The Complete List Of The Internet’s Best Teachers
Don’t you love it when someone has the perfect analogy and you get it straight away?
That’s not fluke. It’s the hallmark of an excellent teacher.
There are a BILLION places to learn online. But very few focus on the quality of the teaching.
And lets face it — there is nothing worse than your curiosity fizzling away because of a confusing explanation.
Everything on this list passes the grandma test.
These guys use analogies, diagrams, examples, and illustrations to explain complex ideas and problems in terms that you already know.
This list will be constantly updated as new suggestions come in.
If you know a site that passes the grandma test, email me or comment here and I’ll link and credit you in the description.
[Last updated: November 2015]
Crash Course
YouTube channel that breaks down big topics from economics, politics, astronomy, anatomy, and much more into bite-sized, well-researched, animated videos.
NewThinkTank
This one’s for fast learners. The videos are all-in-one explainers for coding, psychology, marketing, and a few randoms like cooking and hypnosis. FAST paced and challenging to keep up but great if looking for a refresher or you’re ready to take on big challenges.
Canva Design School
THE resource for picking up design and branding from scratch. Tons of examples, just the right amount of theory, and an excellent in-browser app for practice.
Reddit — Explain Like I’m 5 (ELI5)
The only one in the list that you will have to be careful with. Among the gems, there is plenty of misinformation. Here are some favourites: Isn’t 100% humidity pure water?, Stephen Hawking’s new theory on Black Holes, How does a touchscreen work?
Blinkist
When it comes to non-fiction books, there’s a very important thing to remember: not all of them are worth reading. It is important to get an accurate, human description of what a book contains before committing to reading it.
Blinkist is exactly that. The most popular non-fiction books summarised into 15-minute reads you can squeeze into a lunch break.
Think of it like an extended trailer for books. There’s an annual subscription that is the best investment you can make for your productivity.
Page19
Following on from Blinkist is their blog — Page 19. Its name comes from the fact that books are dropped, on average, by page 18. This is a condensed, free version of their app. Well worth subscribing to to get regular, practical, knowledge nuggets.
SmarterEveryDay
When you slow things down, you can understand things you never even knew were there. Just TRY to stop learning after you’ve seen how a tattoo needle works, the Mantis “Murder” shrimp, or how a jellyfish stings.
Better Explained
Imagine Maths… that makes sense. Holy s**t, right? Well, the guy here dedicates his time to explaining concepts in everyday language and analogies that will develop your intuition for maths.
Quora
Like ELI5 but less trolling and spam. All topics have a home here and you’ll find some surprising, excellent answers from the community. Like this one: What Can I Learn Right Now In 10 Minutes That Will Be Useful For the Rest Of My Life?
Highbrow
Get complex themes explained in 5-minute chunks once a day. Subscribe to one course at a time and become a life-long microlearner.
Learnist
Community-made courses that pull articles from all over the web into one place.
Everything from the psychology of chess, packing efficiently, and how to wash a dirty dog
Instructables
The ultimate DIY site. All projects are made by the community with pictures, step-by-steps, requirements, and difficulty levels.
Important: don’t just bookmark this for later
This is not just another “learn everything for free” list.
If you want to finally stop procrastinating and get addicted to learning, THIS is team to get you there.
This article originally appeared on Zenbeard
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