May 21, 2021 - With math seeing more and more appreciation, it's still, quite rightfully, a challenging discipline that not everyone can comprehend. Quality lessons, additional instructions, and motivated lecturers and teachers are the obvious recipe to both help those who struggle with math and those who are good at it to achieve their best possible potential.

However, the coronavirus pandemic is still present and is still causing difficulties in the Croatian education system, forcing pupils and professors to switch from online to live lectures or a mix of the two, putting additional pressure on sharing knowledge on any imaginable subject. With math being a discipline that requires lots of practice and explanations, it's perhaps the subject which has suffered the most.

Still, as Srednja.hr reports, a great potential solution to this issue appeared back in October 2020 when Robert Pavlik started E-Matematika, a website, for online math instructions.

''The site is focused on all students that need help with math, whether it's about fixing a bad grade or preparing for an exam“, writes Srednja.hr.

E-Matematika currently offers 45 minutes of lessons, offering solved mathematical tasks with the procedure detailed, as well as a video explanation.

These instructions are paid for simply through the ''order instructions''check-out process, and it's all quite automated. However, phone and videocalls for arranging instructions are an option for the safety of kids so that parents can see with whom they'll be communicating. Reliable platforms for communication such as Zoom, Google Meet, and MS Teams are also used, and two conditions need to be satisfied for the instructions to work: easy platform access for the student and an uninterrupted video connection. Each instruction ends with the service sending a questionnaire to the students to see how happy they are with the whole experience, as well as a receipt. The questionnaire builds the personal rating of the instructor.

There are four levels of instructions: lower elementary classes, higher elementary classes, high schools, and faculties, which offer more effective services as some instructors prefer to work with teens, and others are specialised working with younger kids. The site so far boasts 100 instructors, and in addition to maths, Croatian pupils can also find instructions from the subjects of physics and chemistry. Srednja.hr adds that students from field-related faculties recognised the work of E-Matematika and want to participate.

The site welcomes anyone interested to apply to become the next instructor, as long as they satisfy the following conditions: two years of instructing experience as a minimum, excellent communication skills, reliability, flexibility in organising instructions, along with patience and the ability to focus on a student.

It's also worth mentioning that the first concept of online instructions in Croatia (again, for math, but also for statistics) appeared in 2011, when a mathematics professor at the Faculty of Science (PMF), University of Zagreb, Toni Milun, started posting videos explaining the curriculum online and for free. And you guessed it; it was a huge hit.

Despite Milun offering additional mathematics lessons for free, E-Matematika having more than 500 registered users and 2000 orders, it seems it can justify the paid offer with its value and use.

However, it will be interesting to see will this trend continue when the pandemic is over and the face-to-face instructions return as normal. Currently, the Croatian media landscape is seeing more and more pupils and parents stepping out and saying that nothing can replace face-to-face classes.

Learn more about Croatian inventions & discoveries: from Tesla to Rimac on our TC page.

For more about science in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

March 16, 2020 - Because more people are staying home these days either by choice or order due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; here is a list of free online classes where everyone can gain useful knowledge without having to pay for expensive instruction or courses. 

So, while waiting for the coronavirus outbreak to pass, you can learn a foreign language without any invested money, and gain knowledge in programming, marketing, analytics, history, philosophy, mathematics and many other subjects as compiled by Index.

Learn a Foreign Language

Duolingo - On this website you can learn many world languages ​​from English, German, Italian, French, Spanish to Polish, Russian, Chinese and many more. Research has shown that with 34 hours of study on this site, you can achieve the same level of knowledge to a full semester language course at a foreign language school.

Busuu - Each Busuu course is developed using the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), an internationally recognized standard for creating foreign language lessons. By learning a foreign language through this website, you can gain a level of knowledge from the A1 to B2 level.

Memrise - Users who have learned a language through this website write about how the site helped them learn the language and have fun. They also won the Google Play Awards for Best App.

Linguist - Through this website you can learn foreign languages ​​or things you need. You can progress quickly because you can skip material that you do not need to study or practice, and the app is available over the web as well as Android and iOS.

HelloTalk - This website offers you free courses in over 150 languages ​​and has over 15 million users and learn the language in contact with native speakers. You can talk to them via SMS, voice messaging and calls or video calls.

Study History

edX - This website offers you a range of courses in a number of areas, one of which is history. Through it, you can learn world history and topics include everything from ancient Greece to recent history, European art history, the history of religions and more.

Class Central - Learn history with free online courses from Wesleyan University, Tel Aviv University, the University of Virginia and other top universities around the world.

Coursera - This site also offers a variety of courses, with history courses exploring ancient and modern events and social trends. Explore topics like war, imperialism, and globalization, or explore the history of particular groups or periods through numerous courses.

Open Culture - This website offers free history courses from leading universities in the world. You can download audio and video contests directly to your computer, mobile phone or mp3 player.

Acadoceo - Many universities and colleges offer their online history courses. There are 110 free online history courses on this page for you to go through.

Study Mathematics

SchoolYourself - Learning math online doesn't have to be boring - this site offers free interactive lessons from award-winning Harvard professors.

Math Playground - This website is designed for fun maths for elementary school kids, grades 1-6. There are a number of math games on the page so that children can learn without being bored.

Khan Academy - Students practice at their own pace on this website, first learning material they have not yet mastered, and then accelerating their learning. The is intended for both students and professors.

Math Pickle - On this website, math is approached by students through games, puzzles and puzzles. Games and puzzles last from 45 to 60 minutes and are designed by class.

Alison - The website offers courses in a wide range of math subjects. Beginners can start with basic level courses, but everyone can find lessons based on their own level of knowledge.

