Exploring ways to use technology in the classroom is always a great idea. Teaching art online is a relatively new concept, but there are already many online platforms for learning about it. We have collected some of the best art teaching apps, and added our impressions on them.
Whether you’re teaching for the first time or want to get paid by your students, learning about platforms for teaching art online can be invaluable. There are several options currently available, but some are more suited for certain users than others. If you’re considering getting creative online, then this is the article for you.
MasterClass
Pros:
- Respected, celebrity teachers
- Professional production quality
- Slick platform design
Cons:
- No professional certificates
- Fairly limited library
- Pricey
On the opposite spectrum from Skillshare is another subscription-based online course platform called MasterClass.
As the name implies, each of the classes is taught by a qualified professional, most of whom are celebrities in their own right.
We’re talking people like Serena Williams, Gordon Ramsay, Alicia Keys, Amy Tan, and Neil Gaiman. If that kind of star power doesn’t draw you in, perhaps the exceptional production quality will finish the job.
An online course platform for the modern era
In today’s celebrity-obsessed world, it’s easier than ever to follow your favorite personalities. Now, thanks to MasterClass, you can get far more than selfies and Twitter quips.
You truly will gain insight into the people at the very top of their fields and how they got there. For any aspiring professional, that’s worth its weight in gold.
A slow drip of new classes
Although each course is meticulously crafted and edited, the biggest weakness of MasterClass is the limited catalog.
At the time of writing, there are over 100 classes, each running 3-4 hours in length on average. Classes also include a downloadable class workbook.
Here’s a breakdown of topics, starting with those with the most classes
- Arts & Entertainment
- Home & Lifestyle
- Writing
- Music
- Business
- Food
- Design & Style
- Sports & Gaming
- Wellness
- Community & Government
- Science & Tech
The vast majority (60%+) fall into that first category, making MasterClass one of the best online course platforms for creatives. New courses are added every month, so you’ll always have something new to watch.
A subscription to MasterClass runs $200 a year, with no options for monthly payments. That’s expensive, but considering the expertise of the teachers, it’s worth the price of entry.
Creativebug
Pros:
- High production values
- Very inexpensive
- Perfect for beginners and hobbyists
Cons:
- No certificates or accreditation
- Mostly for art and sewing
- Few advanced classes
Next up is one of the cheapest online course platforms on the entire list: Creativebug.
It offers excellent creative courses taught by some of your favorite personalities from social media. Expect lots of trendy projects and even downloadable patterns.
If you want a deeper dive into the platform, check out the guide below to learn everything you need to know!
Creativebug courses are typically short and primarily focused on a single task or project, so at the end of each one, you have something to show for it. This kind of class is usually less than 30 minutes, so perfect for a quick watch.
Other courses are more in-depth fundamentals running several hours long. These cover everything you need to know about a certain craft, and are a great way for beginners to get up to speed.
The main categories on the platform are:
- Art & Design
- Sewing
- Quilting
- Paper
- Knitting Crochet
- Food & Home
- Jewelry
- Holiday & Party
- Kids
However, the vast majority cover sewing and art. Don’t expect too many professional-level design courses or small business topics here.
Low pricing and free access
As mentioned above, Creativebug is incredibly affordable. Like Skillshare or MasterClass, it uses a subscription model, with no way to buy individual classes.
However, that subscription is less than $8 a month. There’s a slightly more expensive plan that includes discounts at JOANN fabric stores and the ability to keep one course per month forever, but it still costs less than $10 a month.
Plus, if you pay for a year upfront, you can get all those perks for what works out to $5.95 a month ($71.40).
But that’s not all. As a special promotion, you can get your first month of the service for just $1.
Even better, there’s a chance you already have free access to the platform through your local library. Many libraries around the globe have signed up for the Creativebug Library program, which offers free access to patrons.
To see if your library is participating, click here and scroll down to View all libraries.
Udemy
Pros:
- Huge quantity of courses
- Lifetime access to courses
- Highly qualified teachers
- Frequent course sales
Cons:
- No professional certificates
- Course quality varies
- High non-sale prices
If you’ve spent any amount of time with online course platforms, odds are you’ve encountered Udemy. It has an astounding amount of courses uploaded by teachers all over the planet.
As one of the largest online course platforms around, it has something for everything. That includes not just creative courses, but also courses for business skills, leadership, programming, and more.
Quantity and quality
When I say that Udemy has an astounding amount of courses, I mean it. The platform boasts more than 130,000 online courses in 2021, with new options added every week.
With that many options, the odds are good you’ll find something that interests you. However, not all categories on the site are directed at creatives. Here’s the basic list:
- Development
- Business
- Finance & Accounting
- IT & Software
- Office Productivity
- Personal Development
- Design
- Marketing
- Lifestyle
- Photography & Video
- Heath & Fitness
- Music
- Teaching & Academics
Of these, the most popular are related to business and programming. Still, there are plenty of options for creatives if you search for them.
