A World Class Education ... For Free

Your seat is waiting in lecture halls and classrooms all over the world.   The 21st century classroom is networked and global, with universities leading the way in breaking down the traditional barriers to entry.

Among the leaders are MIT Open CourseWare and Open Yale Courses.  Still more content can be found on iTunesU and lectures from PBS and NPR's Forum Network.  Finally, TED Talks offers a chance to watch lectures by the world's thought leaders on a wide variety of topics: technology, sustainability, globalization, music, and even tying one's shoes in a properly innovative fashion. 

Perhaps most germane to your high school experience are enrichment courses offered by Khan Academy and HippoCampus, both designed to provide a series of videos explaining concepts from topics like Algebra, Calculus, Chemistry, History, Physics, and even SAT Prep.

Sure, you could continue to see the internet as purely a social vehicle, and a time waster.  While the internet is very good at providing a platform purely for entertainment, the emergence of video content provides the potential for more robust educational experience, informed by the same traits we seek in our diversions.   The keys to the world's libraries are in your hands; use them!

UPDATE (10/18): Mind/Shift offers up "10 Open Education Resources You May Not Know About (But Should)" in honor of the OpenCourseWare Consortium's celebration of 10 years of OpenCourseWare.  Check it out!