This is a somewhat complex question. I really depends on the type of learner that you are. What I have found is that it is easiest to learn from other people. I view the Internet as a great resource to find people that already know whatever it is that you want to learn. I think that you can learn more about something by talking to someone that already knows whatever it is that you want to learn. Based on my experience, you can learn more in 5-10 minutes of talking to someone that knows what you want to know. Many people use the Internet as a resource for research and self-teaching. In some cases it could take hours to adequately research whatever it is that you want to know. I think the best most efficient way to learn online is to leverage the Internet to find someone who already knows what you want to learn and get in touch with that person directly. I view the Internet as a way to find people. My experience is that the fastest way to learn happens offline when interacting directly with a person that is willing to teach you what you want to know.
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I think it depends on the person, but for me I find that video is the easiest way to learn online. I subscribe to lots of video podcasts that teach me everything from how to appreciate wine to how to build a computer. The only downer is that you have to have a reasonably fast internet connection to learn using video--otherwise you run into long download times and/or buffering issues, which can be discouraging and distracting.

With the continued spread and increasing speed of broadband and the ease of creating good quality instructional videos, I think that video's the way to go. For me, is the easiest way to learn something online--especially video that's well produced, if the subject is of a technical nature. Whether I remember it or not is another story entirely.

My favorite sites are Metacafe and Videojug. Metacafe generally teaches me more technical things, while Videojug's great for all around stuff. I learned how to perform the perfect golf swing, for example.
Source(s):
http://www.metacafe.com/
http://www.videojug.com/
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-perform-the-perfect-golf-swing

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The most helpful resource for myself in learning online consists of viewing tutorials and forums. Tutorials are a great way to look at a process, step by step, with examples or pictures. This will allow you to go back a step if something isn't working, until you get exactly what your supposed to in the next step. I have taught myself how to use Adobe Photoshop very thoroughly through tutorials. Online tutorials, whether they be Text/Images or Videos, always allow you to go back at a later time. With this feature if you get stressed out, you always know it will be there when you want to try again.

Forums in an active community for a given topic can also be extremely helpful. Everyone has their own way of doing things and sometimes it is really interesting to see how other people conquer a particular task, project or process. You can often find people that have a great deal of knowledge for particular topics to be hanging around forums dedicated to their strengths.
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I'm reminded of the old joke:
"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
"Practice. Practice. Practice."

Learning online is going to have a lot in common with learning anywhere else. The same principles apply. Mortimer Adler, an American philosopher and educator, famously said "Education is the process of going from knowing less to knowing more through the power of your own mind."

It's important to keep that in mind no matter where you are learning something, but there are definitely tools that are unique to the internet, and I'll talk about a couple of them here. But first, I'll start with what you should probably not do, and that's to just "Wikipedia it." Wikipedia is a great tool, don't get me wrong, but it's no replacement for doing the legwork on something you really want to learn.

So let's say you want to learn about the history of corduroy pants online. The tools you are likely to start out using are Google and Wikipedia. And that's fine, as long as you only start there. For example, a quick search on Google for "history of corduroy pants" gives you a bunch of places to buy corduroy pants. So that's a wash. Move on to Wikipedia and you get the short article they have on corduroy. Read it over, but the most valuable thing in a Wikipedia article is, in my experience, the references section.

So you read the article, and you found out that corduroy is a fabric made of twisted fibers that lay in parallel raised lines called "cords." You also learned that the term Corduroy is possibly an appropriation of the French phrase "corde du roi" ("cloth of kings") made by the earliest weavers of the cloth in Manchester England in the early 1800s.

So that's a good start, it gives you some of the basic facts, and I suppose if you repeat them over and over, they might stick in your memory and you could be said to have learned them. But the way most brains work, you learn things in a deeper and better fashion when you do what is referred to as "deep processing."

