Have you ever considered the benefits of an online teaching platform? More and more teachers are considering teaching online since they can reach a larger audience while maintaining their role as an educator. If you are one of those teachers that would like to share your expertise with people around the world, these online platforms will help you do just that.
Whether you’re an educator or a parent who is looking for online learning platforms, this article has all you need. In this article, I’ll be focusing on the top online teaching and learning platforms that are simple to use and offer comprehensive ranges of courses. There’s a subscription-based premium plan, which allows teachers and school instructors to subscribe in order to access courses, while there are numerous free plans that offer limited resources.
Udemy
If you want to learn something, it’s probably on Udemy. The site is less of a unified “platform” and more of a portal or repository where students can access well over 100,000 courses on every topic imaginable.
Language, arts, music, and fitness courses can be found alongside lessons on programming and IT, business skills, teaching, productivity, and much more. There are even categories for personal development and lifestyle, which cover life skills and other techniques that aren’t necessarily the kind of thing you’d get in an academic setting.
There’s not one standard format for a Udemy course—the platform allows instructors to design multimedia lectures with audio, video, and text elements, plus readings, quizzes, and other activities. Udemy allows students to preview classes they’re interested in and does offer a 30-day refund if you’re dissatisfied.
Because each class is created and taught individually, they’re also priced separately: Lifetime access to a single course can range from inexpensive (about $11 to $15) to pricey (roughly $200 or more).
Skillshare
While many online platforms basically provide college-style classes, Skillshare is less formal and aimed more at improving creative skills.
There are business and marketing classes on the platform, but the majority are courses in creative fields, taught by practicing experts in those fields: photography, film, animation, visual arts, writing, interior design, and more. The focus is on teaching practical skills that students can then use to create their own projects. Most courses involve a series of video lessons, combined with assignments for students to practice their skills.
Skillshare has a subscription model, rather than a per-course payment plan, so students who sign up can take as many or as few courses as they want while they’re subscribed. The current pricing is $32 per month, or if you pay for one year upfront, the cost is $168 (which works out to around $14 per month).
That being said, the platform does offer a set of free classes as well, from short, 20-minute videos to longer tutorials of an hour or more. They’re not as in-depth, but they’re a good way to try out potentially interesting topics.
MasterClass
Although MasterClass offers more than just creative courses, its marquee offerings are the ones that put A-list actors, writers, artists, musicians, and more in the teacher’s seat.
And, these aren’t just one-off “talk” style classes: Most courses have around 20 lessons, just like a traditional one, so you get to really dive deep into your topic of choice. If you want to learn about these often-opaque professions, there’s no better way than to hear about it straight from the people who have been successful already.
These courses are video-based, with practical advice and demonstrations mixed in with straightforward lectures, workbooks, and class discussions. You can get TV writing advice from Shonda Rhimes, learn to cook from Gordon Ramsay, take a film class from Martin Scorsese, or explore creative leadership with Anna Wintour.
Since MasterClass is a subscription-based platform, you can take as many sessions as you want within a monthly subscription. The price is about $15 per month for unlimited access, but students have to sign up for one year at a time.
Coursera
Coursera isn’t just a place to take classes that are like college courses—it actually offers real academic courses from real professors and universities at a fraction of the cost of getting an online degree.
The platform partners with over 200 universities and companies to provide real learning experiences that can connect to real-world benefits. In some cases, you can even earn certifications or degrees entirely through Coursera, which can then potentially lead to professional benefits like raises, promotions, and more. Even if you’re not looking for professional development reasons, Coursera offers challenging and interesting classes on plenty of topics, so you can explore interests you might not have had before.
The platform allows for multimedia courses, so professors can construct classes, upload videos, assign and grade quizzes and homework assignments, and other elements that would be present in a “real” online college class.
Each course is individually priced (the cheapest start around $30 to $40 and increase from there), although there are some instances where you can purchase a bundle of courses at once (and sometimes at a discount) as a “track” or certification/degree program. You can also get unlimited access to over 3,000 courses with Coursera Plus for $399 a year. It’s pretty much the closest you’ll get to the online college experience without enrolling in college.
EdX
EdX has a high-end pedigree—it was founded by Harvard and MIT—but an accessible system.
Real college courses, created and taught by real college instructors, are available in a huge array of fields and topics. They do lean slightly toward STEM fields, but there are plenty of languages, humanities, and arts topics, too. Partnering with several universities, EdX offers professional degree certificates, plus “micro” degree programs at the bachelor’s and master’s levels, largely as a tool for professional development.
