Online education is a great trend, and there are a lot of benefits to using online learning platforms. With the massive growth of online platforms, it can be hard to know which one should you use.
In this article, you’ll discover the best online learning platforms that will have great impact in your endeavour.
Coursera
As one of the top providers of massive open online courses, Coursera partners with universities and organizations around the world to provide a wide range of in-depth courses, both paid and unpaid to learners across the world.
Coursera has one of the largest numbers of university partners, courses, specializations and degree programmes available.
With nearly a thousand courses free, Coursera courses include recorded video lectures by experts from top colleges and organizations. Most of these courses provide a certificate of completion at the end of the course.
LinkedIn Learning
Formerly popular by the name Lynda, LinkedIn Learning is one of the top online learning platforms that offer extensive courses and a tutorial library that covers topics in business, creativity and technology.Related Scholarships In The US, UK, Canada, and Australia In 2022
This is also another learning site that offers both free and paid content by experts. These courses range in expertise from beginner to advanced level, awarding certificates upon completion of a course. With subscriptions starting at $20 per month, LinkedIn Learning offers a free 30 days trial for new users to test the waters.
edX
edX is one of the most prominent global nonprofit online learning platforms, it was founded by Harvard and MIT. Through its collaboration with top universities and institutions around the world, edX, seeks to remove the barriers of cost, location and access, from traditional education while providing high-quality content.
Most of edX’s courses are free, however, there is a fee for getting a verified certificate upon completion of a course.
Udacity
Udacity is one of the online learnng platforms with a strong focus on technology, offering free courses in programming, data science and web development.
This platform offers online courses and credentials that teach students the skills that are currently in demand by industry employers. Udacity provides a nanodegree programme for learners who want to master a skill set or start a career in tech. These courses include real-world projects and are taught by experts who provide feedback on tasks completed.
Academic Earth
Academic Earth is another of the top online learning platforms that offers a collection of free online courses from high-ranking universities and colleges across the world.
This site allows you to find specific courses by universities or subjects on the search list. Academic Earth collection of courses are designed to suit both personal and professional needs.
Alison
Alison offers free online courses in education and skill training created by experts in various fields. The platform provides resources designed to suit the needs of students, job seekers, and other types of learners. It targets all kinds of learners, from professionals and managers to teachers and freelancers. Alison also allows you to track all your courses to observe your learning progress.
There are so many online learning platforms offering courses across various disciplines. These sites offer courses to complete a degree, earn a certificate, learn some skills to advance in a career or gain knowledge in an entirely different field. Online courses are a perfect way for people to learn at their own pace with access to endless resources.
Udemy
Udemy is one of the most popular online course marketplaces on the web. This educational platform has more than 40 million students and 50 thousand instructors and subject matter experts creating online courses.
Udemy makes course creation possible for everyone with the possibility of acquiring new skills. In doing so, it offers a range of online learning materials including PDF documents, PowerPoint, text, and video content amongst many others.
Udemy is among the most popular online learning platforms and offers courses in various professional fields as well as specific skill development courses taught by expert instructors. These online courses are a combination of free and paid content.
The paid courses on Udemy range from $13 to $500, with frequent discounts and class specials, depending on the level of specialization.
Udemy adopts a concept similar to Coursera for their free courses and also allows learners on the platform to build custom courses from lessons. Experts in various fields can create and launch their courses on Udemy for learners on the platform’s massive user base.
It is open to instructors to join Udemy and start teaching online, but it takes a huge piece of the pie from the revenue and has control over pricing and discounting the course.
Pros:
- There is no setup cost. (for instructors)
- It is geared towards self-paced learning and video courses.
- There is no need for highly technical knowledge.
- There is an Udemy app available for iOS and Android.
Cons:
- There is very limited interaction with students. (both for students and instructors)
- There is high competition between course creators. (for instructors)
- There is no possibility of personal branding. (for instructors)
- It has control over prices and often sells courses for incredibly low prices. (for instructors)
- There is no data ownership or control over branding – It keeps emails, user data, and does not share this information with their instructors. (for instructors)
- Visibility depends on your own marketing, the platform only promotes courses that are already popular. (for instructors)
Who is it for?
Students: Udemy has a course for almost every discipline, but always read the reviews before buying one. Quality is not consistent.
