在线教育和知识变现的时代，各种课程琳琅满目让人应接不暇，不知道选什么，那么这个时候，我们不妨参考下，世界首富的选择，会是什么呢？
原帖出自盖茨的官方博客 gatesnotes，地址是：
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Education/Great-Lectures-from-The-Teaching-Company
以下是原文和翻译：
Great Lectures from The Teaching Company
TTC公司的优秀课程
A lot of people ask me what I’m reading and how I learn about new topics that interest me. I am fortunate to have time to read a lot and I also like to view courses online from MIT’s OpenCourseware, Academic Earth, and others. These courses have ignited a passion of mine, which is to think about how to harness this approach so students who otherwise wouldn’t have access can experience these great courses and learn from these great teachers.
很多人会问我，我在读什么书，我是如何学习感兴趣的新内容的。首先，我很庆幸自己有大把的时间用来阅读，同时，我很喜欢观看在线课程，比如 MIT 的 OpenCourseware、Academic Earth 网站上的课程。在观看这些课程的时候，我内心的激情被点燃了，我希望通过这种方式，让没有机会接触这些课程的学生，能够听优秀的老师讲课、学优质的内容。
One of my favorite sources for great lectures is The Teaching Company. Most of their courses are available as audio downloads and on DVD. I had a chance to meet with The Teaching Company team, and the way they find the very best professors and best courseware is impressive and it shows in the overall quality of the teaching.
我最喜欢的一个优秀课程学习平台是 TTC（The Teaching Company），他们的大多数课程都是可下载的音频或视频。我有幸和TTC的团队接触过，他们获取最优秀讲师和最优质课件的方式让我印象深刻，这种方式从整体上展现了教学的质量。
Most of my friends know how much I enjoy these courses as they’ve received many of them as holiday gifts.
我的朋友中，大多数都知道到我有多喜欢这些课程，因为我会把很多课程当作礼物送给他们。
1
At first I just watched all their science courses – geology, biology, medicine. Those are quite good and I learned quite a bit.
一开始，我只看科技类课程，比如地质类、生物类和医疗类。这些课程非常棒，我从中学到了很多。
Then I watched Big History which is taught by David Christian and is still my favorite course of all. The course is so broad that it synthesizes the history of everything including the sciences into one framework.
后来，我看了 David Christian 的《大历史》，如今这门课程成了我最喜欢的一门课程。这门课程的内容太广泛了，它综合了所有学科的历史，包括科学，融入到一个体系中。
I’ve gotten to know David over the past couple of years and we’re starting some work now to offer a version of Big History for high school students free online—it’s something that I am incredibly excited about.
我认识 David 有很多年了，现在我和他正在一起做一个可以让高中生免费在线学习的《大历史》课程，这件事是我现在最为之激动的事。
2
The first economics course I watched was Modern Economic Issues by Robert Whaples.
我看的第一个经济学课程是 Robert Whaples 的《现代经济学问题》。
This course does a very good job explaining the economic viewpoint and how it applies in lots of situations.
这个课程在讲述经济学观点和如何应用方面做得非常好。
I try to bring this type of thinking to problems. You could say this course is mostly a microeconomics course—individual and business decisions based on price signals.
我尝试将种思考方式应用到具体的问题当中。你可以认为这个课程大部分是微观经济学课程——基于价格信号而作出的个人和商业决策。
Whaples also talks about government policies relative to wages and improving the economy.
Whaples也讲到了关于最低工资的政策和国家经济的提升。
I would say Whaples is a very good teacher – clear with great examples and explanations.
我认为 Whaples 是一个非常优秀的老师——充分阐述了经济学理论在生活中的应用。
3
My second economics course was America and the New Global Economy by Timothy Taylor.
我的第二门经济学课程是 Timothy Taylor 的《美国与全球新经济》。
This is a fantastic course focusing on macroeconomics (overall economic results). He really explains what has happened in the world economy.
这是一个非常了不起的介绍宏观经济学（综合经济效益）的教程，他解释了经济学世界中发生的事情。
I found his region-by-region analysis incredibly valuable. I knew some of the facts but I had never seen it explained as a whole like he did.
我发现他的 region-by-region 分析方法非常有价值。我知道其中的某些方面，但是从未见过有人向他那样如此系统完整清楚的彻底讲述过。
I would say he is an even better teacher than Whaples—one of the best even by the very high standards of The Teaching Company.
我认为他是一个甚至比 Whaples 还要好的老师——即便在高标准严要求的 TTC 讲师群体里，也是最优秀的一位。
His discussion of government policies including investing in education and infrastructure are extremely lucid.
这门课对于政府政策比如基建投入，教育投入等等方面的讨论，非常的清楚易懂。
I agree with both of these economists almost 100%, even when they talk about some issues that are considered controversial.
我100%同意这些经济学家的观点，即便有些观点看起来争议性极大。
4
Neither of these courses requires you to know economics before you watch them. They both explain the terms they use very well.
这两门课都不要求你有任何的经济学基础知识，课程对专业术语的讲解都非常简单易懂。
If you are going to watch both I would suggest doing it in the order that I did. I’ll be writing more about some of my OpenCourseware favorites as well as other good sources for online educational material.
如果你想学习这两门课，我建议你最好按照我提到的顺序观看（即先看 Modern Economic Issues 再看 America and the New Global Economy）。我将会持续介绍更多的我所喜爱的开放课程，以及其他优秀在线教育资源给你们。
以上三门，就是比尔认为非常好的在线教育课程，我看完了《Modern Economic Issues》，其中经济学课程的确非常有用，看完后对于思考能力，和逻辑思维能力有很大帮助，尤其它提供了多种看世界，分析世界的方法和工具，非常推荐。
这些课程哪里找呢？不用担心，我正在整理，未来会给出资源，并带大家系统梳理一下——这个主要原因，是因为众所周知的原因，去买官方课程，其实不太容易的。当然，搜索能力强的同学，不需要等我投食，你懂的。需要的同学可以加我微信 johnnypeibai。