Let's look at that reference section I mentioned earlier. Did you know that there's actually a Corduroy Appreciation Club? There's apparently a bunch of folks out there with such an affinity for this cloth they formed a club about it. Their mission statement is:

"The Corduroy Appreciation Club wishes to cultivate good fellowship by the advancement of Corduroy awareness, as well as, understanding, celebration, and commemoration of the fabric and all related items. Club events are held on dates which incorporate, resemble or refer to corduroy."

Wow. Really? I promise you, if you read on in there website, you'll find enough WTF to make this information about Corduroy stick in your brain. That's an example of deep processing. And it would never happen if you stopped at the Wikipedia article.

So basically, remember that when learning anything, it's as easy or as hard as you make it--online or not--by putting in the time and the effort. "(Go) from knowing less to knowing more with the power of your own mind." And when you are learning things online, take advantage of the unique opportunities that the web offers to deeply process what you learn. Whether that's through going beyond the simple Wikipedia article, or finding an online community to discuss it with. The more you work with something, the easier it is to learn.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corduroy
http://www.corduroyclub.com/home.html
And a long standing personal passion for education.
(For the record, I knew nothing about corduroy other than it went "zip-zip" when you walk before writing this answer.)

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I think the easiest way to learn things is online and the most important thing is that it's free. Like if you want to learn simple things how to fold a t-shirt there are lots of videos that can teach you different ways of folding a shirt. Similarly if you want to learn some advanced skills Just as i did i learned Joomla from online tutorials and today i am a good Joomla developer with more than 12 clients. There are various resources present to learn and improve things online. Like videos, tutorials, forums, and expert's community. You can also use social websites to seek help and tips from your online friends. You can join an online course etc.
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Check Mahalo, then Digg, then wikiHow, then instructables. These sites are great resources and I refer to them in that order when I want to learn about something or how to do something.
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I have learned a lot of different things by going to a place like youtube.
There are many people there who put up instructional videos on many different topics.
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The easiest way to learn something is 'searching in one of the search engine what you want to learn'. Browse through the top 10 result links. The top 10 results of the search engine will give you the answer for what you want to learn (most of the time).

Additional links and information

1)Online Dictionary or Encyclopedia--find information about everything online
a)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
b) http://www.answers.com/

2)how different things work--you can learn how different things
operate
a)http://www.howstuffworks.com/
b)http://www.ehow.com/

3)search engines-search anything you want to know
a)http://www.google.com/
b)http://search.yahoo.com/

4)videos-you can watch video and learn
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.metacafe.com/
Source(s):
already given in the answer

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You search via google or yahoo search engines. When you have found the topic you wish to know, learn more things about it by searching further information online. Read all details about your chosen subject or topic and remember, avoid skipping information or details because if you do, you'll never get everything about it. Always have notes with you or if you own the computer, you can bookmark the site or link so the next time you want to refresh, it's there ready for you.
Source(s):
Own opinion.

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1. Online schools
http://www.guidetoonlineschools.com/school_list.htm

2. Our own Mahalo How To:
http://www.mahalo.com/Category:How_To

3. Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.britannica.com/

4. Pick your category here and dive in!
http://www.homeschool.com/resources/

5. Last, but not the least, ask him:
http://www.google.com
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Please be specific? If you're referring to something to learn "just simply get ONLINE" and use any search engine that you would like to use like mahalo.com search, google.com, yahoo.com, etc.
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Learning always depends on your learning style, and what best suites you for learning. Of course there are many ways to learn something, and online is certainly just one of the ways to learn something.

On the Internet you can easily learn anything, and there are plenty of video sites that provide tutorials to audio sites that you can listen to, as well as instructional blogs that may pertain to your interests.

I recommend checking out some of the instructional video sites that are available or searching forums.

1. Searching Forums:

There are a lots of forum sites out there, but why go to lots of different forums when you can search them all at BoardReader. I recommend going to BoardReader, and searching the forums, and you will find something to learn there.

BoardReader
http://boardreader.com
BoardReader was developed to address the shortcomings of current search engine technology to accurately find and display information contained on the Web's forums and message boards.

