Here Are the 5 Search Engines for Boomers Who Really Love To Learn

Baby boomers are an educated generation. Many of you are passionate lifelong learners. And you have many reasons to keep learning: updating your technology skills, preparing for second-act careers, personal enrichment, and launching new businesses.

Online learning is ideal for the lifestyles, needs, interests, and goals of people 50+. You can take courses where you want, when you want, and at your own pace. 


Free and low-cost online classes are available for a growing range of topics. Thousands of courses from top schools are open to everyone. These are known as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Here are a few things to know about MOOCs:

• Many courses are self-paced.
• Most MOOCs are free. You may have to pay a fee for extras like graded exams and course completion certificates.
• MOOCs are like university courses but usually don't offer academic credit. 


So how do you find MOOCs? The best way is to use a MOOC search engine. These specialized search engines make it easy to find courses and information about online learning. Some of these sites offer tools for saving courses and organizing your learning goals.

Here are the five search engines you need to see.

Course Root

Course Root has the largest database of online courses. Explore courses listed by subject or enter the skill you want to learn into the search box. It's easy to narrow down your choices with filters and sorting options like:

• Price (paid or free) 

• Difficulty level (beginner, intermediate, expert) 

• Certificate quality (okay, good, excellent) 

• Hours (0-10, 10-50, 50-100) 

• Course provider (Coursera, EdX, etc.) 

• Ratings 


As a referral service, Course Root offers exclusive discounts on some courses. They pledge to give 50% of their profits to charities helping children.

Open Courser

Search thousands of courses and get expert information about online learning at Open Courser.

• Filter courses by language, level, length, starting timeframe, and price. 

• Select a course to see a description, student comments, a rating, and more. 

• Sign up for a free account to save courses you like and get personalized recommendations.

For career information, go to the bottom of the course page. You'll find an overview of careers related to the course along with their average salaries in the United States.

Course Buffet

Want to get a bachelor's degree worth of learning for free? That's the goal at Course Buffet. Go here to find and compare MOOCs from top schools and other providers.

Select a course to get an overview, see related courses, and read reviews. Most courses are at the college level. The Course Buffet class numbers are like U.S. university classifications:

• 100 = freshman level
• 200 = sophomore level
• 300 = junior level
• 400 = senior level
• 500 = graduate level

Register for an account to:

• Save your favorites 

• Get notifications 

• Track your progress 

• Plan future learning 
 


Use Course Buffet's Degree Paths to plan your education goals. 


Class Central

There are thousands of reviews at Class Central to help you find the right courses.

• Browse courses by subject or find ideas in the top 100 list. 

• Narrow down your choices by start date, subject, certification, and language. 

• Sign up for free to track subjects and courses and to get personalized recommendations. 



MOOC List

All courses indexed by Mooc-List are free. The detailed search form makes it easy to find courses that meet your criteria.

• Scroll past the search form for a list of free online courses coming up in the next 30 days.
• Browse through courses by selecting the menu link, Find MOOCs by. 

• Sort the courses by language, provider, university, category, and more. 

• Get details about a course at, Enroll In Course. This link will take you to the information on the provider's website. 

• Register to create a My MOOC List. Use this tool to keep track of the courses you like.