literacy around the world. Sheila Webber, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, UK, and Stuart Boon, write this blog.
  7. Learning Blog: A "subjective collection of what matters in learning." A man who has involved various aspects of technologically enhanced learning for more than 10 years writes this blog.
  8. Lifelong Learning: The Third Degree: Georgia Harper, an adult college student, blogs about her return to school, or "How synergies between and among classes, work, readings, conversations and interactions make life as a returning student a dream state."
  9. Rapid eLearning News: This blog centers on workplace learning, and it's written by Ted Cocheu, CEO of Altus Learning Systems and Board of Directors of eLearning Forum.
  10. The Bamboo Project Blog: This blog began as a resource for nonprofits and government organizations to operate more effectively and efficiently. While this is still a focus, Michele Martin also writes about new technologies to learn and work more productively, how to run organizations more effectively in a new economy, and how to take charge of your own professional development through personal learning and effective career management skills. Martin is a consultant to government agencies and nonprofits on issues related to workforce development, career planning and education and training.

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Career

Are you reaching the end of your rope with your current job? Do you want to change your career path? Are you retiring? The following sites will help you search for new jobs, but many of these sites will also help you to assess your career goals no matter your age.

  1. CareerBuilder: The more you use CareerBuilder, the better your job matches become as CareerBuilder uses technology that scans your resume, searches, and application details to find more jobs that fit your goals. If you don't have a focus on a career, you can take their career test, which measures your skills, abilities, values, and interests and directs you to open jobs that fit you.
  2. CareerOneStop: CareerOneStop is a U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored Web site that offers career resources and workforce information to job seekers, students, businesses, and workforce professionals.
  3. Employment Guide: This site focuses on hourly, skilled, full-time and part-time jobs, including work-at-home opportunities and freelance opportunities.
  4. Guru: Guru is an online marketplace for freelance talent, where employers find top freelance and contract talent locally, nationally, or globally.
  5. Job Hunt: Find a job, learn how to construct an online resume, and read articles from leading business magazines about careers.
  6. JobHuntersBible: This site is designed as a supplement to Dick Bolles' book, the 2007 edition of What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers, published by and available from Ten Speed Press. You'll learn all the basics provided by Bolles' book at this site, as he guides you through how to use the Internet for job searches, how to utilize your network for help, and more.
  7. Life After Work: CNN and Ameriprise Financial bring stories, videos, and more to the viewer who wants inspiration for retirement (or non-retirement).
  8. Monster: Post a resume, search for jobs, get career advice, and learn about job fairs. Monster is a comprehensive resource for any job or career seeker.
  9. National Commission for Cooperative Education: Cooperative education is a structured educational strategy integrating classroom studies with learning through productive work experiences in a field related to a student's academic or career goals. The NCCE is dedicated to advancing cooperative education throughout the United States.
  10. Occupational Handbook: The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics brings hundreds of different types of jobs to you, including the training needed for each job, the average earnings potential for that job, and expected prospects and working conditions related to that job.

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Disabilities

The following sites provide information and further resources about accessibility and learning disability issues.

  1. AHEAD: the Association on Higher Education and Disability is a professional association committed to full participation of persons with disabilities in postsecondary education. While they do not serve parents and students with disabilities directly, they can point you in the direction of some possible resources that might assist you in pursuing your educational goals.
  2. America's Literacy Directory: ALD is a national database of literacy programs available via the Internet and the National Institute for Literacy's toll-free number. Search for help with reading, writing, math, English as a second language, and GED help by state. They also supply a special directory by state for learning disability help.
  3. Attention Deficit Disorder Association: ADDA provides information, resources and networking to adults with AD/HD and to the professionals who work with them.
  4. DisabilityInfo.gov: DisabilityInfo.gov is the federal government's one-stop Web site for people with disabilities, their families, employers, veterans and service members, workforce professionals and many others. Their Education section includes many resources for individuals with disabilities.
  5. Learning Disabilities Association of America: LDA is the largest non-profit volunteer organization advocating for individuals with learning disabilities and has over 200 state and local affiliates in 42 states and Puerto Rico. They provide online information specifically geared toward adults, including civil rights, workplace issues, post-secondary education possibilities and more.
  6. Literacy and Learning Disabilities: Although this site has ceased to operate, their archives are filled with tools and links that will help any person learn more about adult learning problems and to learn how to resolve those problems.
  7. National Association for Adults with Special Learning Needs: NAASLN provides educators, trainers, employers, human service providers, and adult learners with a centralized hub of information, professional development, technical assistance, communication on issues and trends, and advocacy initiatives on behalf of adults with special learning needs.
  8. National Center for Learning Disabilities: NCLD works to ensure that the nation's 15 million children, adolescents and adults with learning disabilities have every opportunity to succeed in school, work and life.
  9. National Council on Disability: The National Council on Disability (NCD) is an independent federal agency making recommendations to the President and Congress to enhance the quality of life for all Americans with disabilities and their families. Their report on supportive technologies that will enhance education for the disabled is behind many accessibility reforms.
  10. National Institute for Literacy: This is an independent federal agency concerned with leadership on literacy issues, including the improvement of reading instruction for children, youth, and adults.