2. Educational Tutorial Sites and How To Sites

There are plenty of sites that are simply here to educate you, from educational tutorial sites to how to sites. Some exist to cover any sort of category or topic, whereas others are specific to a particular industry or interest. Stanford has a whole site on manufacturing that will help you learn about the manufacturing process.

See the below educational tutorial and how to sites:

About.com
http://www.about.com
About.com has expert guides that will help you with about anything you want to know. These guides provide guidance, not guesswork on making a decision, saving money, to learning something, or anything. Explore over a hundred different topics of interest.

eHow
http://www.ehow.com
eHow will teach and show you how to do just about anything and everything. What would you like to do? Its database has over 500,000 articles and videos can help you. It's the world's most popular place to find clear instructions on how to do just about everything.

Fixexpert
http://www.fixexpert.com
Fixexpert is a wiki that will teach you how to fix any kind of car.

How Stuff Works
http://www.howstuffworks.com
Learn how anything works. Its categories include adventure, animals, auto, communication, electronics, entertainment, food, geography, health, history, home and garden, money, people, science, and more.

How To Clean Anything
http://www.howtocleananything.com
There are more than 1300 free cleaning tips on this site, and growing every day.

How To Geek
http://www.howtogeek.com
How To Geek Provides How-To articles anywhere, with content easy enough for beginners but useful enough for geeks as well.

Howtopedia
http://www.howtopedia.org
HOWTOPEDIA is a collaborative platform for practical knowledge and simple technologies, i.e. technologies that require no complex machine, that are easily explainable and usable by individuals or small communities for a sustainable and ecological future.

Infobarrel
http://www.infobarrel.com
Infobarrel provides user generated how to guides that allow the creators to get paid from creating the guides.

Instructables
http://www.instructables.com
Instructables is a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others. The seeds of Instructables germinated at the MIT Media Lab as the future founders of Squid Labs built places to share their projects and help others.

Manufacturing and How Things are Made
http://manufacturing.stanford.edu
Stanford has an exploratory site on manufacturing that will tell you virtually on how things are made. If you've ever wondered how things are made - products like candy, cars, airplanes, or bottles - or if you've been interested in manufacturing processes, like forging, casting, or injection molding, then you've come to the right place.

So You Wanna
http://www.soyouwanna.com
SoYouWanna.com teaches you how to do all the things nobody taught you in school.

WikiHow
http://www.wikihow.com
wikiHow is a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. With your contributions, we can create a free resource that helps millions of people by offering solutions to the problems of everyday life.

Wiki Answers
http://wiki.answers.com
WikiAnswers is a wiki-based Q&A project powered by contributors from all walks of life. Anyone can ask, answer or edit questions, building a global Q&A database, covering all topics.

3. Podcasts

There are plenty of great places to listen to audio on the Web. One of my favorite places to go is Stitcher. They have quality programming to listen, and you can hear content straight from blogs or NPR. You can even listen to Stitcher on your iPhone.

Odeo
http://www.odeo.com
Odeo makes it easy to find, play and enjoy the latest audio and video from around the web. From comedy to cooking, entertainment to education, if it's online, it's on Odeo.

One Minute How To
http://www.oneminutehowto.com
The One Minute How features everyday professionals who tell you how to do something in 1 minute. Everyone knows how to do something, and participants are given 60 seconds to explain that to everyone.

Podomatic
http://www.podomatic.com
Podomatic is a community where you can create, find, and share podcasts. There is a great list of categories to choose from here.

Podscope
http://podscope.com
Podscope lets you search the spoken word for audio and video that interests you.

Stitcher
http://www.stitcher.com
Listen to online content on Stitcher.

4. Audio Books

Audiobooks are great if you are an auditory learner, and you like to listen to things. LibriVox has some great free audiobooks, and you can sign up for Audible.

LibriVox
http://librivox.org
There is a collection of great free audiobooks here that are in the public domain.

Audible
http://www.audible.com
You can sign up for a monthly subscription and get downloadable audiobooks from Audible.

5. Quizzes and Tests

You want to test your skills, or your general knowledge? Quizzes and tests can be fun, and are a great way to test your knowledge on any subject.

