Sites that Made Me Improve Continuously
With access to the internet becoming a basic human right, almost everyone has access to various platforms that provide education around the globe. Gone are the days where a student from a developing country is deprived of a good education due to physical distancing from good educational institutions. Now, most of the educational institutions are providing their course material online, making it accessible to anyone connected to the internet.
Out of the numerous online education courses that are available today, below are some that I have personally tried and gained much knowledge. They offer courses on a variety of subject matter such as technology, sciences, business and even arts.
1. Coursera
Coursera is a fantastic site which offers a variety of courses from well-known universities and organizations around the world. The courses which are offered are delivered by a set of experienced lecture panel. Also, this site offers specializations as well as degree programs. At the end of the course or the specialization, you are awarded a certificate of completion. This is one of the major perks of Coursera, as you can use that certificate as proof of what you have studied, on a platform like LinkedIn.
Specialization comprises of several courses, on a specific subject matter, starting from the basics up to some advanced content. To complete one course it will take roughly a week and a specialization will span up to a few months. This site also offers degree programs from some highly reputed universities as well. It might run-up to a few years.
Coursera has been able to change the way the education was offered. Now people get the opportunity to attend lectures and learn online from a just of click of a button, from a university far far away. I should also mention that the material and the exams designed for courses and specializations are of really high quality which covers almost all the aspects which are taught. They also offer courses conducted by partner organization such as Google, AWS, IBM, PwC, AICPA
I myself have completed a couple of courses and specializations in Project Management from Coursera. It was indeed a great channel. I was able to enhance and learn something new which added value. They also have exams for all the courses they offer to check the student understanding of the subject matter being taught. This means Coursera is not a site that you just can get the certifications by simply going through videos. You should follow and make notes of the lectures in order to get through, as without completing all the exams, you will not be able to complete the course and achieve the certificate.
Coursera offers two options as to how you can take one of their courses. Audit the Course and Take Course. If you consider the Audit option, you can go through the whole course but no certifications would be awarded. The exams will not be graded but all the other content will be made available to you. This option is good if you simply want to brush up your knowledge on something you are already familiar with. With the Take Course option, the entire course with the course material, exams and the certificate are made available for you.
They charge USD 49 for one month. During this time, you can complete any number of courses for this fixed price for a month.
You can visit Coursera to get a whole lot of information about the courses, specialisations and degrees they offer.
2. Udemy
Udemy is another great site which offers the users with a variety of certifications. This too has a lot of courses to offer the users.
The only drawback is the courses are not offered by any universities but by from Udemy itself.
The courses require payment at the time of registering, and the amount depends on the course. I have had tried a Course from Udemy as well which is on SAP Crystal Reports Designing. It was a complete course which consisted of 79 videos. It almost covered all the parts in Crystal Reports Development from basics to the complex, and as someone completely new to Crystal Reports, I gained a complete understanding of the tool and its practices. It was indeed a great course which helped me to learn new technology.
The courses are structured in a way to give the maximum to the student by providing videos and links which are relevant. I would indeed say the money spent was worth it, from what I learnt.
The process for Udemy can vary from around USD 9, up to around USD 30. However, I have seen there are flash deals on Udemy quote often, where you can purchase a course on big discounts.
3. LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning is another great way to enhance knowledge in specific areas. This is offered by LinkedIn itself and have some great courses on the latest subjects.
Anyhow to follow LinkedIn Learning you should become a Premium Member which costs about USD 30 a month. In my opinion, it would be worth the investment.
LinkedIn would suggest you courses depending on the skills you have added to the profile which will enable to brush up and enhance the knowledge in those particular areas.
Also once the certification is completed a certificate would be offered by LinkedIn Learning, that you can add to the LinkedIn profile.
My take out of the 3 platforms
All 3 mentioned above are great sites and platforms which offer fantastic content for the users. Coming from a technical background, all these sites were quite useful in enhancing my knowledge. All consists of great courses, specialisations, degrees, videos and learning material. Anyhow, I prefer to use Coursera because of the courses it has are more relevant for my field that I’m willing to pursue in the future.
It would depend on the courses that you want to take and the method you prefer. If you are a person who likes to learn more from videos Udemy is a great option. If you want a combination of both videos and learning material Coursera would be the option. If you are planning to learn something in a shorter span of time while been engaged with the people, LinkedIn would be the option.
It all depends on your methods of learning and what you expect to achieve at the end😊.
When you continue to learn it automatically becomes a habit. When you invest more and more time on learning you can see how much you improved yourself. This is a great feeling indeed. On the other hand as a result of you enhancing your knowledge, you get the opportunity to add more and more qualifications under your name which would improve your employability.
Apart from those mentioned above, there are many other platforms which offer online learning such as,
