TOP 10 SITES FOR ONLINE EDUCATION The advanced technologies have opened
new doors for learning opportunities. Back in the day, it was not easy to learn
something new. But now, there are numerous programs and courses online. Many
people do not find time to enrol for a full-time college course due to various
reasons. That’s why online courses have become popular and helpful. Now, with a
quick search, you will be able to find endless learning opportunities. And the
best part is that you will find many high-quality websites which are completely
free.
Whether if you wish to learn a
completely new thing or improve your existing skill, there is no shortage of
online courses of your choice and subject. However, with tons of online
learning platforms, you may have a dilemma to find the one right for you. As we
understand the increased number of options makes it difficult for you, we have
made a list of 10 websites providing online courses based on their popularity
and traffic. Go ahead, check out each platform and choose the one best-suited
for your needs.
1. Lynda
Lynda is immensely useful for those who are aiming to learn skills related to technology, business and creativity. Lynda.com which was founded in 1995, was the pioneer of the e-learning industry. It is now owned by LinkedIn. Lynda.com has its tutorials in five languages.
Lynda offers a subscription-based video tutorial library. The users can have a free membership and get access to the subscription library for 30 days from signing up. The courses offered by the website are on a wide range of topics including business, design, photography, software development, marketing and many more. If you prefer visual learning, then this platform is the right option for you.
2. Udemy
Udemy is one of the most popular and biggest websites for online courses. The platform offers various courses taught by leading experts. One can select the course of their choice from over 55,000 courses in all sorts of different topics. The free courses on Udemy are similar in concept to Coursera’s. Further, it allows you to build custom courses for lessons. The website offers both free and paid content.
Visit https://www.udemy.com/ and explore the courses. You can download the app and take your lessons anytime. The price ranges for the courses vary from $9 to $500. If these numbers don’t fit your budget, you don’t have to worry as Udemy is known for providing great discounts.
3. Khan Academy
Being a non-profit organisation, Khan Academy aims to provide a free and best education for anyone and anywhere in the world. It was started in 2006 by educator Salman Khan. The site provides micro-lectures, instructional videos and practice assignments to help you develop and sharpen your skills. They have partnered with other post-secondary schools and offers a well-organised interface. What more, almost every course you find on this platform is for free.
Khan Academy focuses more on traditional subjects like mathematics, science, humanities, economics and computer programming. This learning platform provides you with a personalised learning dashboard that empowers the learners to study at their own pace in and outside the classroom.
4. Coursera
Coursera is one of the leading providers of massive open online courses. It has partnered with universities and organisations all over the world to offer universal access to the world’s best education. Some of them include the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, University of Michigan etc.
Coursera has a wide variety of subjects to choose from, anything from data science to musical theory. There are nearly a thousand courses that are completely free. You can click on the category name and you will get a list of free courses from that particular category. The mobile app of coursera could be downloaded to make learning convenient for you. On completion of some courses, you will be awarded the certificate of completion.
5. Alison
If you are looking for free online courses, then Alison is the best option. With 10 million students from all over the world, Alison is one of the biggest learning resources which offers free as well as high-quality courses. You can find courses on health, technology, business, designs and languages.
One can pick from the variety of subjects from the 800 free courses. The website offers certificate and diploma level courses. The students will be required to take assessments and score at least 80 % to pass. The resources provided by Alison will help to develop essential and certified workplace skills.
6. edX
One of the other great options for free online education is edX, which is a non-profit online educational website. It was founded in 2012 by Harvard University and MIT. It focuses on providing high-quality educational content to enhance teaching and learning.
eDX offers fully online courses on psychology, engineering, computer science and much more. To join edX, you just have to select the certificate course option. One of the perks of joining edX is that it issues an official certificate as proof of one’s accomplishment.
7. Futurelearn
FutureLearn is a part of the Open University which is offering course programs from leading educational institutions and organisation partners. For further extensive learning, one can choose their full programs which contain several courses in them.
There are various free courses on subjects like business, law, literature, art, history, study skills, teaching, media and so on. You can learn the course at your own pace from a desktop or mobile device. One of the benefits of FutureLearn is the social learning involved in their programs. It gives the students the opportunity to engage in discussions with others throughout their course.
8. Udacity
Udacity is an e-learning platform that is way cheaper than your traditional schooling. Udacity has dedicated itself to bring higher education into the world inaccessible, affordable and effective ways. It offers online and credentials that will put you ahead in the competition while applying for jobs.
Their well crafted, selected courses focus strongly on technology. So Udacity is the right platform if you are thinking of working in technology. With several courses on data science, iOS, Android, web development and software engineering, you are sure to get the most up to date education.
9. Bloc
Bloc is more of an intensive option as it mainly focuses on web development. This educational website provides a highly structured program which runs for 25 hours per week for several months. Hence, the tuitions provided at Bloc are expensive starting from $4,250. So if you are looking for something cheaper, then Bloc isn’t the right place. However, it is a great option for those who are ready to commit to the career change.
10 Codecademy
What sets Codecademy apart from the other platforms is that it is designed to provide free courses on coding. Unlike other similar websites which teach people how to code at their own pace, Codecademy motivates learners to keep a fast pace. With the use of supportive groups and a gamified points system, the learners are taught how to write the codes necessary to develop interactive websites using the most useful languages.
It offers courses on languages including PHP, JavaScript, Ruby, Python, jQuery etc. By the time the students finish the course, they would be already building and deploying projects. Codecademy features a dashboard which would allow you to monitor your progress. You can also join groups to find people interested in a certain language. Whenever you find yourself in a problem, you can ask for help from the community members.