Here are some good sites for tests and quizzes to get you started:

All The Tests
http://www.allthetests.com
AllTheTests.com, your route map to the exciting exploration journey into the fascinating world of Internet tests! Here you can find thousands of tests in more than 20 different categories, and you can choose any of them depending where your interests lay. Fun, Personality, IQ tests, Love and Relationship, Quizzes, Fan Tests.

Hello Quizzy
http://www.helloquizzy.com
Great quizzes from everything like favorite movie tests to trivia and funny tests like the The Drama Royalty Test.

Quibblo
http://www.quibblo.com
Quibblo is a survey, poll and quiz site where you can easily your own quiz and take quizzes.

Quizilla
http://www.quizilla.com
With Quizilla you can create your ownn quizzes, stories, polls, lyrics, and poems.

6. Educational and Video Learning Networks:

Would you like to search a collection of video sites to learn something new online? If so, there is a search engine that searches "How do I?" It's an instructional search site.

How Do I?
http://ouseful.open.ac.uk/howdoi
Search for and learn how to do basically anything.

5min
http://www.5min.com
5min provides a videopedia with an abundance of tutorial videos and do it yourself project videos. Some of its cool features include slow-motion and zooming, which are great for learning new skills. It also gives the video creator the option to make a storyboard that helps others better understand the demonstration.

beYOU.tv
http://www.beyou.tv
beYOU.tv provides fitness and wellness video community that lets You take control of your well-being, body, mind and soul. You can download fitness and health videos here that will help you maintain healthy.

Brightstorm
http://www.brightstorm.com
Brightstorm is an online learning network for teens, teachers and parents. If you want to be taught with online videos and you are a student, this site may come in handy for you. It basically levels the playing field for students, so that they can have the same great teachers wherever they go to school. Each of its courses cover the core topics commonly taught in high school subjects across the United States and are designed to help high school students in classes where they need additional help in order reach their full potential and do better in school.

Clip Garden
http://www.clipgarden.com
Clipgarden provides a collection of the best clips from its community. Search our library of 40+ video tutorials from 240+ talented professionals to find your specific solution.

DIY Network and Do It Yourself
http://www.diynetwork.com
http://www.doityourself.com
Are you a home improvement kind of person who likes to do it yourself? Both of these sites will come in handy.

eduFire
http://www.edufire.com
eduFire has one to one tutoring, and classes. It's a video learning network with classes, forums, tutors, students, and flash cards.

Expert Village
http://www.expertvillage.com
ExpertVillage.com offers the largest choice of professionally produced and researched videos, to answer your everyday questions with answers you can trust.

FUGU
http://www.fugu.com
FUGU, is a source for interactive trainings, shows, tips, techniques and instruction on a wealth of topics. Learn online from the experts! When you purchase or view a show (many are free!) it becomes a part of your personal library and you can watch it as many times as you like.

Graspr.com
http://www.graspr.com
Graspr is an instructional video network with how to videos submitted by the community. Some categories include Arts and Crafts, Food and Drink, Home and Garden, and Sports and Recreation.

Helpfulvideo.com
http://www.helpfulvideo.com
Helpfulvideo.com is where you can share videos about everyday knowledge and skills among everyday people. You can even sell your own videos.

Howcast
http://www.howcast.com
Howcast brings together the personality of user-generated content with the quality of a professional video studio to create engaging, informative, and free how-to videos for consumers. It also offers emerging filmmakers an opportunity to gain experience, exposure, and income.

iGot2Know
http://www.igot2know.com
iGot2Know helps you find out stuff you want to know that will help you to learn something, do something, achieve something that can be found in a video.

Know How To
http://www.knowhow.to
Knowhow.to is a clear and simple collaborative website that is creating the largest video library of knowledge in the Computer field. Learn quickly and for free what you are expected to know.

MindBites
http://www.mindbites.com
MindBites is a place learn directly from other real people and share what you know with the world. It provides a self-publishing platform and social marketplace for instructional content, MindBites enables people to share their unique knowledge, skills and passions through audio and video lessons, earning money for themselves or for charity.

