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Every social leader is intellectually curious. They want to know how others live and understand their challenges. They are always seeking solutions. This is why social leaders must make lifelong learning part of their routine.

Why Lifelong Learning?

Lifelong learning is not only useful; it can also be fun! Many people have bad memories of their school days, associating them with tedium or judgment. Lifelong learning is about acquiring new knowledge, whenever and however you want. Grades or no grades, in person or online, experiential, audio-lecture, 2 minutes or 2 months…the choice is yours.

Sometimes we feel in a rut as our life falls into familiar patterns. What better way to shake things up than learning a new skill? It creates a great sense of discovery and new beginnings. You can take classes to broaden your horizons, develop skills or simply understand current events.

Lifelong learning is also a wonderful opportunity to connect with new people who share your interests. They can become friends or collaborators for your projects.

Finally, lifelong learning provides a gateway to achieve our evolving dreams.

Tools for Lifelong Learning

I love apps that allow me to learn while exercising or relaxing at home. Apparently, I am not alone. The Christensen Institute calls short online courses a potentially major disruptor in higher education. Since I work with social leaders, I am always on the lookout for low-cost, high quality options. Here are my favorites:

Coursera

Coursera offers a wide variety of courses from recognized universities around the globe. There are some in Spanish as well as English. Most are free to audit or you can pay $49 afterwards to get a certificate to post directly to your LinkedIn resume.

Courses include short video lectures combined with quizzes and discussion questions. You can generally take them at any time.

Coursera also offers specializations, which are a bundle of related courses offered via subscription.

EdX

EdX offers free courses from the world’s leading universities, including many Ivy Leagues. Their design is very similar to Coursera classes, also available in English or Spanish. One major difference is that EdX courses have specific start dates. This platform also offers post-graduate degrees and certificates, at a cost.

Udemy

This platform offers every kind of course from individuals with self-professed expertise. Want to learn how to do something specific, fast and pay very little? Udemy may be for you.

These apps are the top of the iceberg. There’s a whole world of lifelong learning to explore! From YouTube, to Khan Academy, free courses offered by retailers to complementary webinars (by experts like me!) – knowledge is more accessible than ever. What’s your favorite lifelong learning tool?

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