How to Choose the Best Online Courses

Has the pandemic affected your learning? 

Are you looking for a reliable source of knowledge?

Don’t worry! If you are reading this article then you are at the right place.

This article is focused on getting clarity on how to choose the best online course that will help you enrich your knowledge and build a better career of your choice.

Due to the pandemic, there are a plethora of online courses available to everyone but choosing the right one from the right source is the GameChanger in anyone’s career.

Therefore, the focus of this article is to get you the right one from an authentic source.

First of all, let’s learn the necessity of opting for online courses.

Related: Why Online Courses are Better than College

Why Online Courses Matter

The 21st century has shaped the education system in an entirely new and innovative way, wherein technology has played a vital role in bringing the concept of online courses into our lives.

It is sweeping into the education system rapidly and more efficiently, making knowledge accessible to all.

The way we learn today is no longer the same as how it used to be decades ago.

The concept of remote learning, online classes, and hence the online courses got an acceleration with the onset of pandemics. 

With the surge in demand for online courses among the learners, there we witnessed an emerging platform that came up with various offering online courses. Some of them provided courses free of cost, whereas others charged some reasonable amount.

Online courses break the barriers to learning, especially the geographical barrier which restricts many inquisitive learners to gain knowledge and build careers. One can upskill one’s existing skills by opting for any of the suitable online courses. It is one of the most convenient ways to sit at home and learn from your favorite educators.

Benefits of Online Courses

There are many benefits of online courses which you will get to know in the following sections:

1. Flexible Schedule

In this busy world, all we need is an extra hand on time. Time to learn and educate oneself.  But, do we really have this extra hour when we can learn something new and useful to enhance and expand our knowledge base.

Also, visiting an institution will certainly cost you extra time, resources, and money to commute. For example, why not complete a course and get certified sitting in country “X” which earlier required you to spend on all the resources in visiting country “Y” which originally provided the course of your choice.

But, when you opt for an online course, it gives you the liberty to switch to the desired course at any time, at your own pace breaking all such barriers.

2. Stay Updated with the Trend

Keeping pace with the ongoing trends is an important part of evolving in life. For example, had there not been AI and Data Science, it would have been tougher for giant companies to come up with new products and other technologies to cater to the needs of the current generation.

You can enroll in an online course to stay updated with trending technologies such as  AI, Data Science, and other programming languages to get a kick start in your career.

3. Choice of Courses

The conventional way of teaching and learning has its own limitations, where students had to visit a particular place to learn confined subjects only.

For example, a learner who is pursuing engineering at an “A” institution cannot study psychology or any subject other than engineering in the same institution.

But, the availability of online courses has resolved this issue of multiple choices of learning for an inquisitive learner.

Things to Consider while Buying Online Courses

Since online courses are affordable, convenient, and flexible, the market has expanded its wings to flourish and evolve even faster to the COVID-19. 

But you must keep a few points before you buy any online courses.

Have a look at the following factors:

1. Figure Out How You Learn the Best

The most important thing while choosing the best online courses is how you prefer to learn. For example, some people prefer written tutorials over video tutorials whereas some people are the complete opposite.

So before you sign up for the course, make sure to figure out that it meets the criteria that you are looking for. If it’s not mentioned in the course description, you can contact the creator/seller via email to clarify your doubts.

2. Choose the Relevant Topic

Before you opt for any online course, make sure you are picking up the trending topics, which have relevance to today’s world.

Courses such as Artificial intelligence, Data Science, Internet of Things (IoT), Python, Java, CSS, JavaScript, etc. can help you build a better career.

Also, check the fluency, course structure, and duration of the course.

3. Evaluate the Subject Logically

Much like offline shopping in malls or shops, many people end up buying courses that they don’t even need at the time.

Do not stumble upon any random online course. Evaluate the course logically, make sure that you really need it, look for online reviews to know what other students are saying, compare the course with other available courses, the market demand, and competition.

And finally, you can grab the course of your choice.

4. What the Demo Videos First

Most of the online courses today provide a few demo videos for free to give you an idea about the instructor’s teaching style and what you can expect from the course — make sure to watch them first before making any decisions.

Demo videos help you in checking the level of interaction and engagement in the tone of the speaker. Also, they give you an overall idea about the course.

This will give an insight into the delivery and quality of content that the course will provide throughout the learning process.

5. Read the Course Description Thoroughly

The course description is the most important thing to check before actually buying a course. Most of the time, you will have a good idea of what are the topics that are being covered in the course.

Also, you will know if the course is for advanced, intermediate, or beginner level students and how deep it goes into the topic.

6. Check the Flexibility

Usually, all the courses are flexible in nature, that is, you can access them at any time as per your convenience. But, it’s always good to have double-checked with wherever we are investing money in.

Sometimes, some courses are available only for a limited period of time and some are only available through live classes at a fixed time.

7. Certification Availability

If you need a certification after completion of the course, make sure to find it beforehand. While most of the courses do offer completion certificates but some do not.

Most of the time you will find these details mentioned somewhere on the course page but if it’s not mentioned, contact the seller to talk further about it.

Some Statistics about the eLearning Market

• An amazing number of 6,932,074 students enrolled in online courses in America’s degree-granting institutions in 2018. Most of the students who enrolled were found to be undergraduates.
• More than 40% of Fortune 500 companies are using e-learning regularly and extensively.
• 43% of U.S. college students found digital study technologies extremely helpful for doing homework.
• By 2025, the massive open online course (MOOC) market could be worth $25.33 billion. [Source]
• In 2017, approximately 77% of US corporations used online learning, but 98% planned to incorporate it in their program by 2020.
• E-learning increases retention rates by 25% to 60%.
• IBM saved approximately $200 million after switching to e-learning. [Source]

Conclusion

After having read the article, I hope you now have the power to discern how to choose the right course and the ways which may help you to an extent in deciding the right course.

If you have a related query, feel free to let us know in the comment below.

Also, kindly share the information with the people who you think might be interested in reading it.