MonkeySee
http://www.monkeysee.com
MonkeySee provides free access to a large collection of professionally-produced and user-generated how-to videos. Visitors to MonkeySee will find a rapidly-growing library of videos on a wide variety of topics, presented in deep detail by accomplished, credible experts.

On Networks
http://www.onnetworks.com
Whether you like to travel, cook, meditate, hike, head-bang or just hang with your kids, our original shows are tailored to the things you’re into.

Sclipo
http://www.sclipo.com
Sclipo Is A Social Learning Network. Sclipo helps you to teach and learn just about everything, from technology to languages or cooking, and connects you with people of common interests.

Spongefish
http://www.spongefish.com
SpongeFish is a network that teaches you things that you did not learn in school.

Su Tree
http://www.sutree.com
SuTree is a place learn virtually everything by watching how to videos from all over the web. You can meet people who share your interests as well. You can find a variety of how to videos on how to draw an elephant, how to give a message, how to make origami, how to make pizza, and many more.

TeacherTube
http://www.teachertube.com
TeacherTube is an online community for teachers and home learners to share instructional videos. Videos are educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers.

TrickLife.com
http://www.tricklife.com
TrickLife will show you how to videos in almost anything with topics including computing, craft, electronics, entertainment, hobbies, lifestyle, and romance.

TTiqq
http://www.ttiqq.com
TTiqq has how to videos in technology, sports, performing arts, health, finance, and more.

Tubetorial
http://www.tubetorial.com
Tubetorial delivers free step-by-step video tutorials in a quick and easy serial format that is perfect for busy people. Tutorials include: Web development and technology tips, Internet marketing strategies and techniques, and Legal issues for Internet content producers and marketers.

Tutorials
http://www.tutorials.com
Tutorials.com has been created to deliver the best training available right to your desktop. You can take courses on the Internet in what you want and when you want.

VideoJug
http://www.videojug.com
VideoJug provides expert advice and professional know-how. Its professionally-produced, high definition videos cover every conceivable topic and the site is the definitive online "encyclopedia of life."

Vidipedia
http://www.vidipedia.org
Vidipedia is aspiring to be the Wikipedia of videos. It provides info on Arts, Culture, Geography, History, Nature, People, Politics, Science, and Technology.
Visitors can leave comments, download, and embed videos elsewhere

Viewdo
http://www.viewdo.com
Viewdo provides a free online “how-to” video library covering everything from arts and crafts to style.

VTutorial
http://www.vtutorial.com
VTutorial shows you video tutorials on Photoshop, 3D software, Final Cut Pro, and more.

Watch Do It
http://www.watchdoit.com
Watch Do It helps you find the best how to videos online. WatchDoit was built with the purpose of letting the community decide on which instructional videos provide the best and most useful content.

Wonder How To
http://www.wonderhowto.com
Wonder How To hand selects and curates the best instructional videos from over 1,700 websites. You can explore the largest collection of free how-to videos.

Yobler
http://www.yobler.com
Yobler provides a video learning network.

7. How To Blogs

Lifehacker
http://www.lifehacker.com
Lifehacker, an award-winning daily blog that features tips, shortcuts, and downloads that help you get things done smarter and more efficiently.

Makezine Blog
http://blog.makezine.com
MAKE Magazine brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life. MAKE is loaded with exciting projects that help you make the most of your technology at home and away from home. We celebrate your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.

Tutorial Ninjas
http://tutorialninjas.net
A bunch of tech ninjas provide technology related tutorials in the form of a blog.

Tweako
http://www.tweako.com
Tweako is a user-powered blog site, and social network, serving guides, tutorials, and more in all categories of computing, technology, and the Internet.

8. List Sites

There are plenty of sites that list things, but here at List After List you can find great lists on any sort of topic.

List After List
http://www.listafterlist.com
ListAfterList.com offers you highly desireable information on just about anything that can be put in a list.

43 Things
http://www.43things.com
Learn about people's goals in life.

Hopefully this helps, Corwin!
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