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It’s a Perfect Time to Study at Home
In the current climate of COVID-19, online learning websites have been going gangbusters. With a virus forcing most of us to rethink what we do and how we do it—especially when it comes to education—learning sites enable us to expand our minds and creative spirit. No matter where you are in the world or how little prior experience you have with a subject, you can learn just about anything, so long as you have an internet connection.
“Learning” isn’t limited to subjects taught in school. There are sites where you can pick up new software skills, become a better manager, study the art of memoir writing, watch a tutorial on how to set up a sewing machine, and listen to a world-renowned master in their field explain how they got there. Are you looking for practical skills? Business skills? Professional development? Inspiration? Or are you a student who needs tutoring in AP History? You can learn any of these things and more.
For this article, we looked at learning websites that anyone can use and which offer non-matriculated learning. In other words, you can’t earn a degree or university credits by completing the lessons. Unlike online colleges and universities, learning websites don’t ask you to apply to their program. Instead, anyone can sign up and indulge their curiosity at their leisure.
We also looked at sites that offer content for free or ask you to pay a subscription to access an expansive catalog of learning. That way, you can indulge your creativity. This is different from websites that sell courses individually, Teachable being a prime example. You can certainly find very good courses on Teachable and other sites like it, but you have to pay for each one individually.
A note on language learning: There are so many excellent websites and apps for learning a foreign language that we have a separate article for them. When you want a language app, you’ll have specific questions, such as: Which one offers the language I want? How much time do I need to spend on it each day? How much does it cost? You might also want to know which apps are better for developing a base vocabulary versus advancing existing skills. Our roundup of the best language learning apps and websites covers all these points and more.
Similarly, PCMag has a separate article on the best courses for learning to create websites. It’s another concrete skill that comes with specific questions. We have another entire article dedicated to the best online courses for Photoshop.
How Do You Learn From a Learning Website?
All the resources included in this roundup of the best learning sites use video as the primary teaching method. Some add interactive quizzes, PDFs, links to additional resources, and discussion areas (usually little more than a section for comments) so that everyone engaged with the material can learn from one another.
Videos can be standalone, although usually, they’re part of a series. A course might contain several hours of videos, but they’re always broken up into parts. The best learning sites take care to plan out how much content goes into each video as well as the sequence of videos. In this way, your learning is cumulative. You’re typically building new ideas or concepts on top of what you’ve already learned.
When quizzes are available, they can be private to you or shared with an administrator or instructor if your login is part of a business account or associated with a formal class or tutoring (in the case of Khan Academy). They help you track how well you’ve retained new information. Some sites offer certificates upon completion. Generally speaking, they are not widely accepted by other institutions, but they may be helpful to you in some cases. For example, if your employer pays for you to have a subscription to a learning website, you can offer these certificates as evidence of using it.
Let’s look more closely at six of the best learning websites, what they offer, and what makes them different.
Get Inspired With MasterClass
MasterClass is an on-demand learning website where you get hours and hours of video featuring top talent talking about their fields. For example, a few of the A-list celebrities with MasterClass courses are Steph Curry discussing basketball, Alice Waters on cooking at home, Penn and Teller on magic, and Ron Howard on filmmaking.
MasterClass is simultaneously binge-worthy, educational, and thought-provoking. The quality alone leaves you whispering, “How is this so good?”
In the recent past, MasterClass has done a good job of improving its lineup of instructors to include more top talent who are people of color and women (it was previously weak in this regard). The catalog of classes is growing all the time. The content is top-rate. And the quality is exceptional.
Khan Academy Teaches the Basics
Khan Academy is a 100-percent free website for educational material. It’s run by a non-profit organization of the same name, and its mission is to make learning accessible to everyone. Whether you’re a student who needs some tutoring in a particular subject or an adult learner in need of a refresher course on economics or world history, Khan has you covered. The website covers math, science, art history, and many other subjects. When appropriate, the courses are labeled according to the grade they match in the American education systems (for example, fifth grade language arts). Khan has courses that tutor students in AP (Advanced Placement) classes, too. There’s even a mobile app with educational content for children ages 2 to 7.
While the courses are expansive, there are some small gaps in the catalog. Khan doesn’t offer classes in music, music appreciation, or foreign languages, for example. It does, however, offer its courses to speakers of other languages, namely, Spanish, French, and Brazilian Portuguese. In other words, you can take Algebra I taught in Spanish rather than English. More language support is in the works. Given what it offers and the fact that it’s entirely free to use, Khan Academy is the best learning site for academic subjects.
Skillshare Focuses on Creatives
If your mantra is “never stop learning,” and you’re a creative type, then Skillshare is for you. This site caters to people with creative outlets and jobs. You can use it to learn a professional skill that has a creative angle, such as selling your homemade wares on Instagram, or to pick up a new hobby, craft, or skill, such as cooking. Skillshare also has some classes taught by celebrities, such as memoirist Mary Carr’s memoir writing course. You’ll find plenty of courses that teach more technical creative skills, such as Photoshop, too.
Many of the courses on Skillshare have additional materials, like worksheets and readings, plus interactive community spaces where students share their work and give feedback to one another. Skillshare offers a world of learning content that can benefit your career, indulge your creativity, or simply help you accomplish something new. The subscription price is fair, too, and you can sample some of the courses for free.
The Great Courses Plus Offers Edutainment
Not all learning needs to be aimed at career advancement or skills development. The Great Courses Plus is a wonderful site where you can learn just for fun about whatever strikes your fancy. This subscription-based streaming service feels like a cross between documentary television and a well-scripted lecture. It blends education and entertainment, with series on the history of the US National Parks, psychology, religion, and more. Some videos are even made in partnership with National Geographic and The History Channel.
You can watch videos from The Great Courses Plus on your computer as well as via Apple TV, Roku, and several other devices. Don’t confuse this “Plus” service with its cousin The Great Courses, where you must pay for each series that you want to watch and own. Plus is a much better offer. If you’re looking for a subscription service where you can watch informational videos, The Great Courses Plus is a perfect fit.
LinkedIn Learning Helps You Brush Up for Business
LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com, offers courses for professionals across a range of topic areas, from software skills to soft business skills. The site is chockablock with courses that teach everything a business professional could need, from management training to entrepreneurship. You get LinkedIn Learning by having a Premium LinkedIn subscription. The subscription comes with other benefits, too, such as advanced features in LinkedIn.
As to the quality of the courses, it’s a bit mixed, and the classification system you use to find classes could be better. Overall, however, it’s one of the best sites for personal and professional development.
Udemy Specializes in Professional Skills Development
Similar to LinkedIn Learning, Udemy’s sweet spot is personal and professional development, with excellent management training, software tutorials, programming courses, and more. You can pay for Udemy courses one by one, but a better deal is to get access to more than 4,000 classes any time you want with a Business subscription. The subscription price is a little high, however, and you need a minimum of five people for that account.
In addition to offering online courses, Udemy welcomes instructors who want to make courses and sell them on the platform. Compared with other sites that host learning content, Udemy has amazing resources for teachers, including a list of in-demand topics that it updates regularly.
Learn at Your Own Pace
The next time you feel like you need some fresh ideas, take a spin through one of these sites and learn something new. You might find yourself caught up in wonderment at new and interesting ideas or taking notes on something useful. The beauty of online learning sites is that they don’t require any commitment, so you can learn what you want at your own pace.
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