12 Free Educational Resources for Web Designers

Knowledge is a web worker's number one advantage in an industry where ideas and technologies move fast. Although the internet is full of sites promising such knowledge, there are few quality tutorials or lessons out there. And if you want such lessons for free, then your options are even fewer. Here are 12 multimedia resources for expanding your skillset and staying in front of your competition.

Always be learning -- especially with such great resources out there. (Photo by alextakesphotos)

1. iTunes U - iTunes has a good deal of free educational content, recently compiled and expanded under the name iTunes U. There have recently been some impressive contributing universities of late, including Oxford University and the University of California. Check out:

• Effectively Marketing a New Business
• Fine Arts Lectures
• Global Social Entrepreneurship
• Interviews with Oxonians

2. Adobe Video Workshop - Adobe's commitment to training and support shows here. Here are a number of video lessons covering all manner of Adobe software and design concepts.

3. A List Apart: CSS - If you've never really understood CSS or if your CSS experience has been comprised mostly of snippets and hacks, start at square one. Learn about and understand not only CSS, but present and future web standards.

4. The Future of Web Everything - From Ryan Carson and friends come some great conferences on the future of design, development, internet marketing, and mobile apps. These conferences have included speakers such as Michael Arrington (Techcrunch), Kevin Rose (Digg), and Ryan Singer (37 Signals). And since they are nice enough to share mp3s and slides from past conferences, why not take advantage?

• Future of Web Apps
• Future of Web Design
• Future of Online Advertising
• Future of Mobile

5. SEO and SEM - Search engine optimization and marketing is an important but often misunderstood aspect of a complete website solution. Here are some videos, lessons, and tutorials from the leaders in the SEO (and even SEM) realm.

• SEOBook Videos
• Matt Cutts Videos
• SEOmoz

6. PSDTuts - There is no shortage of so-called PSD tutorial websites. But frankly, most of them are poorly presented and deal with design procedures that are obvious (how to use a filter) or outdated (who really wants a snowflake photo border?). PSDTuts is excellent, well-documented, and most importantly, always current and growing.

7. Programming 101 - To be honest, I think books (yes, books) are the best way to learn programming or development. But for those of you who want an introductory kickstart, check these out.

• Zend PHP 101
• ASP.Net Development Center
• PHP from W3Schools

8. Digital Photography School - From Darren Rowse's Digital Photography School, here are some great lessons for various photography situations as well as composition tips. Furthermore, the comments sections add even more tips and insights into amateur photography.

9. Flex Training - Straight from Adobe, this course helps web designers and developers ease into Flex 3, a technology that's in demand amongst many large firms -- translating to pretty good coin.

10. Morningstar Investment Classes - Investing and financial management are overlooked aspects of running your own business. Here's a great course from Morningstar to kickstart your financial knowledge base.

11. DrawSpace - For those of you who missed out on all those foundational art classes, here are some solid lessons on everything from shading to colors to perspective.

12. MIT Coursework - What web developer wouldn't want to say, "I've taken coursework from MIT"? Well, now you can download their coursework materials easily. This is a great way to reestablish your IT foundation, learn new technology, or just take a course called "Street-Fighting Mathematics."

• MIT OpenCourseWare
• MIT Computer Science Degrees
• Getting Started with MIT OpenCourseWare