Want to take an electronics course at MIT? Don’t pack up, mortgage the house, and move to Massachusetts! Just download the MIT course on basic electronics. This is part of their Open Courseware initiative I’ve written about before. Of course there’s no instructor support and no credit, but it sounds like a good class if you want to know more about electronics. From the site:

Subject 6.071 Introduction to Electronics provides undergraduate students with both a basic and practical understanding of electricity and electronics. The emphasis is on applications rather than theory. Consequently there is a strong hands-on component to the subject to enable students to gain practical experience. Topics covered in the subject include:

* DC and AC circuits
* Diodes, transistors, operational amplifier
* Analog and digital electronics
* Detectors and transducers
* Electronic control
* Signal processing and noise

The focus of the subject is understanding the critical issues involved in assembling and using an array of electronic equipment to carry out various missions. Thus, there is more emphasis on the application as opposed to design.

The breadth of topics covered in 6.071 makes this a good choice for those intending to take only one subject in electronic

Join this up with a free circuit simulator (I’ve talked about some of these before):

• Very good in browser
• Very good, downloadable — very sophisticated
• Simple in browser, nice scope graphic
• Simple in browser, not bad

Let me know how you like it!