Online learning is one of the fastest-growing new methods of instruction in the world today. It's simple, accessible, and provides a variety of benefits to learners that are traditionally not available when you attend classes on-site.
But what is online learning exactly? Is it for everyone? Let's find out.
Key Takeaways
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What is Online Learning?
Online learning is the choice of taking advantage of educational opportunities that are provided completely online.
Not unlike on-site classes, an online course may require you to do some reading, watch videos, interact with the material, take quizzes or tests and submit assignments.
Online courses offer many benefits, including affordability, convenience, rapid feedback for assignments, equality of access no matter where you live in the world (as long as you have a broadband connection) and 24/7/365 access to content from any time zone.
Many online learning platforms also offer personalized lesson plans based on your learning styles and interests by tailoring the information delivered to you based on a learner profile that you get to complete in advance.
Who Should Consider Online Learning?
Online learning is a great option for people who have time constraints, live in remote rural areas, live in foreign countries with limited educational options, or have mobility impairments.
It's not for everyone though. For some people, the dynamics of online learning may not provide them with the same immediacy as interacting with other students and faculty at school.
And since you learn at your own pace, classes may take longer to complete than if you were taking them in person on a set schedule.
Having said that, online learning can be a life saver for people who are not in a position to attend traditional classes, such as people with certain disabilities that impinge on their mobility, people who cannot afford to take time off work and family, or people who live in parts of the world with no direct access to internationally recognized educational institutions.
Online learning is also a lot more cost-effective than in-person instruction due to the ability of educational institutions to use digital technology to scale worldwide without the expense of opening foreign offices.
This feature, for example, makes it possible for learners to obtain online degrees from world-class universities for a fraction of the cost of on-campus tuition and housing.
The Benefits of Taking an Online Course
While some people may fear that the quality of online learning is substandard compared to on-site learning, or fear their degrees will not be valued by employers, the benefits really outweigh the risks.
As far as the above fears, the quality issue might have been a problem in the early days of the industry when there wasn’t as much course curation taking place, but this is no longer the case.
Nowadays, most platforms offer a scoring mechanism where you can easily identify who the best teachers are before you sign up for classes.
Also, most sites (in fact, all reputable ones) offer generous money-back guarantees, often 30-days in duration, so you can truly immerse yourself in the material with no financial risk.
In terms of value, there’s a growing number of platforms that have created partnerships with top-tier universities, such as Harvard, Yale and MIT, as well as companies such as Google and Amazon, where they offer accredited courses and full online university degrees that are internationally recognized.
As far as benefits are concerned, consider the many advantages of taking an online course: flexibility in your schedule, not having to worry about traffic or commuting, avoiding gas and parking costs, not needing to deal with crowded classrooms and working at your own pace.
How to Get Started?
The first step to getting started is to familiarize yourself with the top online learning platforms on the market. Check out their sites and explore what types of courses they each specialize in.
Step two is to clearly define what your area of study is going to be.
Are you looking to learn a new hobby, perhaps how to play a musical instrument or learn how to paint? If this is the case, there are many platforms that target specific areas of interest — for example Creativelive caters to learners who want to immerse themselves in the creative arts.
Maybe you want to add a new certification to advance in your career without having to attend night school? Many platforms, like Coursera and EdX.org focus on accredited courses recognized by large employers.
Or perhaps, you’re interested in obtaining a masters degree online? To this end, there are a growing number of online learning platforms that have teamed up with leading universities to offer full degrees — two examples are Simplilearn in the U.S. and FutureLearn in the U.K.
The next step is to browse the course catalog of your selected platforms to find the online courses that best fit your needs. Make sure you check for past student feedback about the courses and instructors before you sign up.
The final step is to make your selection and register for your course. Make sure the online learning platform offers a money-back guarantee so that you can back out of it if the course doesn’t meet your expectations.
How Much Does an Online Course Cost?
When it comes to cost, there’s a very wide range of options, from free to multiple thousands of dollars, depending on the depth of training and the level of accreditation you’re seeking.
For example, some platforms like the Khan Academy are completely free, as it’s funded primarily by corporate donations, but it specializes on K-12 students and AP courses.
Some other platforms offer some free courses for beginners so you can get a taste for the content, and then charge on a per use basis for more advanced levels.
Per-use costs can vary greatly, anywhere from $20 or $30 to several hundreds depending on the duration of the course and on whether they’re accredited or not.
If you’re intending on signing up for online courses regularly, some platforms offer a recurring monthly fee — similarly to Netflix — where you can take an unlimited number of online courses from their catalog every month (e.g. Skillshare Premium.)
Where costs can run you into the thousands is for full online degrees with a year-long duration or more.
While this sounds like a large sum of money, it’s just a fraction of the cost of attending the degree-granting universities in person to obtain the same result.
For example, Edx.org offers an online master’s degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin, which is a top-10 ranked computer science school in the U.S. for $10,000. However, in person attendance for the same degree will cost you many times that amount.
Final Thoughts
Online learning is a great way to take your skills and knowledge to the next level while at home, in the office or in any other location.
The benefits of taking online courses are too numerous to list here, but you should definitely consider them if they can help you fulfill your personal goals in a more affordable way while fitting your learning style.
With so many options available for every skill set imaginable, just about anyone can find an affordable online class that will meet their needs.