Through a partnership with Arizona State University, they also offer a “Global Freshman Academy” to earn transferrable undergrad credits for select lessons. Classes are similar to “real” online courses: Lectures, reading material, assignments, discussions, and quizzes are just some of the elements you may encounter.
The big selling point for EdX is that the majority of their courses are free—but there’s a catch. If you’re just taking the class for your own learning experience, the free version will probably work, but if you want to have formal verification for professional reasons, the “verified certificate” option costs about $49 per class.
Each course does have an official “start date,” cycling over and over again, but once the session begins, students can proceed at their own pace.
Udacity
Tech skills are among the most marketable classes you can take on your own time, and Udacity has courses in all of the most in-demand fields.
The platform is designed as a variation on the “coding bootcamp” style of learning, with programs focused on web development, programming, cloud computing, and data science. Whether you’re a total newbie trying to develop a new skill set, or you’re looking to expand your knowledge of a certain topic, there’s probably a course at the right level for you.
Each program includes hands-on practice, real-world applications and examples, individual code reviews, and real instructors and career coaches who can address your individual needs.
Udacity’s platform is a little different than some of the others on the market. Rather than focusing on individual classes, their primary offering is a “nanodegree”—a bootcamp-esque programs which includes multiple lessons, projects, personalized reviews, class discussions, and one-on-one technical mentoring by experts. Most programs require one to five months of part-time study, depending on the subject.
All these features do come with a price tag, though: It’s about $399 monthly, or roughly $597 for students who buy the full four months at once.
Pluralsight
Designed with working professionals in mind, Pluralsight offers courses in subjects like software development, data science, information and cybersecurity, and more.
Students can take individual courses, but Pluralsight strongly encourages you to take one of its “paths.” These programs are like mini-degrees: a series of connected courses in a specific area of expertise, such as individual programming languages, security certifications, creative skills in particular software, and so on. These preset paths take the guesswork out of learning—plus, you can do a quick pretest to set your skill level, which adds more customization.
The course library includes more than 7,500 individual classes across hundreds of paths, and even if you’re not ready to tackle a full-length pack, you can dip your toe in with individual courses that are only a couple hours long.
Regardless of how few or how many classes (or paths) you want to pursue, the price is the same about $29 per month for a personal plan (or roughly $299 for a complete year at a slight discount). There’s a premium option, too, for around $449 per year, which includes all the regular features and courses, plus additional interactive courses and industry-standard practice exams for several professional certifications.
Mindvalley
Price:
Mindvalley All Access Membership (includes unlimited access to 50+ courses) – $499/year
Mindvalley Membership Pro ( includes everything that Mindvalley Membership does plus Exclusive Peer Mastermind Groups and Monthly Group Coaching with Vishen and Special Guests) – $999/year
Mindvalley Individual Courses – $199-$499/quest
Library:
50+ courses
Accreditation:
No
Free Trial:
Yes (7–day free trial)
In my opinion, Mindvalley is one of the best personal growth and transformation platforms. Its goal is to help students succeed at work while also unlocking the full potential of their body, mind, and spirit. Mindvalley is best suitable for people who want to improve different areas of their life in a short period of time.
There are over 50 courses (or quests) in Mindvalley’s library, taught by top experts in the fields of expertise: CEOs of large companies, best-selling authors, celebrity coaches, famous therapists and entrepreneurs, and international speakers. The quests are divided into different categories: Mind, Body, Soul, Career, Entrepreneurship, Relationships, Kids, Teens and Parenting, and Performance.
Each quest lasts 30 to 50 days, and it usually takes less than 20 minutes a day to complete a video-based lesson and a practice exercise.
Mindvalley Membership costs $499 per year and includes unlimited access to all quests plus many perks like official certifications for completed quests, monthly live coaching calls with Mindvalley’s authors, and even a 22-minute assessment that will help you determine the areas in life you need to focus on. I think that the price is a steal, considering how much you are getting for your money.
Conclusion:
If you’re not using an online platform to facilitate your learning, you’re missing out. Platforms like EduGig and Teachur offer tons of fun and engaging ways to learn, and the TEDx community is filled with online educators who can provide us with the best teaching platforms. It’s really the wave of the future — using these powerful online platforms to improve our knowledge and skills.