Self-Education Resources

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I'd like to educate myself and develop skills, as intense and seriously as formal higher education. However, I have run into a major snag in doing so....

Knowing just what to study, in the sense of a full curriculum, and how to organize and make proper use of the information. Textbooks, "assignments", thesis, and so on. And the best, most efficient ways to learn.

I have major problems with organization in general, so even if I did have a stack of textbooks or a list of websites, there's a problem of effective studying habits, especially on one's own.

For some time I have focused on study what is called a "Classical Education". Reading some of the greatest authors of all time. Google and find out more about a Classical Education and you can look up used books about it via Amazon. I also read books that are helpful in acquiring good study habits, again just search Amazon as you can find many of these used and real cheap.

I also listen to iTunes University & Podcasts. They provide a good starting point that lead me to other books to read. I realize that this make seem like a simple answer but I am not listing a multitude of books. It helps to have a passion or goal. If some literature you don't like skip it and focus on what seems an interest, as there is no lack of topics and books.

MIT online has a site where they offer a lot of their course materials free for anyone to check out. Here is a link to their current site: link

Pick up or download the curriculum guides from your local colleges, universities, and vocational schools to find out what courses of study they have, so you will have some ideas of what is out there. Then check with your local libraries on courses of study you are interested in. Don't forget online school sites. There are several free online colleges and universities. They just don't give you a degree or certificate when you complete the course. Most "for pay" colleges and universities also offer some free courses online, but again, they won't give you a degree or certificate when you finish the course. If you want the degree or certificate from any of these places, you have to pay for the courses. However, even completing the free courses is good, because you can still put it on your resume. If any potential employer asks why you didn't get the degree, just tell them you didn't have the money, and didn't want to get into a mountain of debt, but did want the courses, so you opted for the free ones.

Personally, I think taking courses, even just on your own is a great idea. Wish I had more time, so I could do it myself.

sounds more like a motivation problem than an organization problem.

Isn't the whole point of learning on your own to be rid of the "assignment", "textbook", "thesis",etc.?

If you are interested in something, go to the library, check out ten books at a time on it and just start pouring through. Read what is interesting to you. Do practice problems that are interesting to you. And if you run into the problem of not having the prerequisite knowledge for a subject, make a list or map of the things you are finding that you don't understand, words you don't know, etc. and starting addressing them one by one with the same algorithm above, check out ten books on it and start pouring through, keeping in mind, as some abstract beacon, that original interesting thing you want to learn about.

f*ck assignments

Grab used exam tests.

As for reading the curious aspie mind tend to just suck it all in once a good starting point has been found

What exactly are you trying to learn on your own?

There are a whole load of free courses available at the open university: http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/

This includes one very useful course on ASD: http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3569

Jason

Khan academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/) is a site full of videos which may be useful, depending on what you want