I’m also happy to report that the course quality is overall quite high. Although they’re user uploaded (so technically anyone can create a course), Udemy does run quality control to keep low-effort content off the platform.
That said, it doesn’t quite match up to platforms with in-house production like Domestika.
Confusing price structure
Although Udemy courses and the platform overall are great, there are some issues with the pricing structure in my opinion.
Retail pricing can reach $100 or even $200 per course, but frequent sales and discounts reduce those prices by as much as 90%.
That’s all well and good, but it leaves you with the feeling that anything less than 90% off is overpaying. Even if the price is still perfectly fair for what the course offers.
And to be clear, this isn’t entirely on Udemy. Instructors can set their own pricing, so by listing the price as permanently 90% off it feels like a bargain.
Still, if you do your research before buying you can find some real gems. There are also a variety of free courses available, although they tend to be much worse than their paid counterparts. Treat them as a test of the platform, but not indicative of the overall quality.
Skillshare
Pros:
- Huge quantity of courses
- Short, focused courses
- Some free courses available
Cons:
- No professional certificates
- Course quality varies
- Requires persistent subscription
Skillshare is yet another online course platform that needs little introduction. With about 2000 free classes and tens of thousands more available for a single subscription fee, it’s one of the largest and most popular platforms out there.
Previously Skillshare also had an extremely generous two-month free trial, but now that’s been reduced to a two-week free trial.
That’s still enough time to enjoy a lot of content before shelling out $19 a month (or $99 a year) for a subscription.
I’ve written a full guide to everything you need to know about Skillshare, but here’s the brief version to get you started.
Hit or miss course quality
One of the defining aspects of Skillshare is the fact that courses can be uploaded by just about anyone.
In the past this lead to an overwhelming amount of low-quality content, but nowadays the platform has put more curation into place. It still doesn’t match up to other online course platforms, but overall the experience is much better.
In a way, this is also one of the platform’s strengths. Even if you don’t want to become a teacher, you can watch courses about the same topic from different teachers to gain a bit more perspective and insight.
All you can eat creative courses
The other truly defining element of Skillshare is that everything is unlocked with a single subscription, called Skillshare Premium.
In total, there are about 30,000 courses available covering a variety of topics. These are mostly creative, with a few tech courses and foreign language courses, too.
Here’s the full list of categories:
- Animation
- Creative Writing
- Film & Video
- Fine Art
- Graphic Design
- Illustration
- Music
- Photography
- UI/UX Design
- Web Development
- Business Analytics
- Freelance & Entrepreneurship
- Leadership & Management
- Marketing
- Lifestyle
- Productivity
There’s a lot on offer here, but if you’re looking for just one type of course or topic, you may be better off sticking to single-payment platforms instead of subscription services.
But if you want to learn tons of different skills and become a Jack of all (creative) trades, Skillshare is probably the best subscription there is.
Coursera
Coursera.org is an online content-based platform that allows its members to have access to numerous courses on art they have listed online. The best part about using Coursera to learn art online is that they are offering different styles of art all under one platform.
From abstract art to contemporary art and to satisfy your creativity in the digital form, they are offering courses for creative graphic designing as well. The membership is free and you can sign-up anytime for a free account.
Once you are signed up, there are multiple levels of courses such as beginner, intermediate and experts that you can choose from according to your preference and the learning style you require.
This will help you to learn the right level of art skills and also gives you the ability to polish your creativity the right way.
Coursera presents only high-quality learning content that is approved by several quality checks to ensure the optimal level of learning online. They offer some salient features including:
• Different levels of courses
• Free membership
• Support by an understanding team
EDX
edX is all about education online. They are a great, passion-driven platform that believes in innovation and wants to take learning experience for all students to a whole new level.
Through edX, you get access to a number of online schools & partners that are participating in their online learning initiative. edX.org presents you with the opportunity to select any school you want and get access to their curriculum online.
They have different types of courses on arts including self-paced and guidance programs that will allow you to get the most impeccable learning experience available online.
There are also some programs and degrees available on the website that you can enroll online and take the classes online on edX.org. You will be learning from the experts and teachers from most reputed institutions online through edx.org.
They offer some great features like:
• A detailed insight on the knowledge
• Professional degrees and programs
• Authentic certifications with courses
• Guidance driven programs
Conclusion:
If you love to teach and learn about art then here are some of the best platforms for free to use art lesson plans and how you can get them. These apps, sites, and tutorials are perfect for students and teachers to learn about painting, drawing, sketching, sculpting, animating, designing, and other types of visual art.