MIT offers MANY FREE online classes in a wide variety of subjects, complete with all the learning resources (including tests) needed to complete a class. I have looked at the one for Microeconomics, and I gotta tell you, IT IS NOT EASY. These are not adult education types classes.
Now, they are offering a certificate for completion:
MIT Mints a Valuable New Form of Academic Currency
MITx is the next big step in the open-educational-resources movement that MIT helped start in 2001, when it began putting its course lecture notes, videos, and exams online, where anyone in the world could use them at no cost. The project exceeded all expectations—more than 100 million unique visitors have accessed the courses so far.
Meanwhile, the university experimented with using online tools to help improve the learning experience for its own students in Cambridge, Mass. Now MIT has decided to put the two together—free content and sophisticated online pedagogy—and add a third, crucial ingredient: credentials. Beginning this spring, students will be able to take free, online courses offered through the MITx initiative. If they prove they've learned the material, MITx will, for a small fee, give them a credential certifying as much.""If I am a small/medium size employer I can see lots of potential in using this as an employee incentive tool as well as a very inexpensive way of helping my workforce aquire more advanced skills/training.
If workers take the initiative and complete a class, they can redeem the certificate to their employer and receive compensation, of some sort. With the large selection of classes available, there has to be SOMETHING that is applicable to most workplaces.
Ok, it is just an idea. The classes are hard, but why not give it a try?
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