Learn to Program and Create Websites

Codecademy - An interactive free programming course used by 45 million people in seven years. Through this course you can learn how to create a website or learn how to analyze data.

Udacity - Users can find a mentor to guide them through learning on this website. They also answer questions and motivate. In addition, users are offered to create their own customized learning plan.

Platzi - Professional courses with live lectures and expert lecturers in the fields of programming, marketing, design and business.

Bit Degree - Bit Degree offers a bunch of free courses that range from programming to game development. There are several programming languages, but the most popular are HTML, PHP, Javascript and SQL.

Coursera - Offers courses and programming tutorials taught by professors from leading universities. Cousrea offers hundreds of different courses related to programming.

FreeCodeCamp - The website offers courses and the opportunity to learn programming by participating in a variety of challenges. Some of the programming languages ​​you can learn are HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, Node.js, React.js.

Dash - A fun and free online course that teaches the basics of web development through projects you can do in your web browser.

Odin project - This website has collected the best educational resources available on the web. You can learn a number of programming languages ​​such as HTML5, CSS3, Javascript ...

Codeasy - This is a website for those who don't know anything about programming. It offers a very unique and fun way to learn programming. The basic course is free of charge.

Learn How to Work with Data

Data Camp - Provides tutorials and courses on working with data. These skills are very useful in many fields of work.

Dataquest - Learn Python, R, SQL, Data Visualization, Data Analysis. The website offers 60 free lessons.

Metis - This course serves as an introduction to knowing how to work with data. You can learn all about data collection, cleaning and consolidation, exploratory analysis and data visualization.

Caltech - The Distinguished University of California offers free online courses on working with data.

Data Science Masters - This website provides basic training needed to work with data usage.

Learn How to Work in Photoshop

GCF LearnFree - A free guide offers access to 10 basic lessons and five extras, including a quiz that lets you test your skills. These modules are designed for beginners and make it easy to learn Photoshop from the beginning.

Photoshop Essentials - You can find a Photoshop guide on their website or their YouTube channel. Some lessons are basic, while others focus on modifying images, such as changing the eye color or hairstyle of the person in the photo.

Photoshop Cafe - Another in a series of websites offering free video tutorial through Photoshop. With their teaching content, you can learn to do popular things like "cutting" trees, putting text in various shapes, and converting photos to pencil sketches.

Design Stacks - Provides tutorials that help you learn Photoshop from start to finish. You can start with the basics to help you understand the basic concepts, and then learn more complex things, such as adding special effects.

Tuts + - A website that goes beyond basic things and lets you learn Photoshop techniques to help you with your various tasks. So you can learn how to make flyers, business cards, posters and more.

Gain Knowledge in Biology

Class Central - Learn biology through the free online courses offered by this website. It has courses from the world's most famous universities such as the University of Cape Town, the University of Alberta, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago and other top universities around the world.

Alison - With a wide range of free online biology courses on this site, you can explore and learn a variety of materials. A variety of courses are offered with topics such as human anatomy, genetics and DNA, inheritance and more.

Academic Earth - Offers a range of free biology courses. Students can thus learn about the life cycle, the conversion of food into energy, reproduction, death, viruses, bacteria ...

EdX - Take free online biology courses in genetics, biotechnology, biochemistry, neurobiology and other disciplines. Courses include the basics of neuroscience from Harvard University, molecular biology from MIT, and this way you can study for free from prestigious US universities.

OpenLearn - The website offers a variety of free biology courses and materials. So you can learn about germs, vitamins and minerals, water and human health and many other topics.

Expand Your Knowledge of Art History

Open Arts Archive - In the course you will explore contemporary art, from the 1980s onwards. The learning outcomes of the course are recognition of the effects of works of art, understanding of a range of artistic techniques, such as the use of colors, composition and media, recognizing the relationship between effects and techniques in a range of works of art, etc.

Learning Path - Here you can take free courses at the renowned American University MIT, which offers several art history classes. So you can learn about modern art and mass culture, while art has been exploring the art world since 1940 to the present day, and necessarily examining the relationship between art and politics.

Coursera - The course is for anyone who wants to learn more about modern and contemporary art. The course lasts 5 weeks and begins each week with a video that links artwork from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. You will hear audio interviews with artists, designers and curators and learn more about selected works.

ArtGallery Yale - This series of lectures on the site of the renowned American Yale University traces art through the 19th century to the 21st century. 12 video lectures have been set up for easy learning.

Highbrow - This unique online learning platform sends you classes via email instead of going to their site. You get one lesson each day for a 10-day course.

Gain Knowledge in the Social Sciences

Learn out Loud - The website offers a variety of free lectures. You can renew or expand your knowledge in sociology, philosophy, psychology, and lectures are available on audio and video.

Online Courses - Whether you're studying or just curious, these courses will broaden your knowledge. You will find free material from a variety of subjects, from foreign policy, civics, children's rights and many more long lessons.

Future Learn - In the course you will learn the basics of sociology and discover sociological theories. You will explore a variety of topics, including social inequality, globalization and the media. You will also learn how to do your own sociological research and present your findings.

Courses - The website offers 7 courses in various topics in the field of political science. These are courses from prestigious US universities such as Stanford, Yale, and Princeton.

Coronavirus Updates and Education - Here are several more links to learn more about the origins and spread of the coronavirus.

• Follow our dedicated coronavirus page for updates on the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Croatia. 
• Contact numbers for epidemiologists, travel advisories and measures for preventing the spread of the coronavirus can be found here.
• Learn more about the symptoms of the coronavirus here.
• A general history and overview of the coronavirus can be found here.
• Monitor coronavirus statistics here.