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Distance Learning

The sites listed below include organizations and groups that provide guidance on topics such as accreditation, teaching perspectives, governmental and nonprofit resources and more, all based on distance learning.

  1. American Center for the Study of Distance Education: This site, sponsored by Penn State University, seeks to promote distance education research, study, scholarship, and teaching and to serve as a clearinghouse for the dissemination of knowledge about distance education. is currently in a period of reorganization, but their Resources page and DEOSNEWS archives are available.
  2. American Distance Education Consortium: ADEC is an international consortium of state and land grant institutions providing economic distance education programs and services via the latest and most appropriate information technologies.
  3. Assessment for Distance Learning: Find out if you're ready to take a distance education course or participate in a distance learning program with this short quiz, brought to you by the Oregon Network for Education (ONE).
  4. Distance Education: A Consumer's Guide: Provides information for distance learners including specific information about accreditation for those who are trying to evaluate and choose an appropriate distance education program.
  5. Distance Educator: This is a comprehensive database filled with resources for distance education topics. It offers access to information including pre-sorted solutions for several user groups, and users can sign up for daily news updates.
  6. Global Educator: An extensive collection of peer-reviewed articles for Global Educators. New articles are published at the start of each month.
  7. International Centre for Distance Learning: This site offers a list of distance education courses and institutions, journals, conferences, literature database and library on distance education, and more.
  8. OEDb: Our Online Education Database strives to be the largest online education resource on the Internet. Browse for classes and degrees by topic or by college. All schools listed are accredited.
  9. Training Media Review: This database at Training Media Review provides reviews on training content and technologies and advice on media-related training issues, research reports, and consulting.
  10. United States Distance Learning Association: USDLA is committed to being the leading distance learning association in the United States as it serves the needs of the distance learning community by providing advocacy, information, networking and opportunity.

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Finances

How will you finance your lifelong learning goals? The following list provide a variety of resources that can guide you into the right financing options for you, including financial aid tips.

  1. College Board [PDF]: This guide, brought to you by College Board, focuses on finances for adult who plan to return to college.
  2. eStudentLoan: Use this site's LoanFinder to match your specific needs with loan programs from top lenders.
  3. FAFSA: Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, ensures that all eligible individuals can benefit from federally funded or federally guaranteed financial assistance for education beyond high school.
  4. FastWeb: FastWeb helps students make the decisions that shape their lives: choosing a college, paying for college, and finding jobs and internships - all for free.
  5. FinAid!: Free access to a comprehensive source of student financial aid information, advice and tools.
  6. Financial Aid Advisor: The Financial Aid Advisor informs users of the many assistance programs available through the public and private sectors. By answering a series of questions, a user can generate an assistance profile including a brief program description and where to find more information.
  7. I Will Teach You To Be Rich: Ramit Sethi's blog on personal finance (banking, saving, budgeting and investing) and personal entrepreneurship, geared toward 20- and 30-somethings.
  8. Loan to Learn: This site offers special loans for lifelong learning, along with tools like calculators, a scholarship database, and articles about distance and lifelong learning.
  9. SallieMae: One of the nation's leading providers of student loans provides every tool imaginable that can help students with their educational efforts.
  10. Student Loan Funding: Student Loan Funding offers financing programs to meet the needs of adult students among others who want to attend college. Learn about your possibilities at this site.

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Resources

The following tools represent a smattering of hundreds of online resources that are directed to the lifelong learner.

  1. Ageless Learner: This is an educational website and advisory services firm that provides terrific resources and the best information to help you get more from life "even if you're four or ninety-four."
  2. infed: infed.org is an independent and not-for-profit site created by a small group of educators who explore informal education, lifelong learning and social action.
  3. Learnativity: This site introduces you to resources that support the notion that individual and organizational effectiveness depends on learning better, faster, smarter and through the consistent application of learning, combined with creativity, flexibility, and paying close attention to the right things.
  4. Learning Circuits: American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) launched Learning Circuits in January 2000 to promote and aid the use of e-learning, creating a body of knowledge about how to use technology efficiently and effectively for learning. You'll find over 500 articles on this site that mainly focus on learning in the workplace, as most of this site's readers are business managers and/or CEOs.
  5. Learning Is For Everyone!: This site is produced as an education resource organization that empowers families and learners with information and networking opportunities encompassing all aspects of education. They provide a broad base of information and networking services, both online and off.
  6. Learning Light: Gain access to a vast and free collection of selected and reviewed links to e-Learning resources for learning and development professionals and academics and staff developers.
  7. LERN: If you or your organization is engaged in providing any kind of lifelong learning program, LERN can provide you with practical, how-to information not available anywhere else. Organizational membership provides information, consulting, and training services for six staff members.
  8. Lifelong Learning Networks: This website is designed for everyone working within a Lifelong Learning Network (LLN) and will enable practitioners to share their experiences, access key documents, view details of upcoming events and find contact details for individual LLNs.
  9. Portfolio Library: Although this site is somewhat outdated, the information on this site is interesting and innovative. As you begin to create a personal portfolio, you'll learn more about your strengths and weaknesses and you can begin to assess your goals.

