Online learning is a great tool for your development. However, today it is very difficult to choose a good resource on the Internet, which will increase your value. There is too much information about such resources. That’s why we chose 7 budget alternatives to Coursera.
Of course, for all those years that Coursera exists, it has become a very valuable and authoritative resource on the Internet. Nevertheless, here you will find it difficult to find a niche of subjects and concepts that are closely related to different geographic technologies.
Coursera is the number one online coaching provider (MOOC) in the world. Registration is free, and after its completion you receive certification. However, in the Coursera some topological and niche courses are not available.
Therefore, we found 7 sites that you can use instead of Coursera.
So let’s look at the first website, which is an excellent alternative to Coursera – Skillshare.
Skillshare
On this site, its creators paid special attention to training. After the completion of the project, everyone can teach at the skill level. Also, there are accreditation courses (and cheap, so they are suitable for students).
Skillshare also has courses that are not related to accreditation.
Benefits:
1. 30-day trial, which gives unlimited access to more than 15,000 courses;
2. Good technical customer support;
3. Cheaper accreditation courses compared to other sites;
4. Availability of a monthly subscription.
Disadvantages: the site is still developing, there are not so many courses on it yet.
Open culture
This site has become very popular among students. And all thanks to a lot of free educational and cultural media. Students from the best universities are trained here (Berkeley, Harvard-MIT, and others). The site resembles the search engine of published courses. You can find these courses only from the websites of these universities.
Benefits:
1. Frequent updating of the list of websites;
2. Availability of free online access to all university courses.
Disadvantages:
1. Courses can’t be created, only listed;
2. There is access only to courses hosted on YouTube or a university-private website;
3. Access is open to the general public.
Udemy
Here you will find both free and paid courses. The database and the number of content creators are much larger than in the Coursera. Each user can become a tutor and train other people. Also on Udemy, you can cooperate with many universities and colleges.
Benefits:
1. A large pool of content and content creators;
2. The site contains only high-quality content;
3. Strict acceptance policy;
4. Presence of a certificate of completion of courses;
5. 30-day return policy.
Disadvantages:
1. Most of the courses are paid;
2. The quality of the content is gradually lower because the non-professional can become an instructor.
edX
This website contains only quality courses that will help advance your career and achieve new heights in professional growth. The registration is free. According to user feedback, the customer support system is also at a high level.
The courses are made keeping the digital trends in mind.
Pros:
1. A good customer support system;
2. Qualitative training courses;
3. Simple interface;
4. Effective curriculum design.
Cons: Although registration is free, you will have to pay for a digital certificate of $ 50-100.
Lunda.com
Lunda offers courses in the form of a video after the subscription (like Udemy). But for a small monthly fee, you will get access to 80,000 courses. That is approximately the same as with a paid red subscription on YouTube.
Benefits:
1. Good customer support;
2. Beautiful interface;
3. Quality content.
Disadvantages: a free subscription gives access to a small number of courses.
Khan Academy
Here you will find educational courses for students, as well as training courses for the tests like sat, Gmat, etc. If to search, you can find basic education courses.
Benefits:
1. Free tools for teachers and parents;
2. Unique concept of quizzes and badges;
3. School educational program and case studies.
This web resource also has two drawbacks:
1. The user must create an identifier;
2. A limited number of courses and instructors.
Udacity
The site was created specifically for professional instructors to teach students online. This is perfectly clear, since this website has many open online courses, and the site itself is registered under for profit educational organization.
Here you will find courses from industry experts. Thanks to them you will increase your level of professionalism and get a chance to find the work of your dream.
Pros:
1. After the course is completed, the value for one’s resume is added;
2. Courses for industry experts.
Free resources for online learning
1. simplylearn.com;
2. Saylor Academy;
3. Canvas.net (for engineers).