Instructors: It’s great for teachers, instructors, educators, and freelancers who are just starting out.
Pricing / Revenue (for instructors):
- No starting fee but very high commissions on sales of up to 75%.
- 50% per course sale when students come through organic search on Udemy or search engines.
- 75% when students come through their paid user acquisition channel.
- 97% on course sales when you sell through your own links. Udemy keeps a 3% administration fee.
*Pricing information retrieved from Udemy Support on 10th July 2020.
Coursera
Coursera is an online education platform with 23 million users, that is dedicated to offering high-quality online training courses worldwide. While partnering with world-class universities and businesses, it provides students the opportunity to receive certifications from renowned institutions upon joining their paid courses.
Coursera offers individual courses, specialized courses, and degree programs that support on-demand video lectures, homework exercises, peer-reviewed assignments, and community discussion forums.
Pros:
- It offers a variety of learning options and activities.
- It awards students with different types of certificates and degrees.
- It offers high-quality educational tools and instructor interactions. (for instructors)
Cons:
- It is limited to educators in partner institutions. (for instructors)
- Its course creation options are less flexible compared to other platforms. (for instructors)
Who is it for?
Students: Anyone who wants to learn from prestigious institutions, whether they are looking for an one-off course, a certification or online degree.
Instructors: It is aimed for professors who are based at a HE partner institution or business.
Pricing:
Coursera offers free courses, subscriptions and one-off payments depending on the course or program.
Skillshare
Skillshare is another popular course marketplace that has more than 4 million students and up to 24,000 lessons in various disciplines. Course lessons last from 20 to 60 minutes and are made out of a series of small videos, class projects, and a student community that encourages interaction through discussion forums.
Classes are divided into 4 categories:
Creative arts: from graphic design to fine art, cooking, and music production.
Technology: including data science, web design, and e-commerce.
Business: finance, accounting, project management.
Lifestyle: teaching, languages, gaming, and wellness.
Pros:
- It offers a supportive discussion forum where students exchange feedback.
- It provides the ability to take many courses for the same price.
Cons:
- Its class content is limited to only four categories.
- There is no certificate of completion or any other formal recognition.
Who is it for?
Students: It is suitable for students interested in the creative arts, technology, business and lifestyle classes as mentioned above.
Instructors: It’s great for instructors who are in the creative field and want to make a side income. Instructors can make money through Skillshare’s royalty system and their referral program.
Pricing:
Students: After a 14-day free trial, the pricing is $15 per month for access in all the courses.
Instructors: Free to join, but it comes with specific class guidelines you need to follow.
Skillshare pays instructors based on minutes watched from their course and premium referrals.
edX & Open edX
EdX.org (course marketplace) and Open-edX are two sides of the same coin. EdX is the learning platform where students find online courses from various universities and Open-edX is an open-source content management system. They were created by a team of scientists from Harvard University and MIT with the goal to provide online university-level education across the globe.
EdX.org has powered more than 8,000 online courses from 100 prestigious universities and businesses that are currently offering higher education in many disciplines. They mainly specialize in the sciences – engineering, computer science, data science, math, humanities, business, and management.
Pros:
- It is free and open-source. (for instructors)
- It has an app that is available on iOS and Android.
- Its online classes are interactive, allowing students to chip in.
Cons:
- Its discussion forums seem to be outdated and difficult to navigate.
- It requires technical knowledge or hiring a developer/web-designer to implement. (for instructors)
- It comes with the additional costs of a self-hosted server and its maintenance. (for instructors
Who is it for?
Students: EdX has a very diverse library of courses suitable for most ages looking to learn a subject or new skills.
Instructors (Open-edX): It’s great for businesses who can afford a team or outsource the development and maintenance of the platform in their own servers.
Pricing for Instructors:
Free to join, but there may be additional costs on procuring a server and system support and in getting expert help from Open-edX’s service providers or freelancers whose pricing varies according to your project’s requirements and budget.
For more information on Open-edX course creation expenses check out this guide.
Conclusion
The internet has been a source of information for a long time now. That’s why people find it helpful to use the internet as a form of learning. There are a number of online learning platforms available today. These days, you can take a lot of courses online, and a few of them are even free.