21 Mar 6 Online Course Platforms to Help You Learn New Skills
With so many of us in isolation at home right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, never has there been a better time to learn some new skills.
And thanks to a bunch of online course platforms that have been launched in recent years, it’s also never been easier (or more affordable).
Whether you’re interested in picking up a skill purely for pleasure, or thinking about building some knowledge to help you with a side hustle or future career planning, here are 6 online course platforms to check out!
1. Udemy
Udemy is one of the OG online course platforms, having launched a decade ago in 2010. According to the company’s website, they offer over 100,000 courses, so there’s no shortage of options to choose from.
Interested in starting a blog? Udemy’s got a course for that! Want to dabble in graphic design? Udemy’s got a course for that! Or want to learn how to play guitar? Yup, they’ve got a course for that too!
Udemy often has sitewide sales which make their courses highly affordable—most are in the CAD$15-$30 range. So there’s almost no excuse to not give something a try!
2. Skillshare
Like Udemy, Skillshare has been around since 2010, and over that time has amassed a community of over eight million students. Wowza!
Skillshare courses tend to be geared more toward creativity—anything from animation to illustration and photography—but they do offer topics like freelancing, entrepreneurship, and productivity.
Whereas many online learning platforms offer lecture-style courses, the majority of Skillshare’s offerings focus on interaction, so you can create alongside the course’s teacher.
And rather than a pay-per-course model (like Udemy offers), Skillshare operates on a subscription basis. You can choose to pay monthly, or save some moulah and opt for your membership to be billed annually. But, they give you 2 whole months FREE before you’re charged, so you can take it for a test drive.
Not ready to take the plunge into Premium? That’s a-okay! Skillshare offers a whole host of free classes you can take with no catch. And if you like what you see, you can upgrade when you’re ready.
3. CreativeLive
Also founded in 2010, CreativeLive offers something unique: at any given time, a number of their classes are being streamed live, meaning that you at home can watch them as they’re happening. While a class is streaming live, it’s available to view for FREE.
After the live stream of the course is over, it then becomes part of their catalogue, which you can access in a couple of ways. The first is to pay for the class individually. The second is to sign up for the Creator Pass, which unlocks nearly all of their classes for a monthly or annual fee.
Topic-wise, CreativeLive’s courses are primarily geared toward creative pursuits, such as illustration, videography, and sound mixing. But they also have an entire section called “Money & Life” which covers topics such as personal finance, communication skills, and time management.
4. MasterClass
MasterClass is a newer kid on the block, having been launch in 2014, but they’re quickly becoming one of the go-to online learning platforms, in large part because of who teaches the courses.
As the platform’s name implies, its courses are taught by industry experts, or “masters.” Wanna learn how to cook from Gordon Ramsay? You can! Wanna learn how to play tennis from Serena Williams? You can! And who better to teach out about scientific thinking than the great Neil deGrasse Tyson.
While the number of courses offered by MasterClass is quite small in comparison to the other learning platforms mentioned (just over 80, versus thousands), it seems they’re going for quality over quantity.
Operating on a subscription model, you can get in on their action for CAD$20 a month. But, heads up, you’re charged on an annual basis, so the ticket to entry is CAD$240 for the year. Which may sound kinda steep but, if ya break it down by their suggested value of $90 a class, it’s really about the cost of taking 2.5 classes.
5. LinkedIn Learning
Formerly known as Lynda.com, this platform has been around the longest of any mentioned on this list. It was founded in 1995, and operated independently until LinkedIn acquired it in 2015 and switched its name to LinkedIn Learning.
Given its association with the professional social networking site, it makes sense that the bulk of its course offerings are geared toward application in a traditional corporate environment, aka the sitch you’re probably in right now. (But hopefully not for much longer! Am I rite, Rebel? 😉 )
For example, they have courses that will teach you build better PowerPoint presentations, boost your productivity, or help you navigate conversations with your boss. Y’know, super “practical” skills.
But maybe practical skills are just the type you’d like to build right now? If so, then this just might be the right course platform for you! The first month is free, after which it’ll cost ya CAD$34.99 a month, or $24.99 a month if you choose to be billed on an annual basis.
6. edX
edX is unique unto themselves, in that they’re a non-profit organization. Yup, you read that right. How can that be? Well, it’s because the online course platform was founded by two of the top educational institutions in the world—Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University—to offer university-level courses for FREE.
Since 2012, when it was launched, the platform has grown to offer courses from schools around the world in a multitude of subjects, like computer science, environmental studies, medicine, and law.
So what’s the catch? There isn’t one! The courses are completely free to take. The only thing you have to pay for is a verified certificate of completion from the institution that teaches the course, but this is a toootally optional add-on if you feel it would beneficial to have.
This list of online course platforms is by no means comprehensive, as new ones are popping up all the time. If you know of or recommend other ones that are out there, let me know and I’ll add ‘em to the list!
Otherwise, hop to it and happy learning!
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