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In this personal curriculum series, I’ll guide you through what a personal curriculum is, how to design one you’ll actually complete, some personal curriculum ideas for topics, including new skills to learn and hobbies to try, and the most effective study tips for busy adults.
By now you probably know what a personal curriculum is and how to design one. And you may even have already decided what to learn.
You’re almost ready to start!
But there’s one major part missing: where do you find the resources for your personal curriculum? Ideally, you’ll read books and articles, watch films, and go on “field trips” as part of your self curriculum. But where do you find the best ones? And how do you avoid spending a fortune?
That’s where I can help. I’ve gathered a ton of self-study resources below – most of them free – to help you get started on your learning journey!
What is a Personal Curriculum?
Check out this post for a more in-depth description of the personal curriculum trend. But to summarize: it’s a way for adults to support personal growth and keep learning new things outside of a formal learning environment.
Individuals create their own structured study path based on their unique interests, schedule, and preferences.
Your personal curriculum will include all the elements you might remember from courses in school – a timeline, required readings, and assignments.
But there’s a big difference: you choose all of them! Imagine how much more effective you could have been in school if you found the topics of all your courses fascinating. And all your assignments were things you liked to do.
Most sources on personal curricula I’ve seen attribute the trend to TikTok creator Elizabeth Jean (@xparmesanprincessx). And most of those embracing the trend say they’re doing it to combat “brain rot” – the feeling that your mind is gradually weakening from constant passive consumption of quick, low-quality online content. But, as we’ve discussed, there are many reasons someone may want to build a personal curriculum.
Whatever your primary motivation is, you’ll need resources to make it happen. Let’s look at your options.
Personal Curriculum Ideas for Resources
One of the great things about being in a formal learning program is that a professor finds reputable and interesting sources for you to read for you. With a personal curriculum, you’ll do this on your own. But being on your own, there are a couple of important things to consider, including…
- Is the source reputable?
- Does it cost money?
You may or may not want to spend much money on your personal curriculum. Either way, it’s always good to know where to look for free sources of information first.
Finding Reputable Sources
When it comes to finding something reputable, you’ll need to apply your critical thinking skills. That being said, here are a few things to look out for:
- Look into the author: their credentials, their reputation, and any institutional affiliation. Someone without a fancy degree or a job at a university can provide useful information, but those factors are things to consider. Institutions tend to have rigorous standards for granting degrees, hiring, and publishing.
- Check for potential biases: Is the information based on observable facts or opinions? Who paid for the research to be done? Every piece of writing or media has bias, but some are much more heavily skewed than others.
- Look into the source: For online posts, explore the website – is it affiliated with an institution with rigorous standards for publication? For books, were they published by a publisher or self-published?
- Check for citations and data: Does the author cite specific data (studies, statistics, historical records) to back up their claims?
- Check the date of publication: Is the information up-to-date and relevant?
- Consider the writing style: Does the author use very emotional or sensational language? That’s a hint that they are trying to persuade you about an ideology rather than objectively reporting facts. If you notice spelling and grammar errors, that’s also a sign that the source has not been proofread or edited by a publisher.
Finding Free Educational Content
Where can you find educational content online? And preferably, where can you find free educational content?
The good news is – there are tons of places that offer free learning materials.
Here are a few places to look:
Online Courses
If an online course closely matches your interests, you can complete the course instead of designing your own curriculum from scratch.
However, another way to use these courses is to enroll just to see what resources are recommended and provided.
Online courses are often designed by experts in their fields. You can pick their brains by exploring the course they’ve put together and selecting which resources you want to include in your own curriculum.
Online Course Repository Examples:
*Note that The Skillshare, Great Courses, and FutureLearn require paid subscriptions for most content. Others have certain free courses, but often certification requires a fee.
Your Local Library
I find many people tend to forget about the library. At least where I’m at in the U.S. But it’s a fantastic resource!
You can stop by the library and ask a librarian for help finding resources for your personal curriculum. Trust me, any librarian would love to help with a project like this. And they have a wealth of knowledge, plus resources at their fingertips, that can speed up your personal curriculum design process.
But maybe you don’t want to talk to anyone in person. Fair enough! You can likely download a library app like the Libby App. Through this app, you can download free ebooks and audiobooks. You can also find your library’s OverDrive website to access ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and movies.
Free Online Courses from Universities
Some universities have online courses – many of them free. You should absolutely take advantage of free learning materials from prestigious universities.
See the notes above under the “Online Courses” heading for how to use free online courses for your personal curriculum.
Online Courses from Major Universities Examples:
Open Educational Resource Repositories
The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement aims to make learning materials accessible to all by encouraging authors to openly license their work. Several open licenses exist. In some cases, you can download and read or watch material for free. With other licenses, you can even adapt the work and republish it yourself.
There are several repositories you can search for OERs related to your topic of interest.
OER Repository Examples:
- Project Gutenberg
- Open Library
- Google Scholar (filter for OER)
- MERLOT
- OER Commons
- Creative Commons
- OER Project
YouTube
For video content, check out YouTube. Many creators put educational content on YouTube to be available for free.
You can check out YouTube’s Learning Channel for playlists of educational content.
Now, YouTube is one of those repositories where you’ll want to use the methods discussed above (under the “Finding Reputable Sources” heading) to evaluate how reliable the content is.
After all, anyone can upload just about anything to YouTube, within reason. Look for content from known institutions and experts with degrees.
YouTube Channel Examples:
- Ted Ed
- FreeCodeCamp
- The Life Guide
- Great Art Explained
- OverSimplified
- Google Arts & Culture
- Domain of Science
Podcasts
Podcasts are a great resource for those with an auditory learning style. As well as people who just want to use their commutes make progress on their personal curriculum. Just pop in your headphones and listen to a lecture on your topic of interest.
There are a few platforms you can use to listen to podcasts. Examples: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube
You can also search ListenNotes – a search engine that allows you to find podcast episodes on your chosen topic.
Again, I’ll add the reminder that you need to use your critical thinking when it comes to podcasts. Anyone can start a podcast. Look into the hosts and determine if they’re reputable before including episodes in your personal curriculum.
Podcast Examples:
Personal Curriculum Ideas for Field Trips
- Visit a local museum or art gallery
- Attend a workshop or lecture in your area or online. (Profs and Pints is a great example of where to find interesting lectures.)
- Check the websites of universities near you for public lectures
- Search CourseHorse or ClassBento for live courses in your area. (Note that these cost money.)
- Search EventBrite for local events related to your chosen topic. Filter by your location and “classes.” You can also filter for online events. (Some of these classes are free, and some have a fee.)
- Search Meetup to find groups of people in your area interested in the same topic. (This is a great resource for finding people to practice a target language with, for example.)
What Do You Think?
Have you tried out any of the resources above for books, articles, videos, audio, or excursions? Do you have other recommendations for where to find educational content? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
You May Also Like…
What Is a Personal Curriculum and Why Should You Make One?
How to Make a Personal Curriculum: Your Step-by-Step Guide
Personal Curriculum Ideas: How to Find Your Perfect Topic
How to Break the Phone Addiction: Easy Steps for Massive Impact