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School Skills

Do you need to spruce up your reading, studying, or writing skills? The following guides will provide the help you need to survive college classes, no matter if those courses are conducted in traditional classroom style or online.

  1. College Survival Skills: Learn how to study, manage your time, interact with instructors, and more from Clemson University.
  2. Distance Learning Resources: Tips for success with distance learning provided by Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania.
  3. DVC Learning Style Survey: Learn about the four learning styles so you can learn more about how you learn. This knowledge will help you to refine your study patterns for success.
  4. eLearn Magazine: While this magazine cover many topics, the focus is on how to survive while learning online. Learn about tools and skills through news and features written by professional journalists with expertise in education and technology, and in columns and tutorials by industry leaders and stars of academia.
  5. Mrs. Ruland's Social Studies Page: Don't let the "Social Studies" part put you off - this site carries a wealth of information on how to evaluate Internet sources, how to conduct research, and how to write various papers on numerous topics.
  6. PEP: An invaluable resource for any adult student that discusses career transitions, career changes, and choosing a major. C.W. Post Campus, Long Island University, brings this guide to you.
  7. Self-Help Services: The Counseling Services office should be your first call for any issue related to your emotional state, dealing with stress, handling a crisis, or coping with the transition to college. The University at Buffalo provides this service, which can be used by all students no matter where they attend school.
  8. Self-Help Study Skills: These guides, provided by Virginia Tech, are applicable to any student anywhere.
  9. Success4Students: Learn how to maximize your study time, improve study skills and provide time to live a balanced life outside of academics while achieving your long-term goals.
  10. Test Preparation: Enjoy access to study guides, flash cards and online study courses, articles and resources and for every type of test and exam.

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Travel

What a way to go! Travel for educational purposes has become a popular way to expand on language skills, cultural understanding, and global perspectives. The following examples include traditional travel, travel through volunteerism, and other forms of nontraditional travel for adults.

  1. Center for Study Abroad: CSA has been providing affordable, high quality, and fully accredited study abroad programs overseas to students, working adults and retirees worldwide since 1990. Programs are open to all adults from all countries.
  2. Earthwatch Institute: If you're interested in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment, then the projects listed at this site might be up your alley. Earthwatch member volunteers range in age from ten to ninety, travel alone or as families or in groups, and they have options to work in about fifty countries.
  3. Elderhostel: Elderhostel offers in-depth and behind-the-scenes learning experiences for almost every interest and ability. Enjoy history, culture, nature, music, outdoor activities such as walking and biking, individual skills, crafts, study cruises and many more with the not-for-profit leader in educational travel.
  4. Global Vision International: By joining one of GVI's programs worldwide you can help critical conservation and education projects ranging from teaching Literacy and English to indigenous communities in Latin America to wildlife research and conservation in Africa.
  5. Global Exchange: This is a non-profit human rights organization that offers short-term travel opportunities. These delegations are not your typical study abroad experience, as you might meet with community leaders, government officials and women's groups, etc. Learn about the economy, history, politics and culture in destinations such as Palestine, Cuba, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Iran, Vietnam, Tanzania and 15 more. You can receive academic credit, and you can also customize a tour through a professor or specific college department.
  6. Passports: Ps provides educational travel tours for high school and college students, their teachers and professors, and adults. Travel trips are scheduled year-round to Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and Australia at low, guaranteed prices, and are normally accompanied by local teacher-organizers, who enjoy special benefits.
  7. Smithsonian Journeys: The Smithsonian Journeys mission is to offer travelers one of the most exciting educational travel experiences. As the largest, most diverse museum-based educational travel program in the world, their commitment to excellence is unrivaled.
  8. The Learning Traveller: Learning Traveller works closely with only the top language schools worldwide to ensure that you make the most out of your language learning experience. They have helped individuals and groups of all ages expand their linguistic horizons.
  9. Transitions Abroad: TransitionsAbroad.com is being developed to reflect the depth and quality of the articles, resources, programs and links gathered over the past 30+ years in Transitions Abroad magazine. They are committed to expand upon our pioneering publications and remain the most comprehensive Web portal for work, study, travel, and living abroad.
  10. Voyageur Educational Tours: Voyageur Educational Tours specializes in fully-escorted cultural and educational travel programs to Europe and other overseas destinations for groups of all ages and interests - college students, high and middle school students, adult and senior groups, church and social organizations, theater groups, and other organizations.
  11. Travel with Scholars: This program, offered by the UC Berkeley Extension, immerses you in history, art, architecture, religion, and language, insightfully illuminated by your scholarly guides. You can earn academic credit (at your option) and you'll expand your community of colleagues as you visit sites such as London, Paris, and Rome.

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