Launched in 2006, The Open University’s free learning platform OpenLearn provides over 1,000 courses ranging from one to 100 study hours. Users can also access videos, games, quizzes and articles.

Some courses include a brief one-time lecture, while others can last up to 16 weeks. Many courses are available for free, and enrollees simply must create an online account to access them.

Now, you can read them online for free. In fact, the series of lectures spawned what became the best-selling series of physics books ever, which shifted over 1.5 million copies.

To date, "The Last Lecture" has received 10.5 million hits. Not everyone is convinced that the biggest consumers of online educational materials are motivated—or even bored—self-learners.

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Free. Portsmouth Welcome Center, 206 High St. 757-393-5111. portsvaevents.com. Saturday. 3 p.m. “Meet John Rollison and His Descendant,” part of the Talking History Lecture series.