One of our most frequent advice when it comes to self-improvement and continuous learning in today’s digital era is to sign up for online courses.
That said, there are so many of them available in the world wide web, and that sheer amount can leave you overwhelmed when deciding which one to go for.
Still, it’s important to choose the right online course not only to ensure that your time, money and effort is not put into waste, but also to build the confidence and passion you need towards gaining new knowledge and skills throughout your life.
Here are a few ways to finding an online course worth pursuing:
Set your criteria
Before you start looking up for any online course, ask yourself what course you want to take, why you want to do it and what you hope to gain from the online learning experience.
Some questions to ponder as you establish your criteria include:
- Are you doing it for work or for fun?
- When do you need to start and how long can you spend on being part of it?
- Is there a specific skill that you want to obtain or improve?
- Is there any topic you are particularly interested in?
This set of criteria will be your guide as you search the Internet for the right online course, especially when you have a clearer idea of what you want to learn.
Explore for options
When browsing online courses, do so at legitimate learning sites that partner with professionals to offer high quality educational product and service.
In keeping up with the times, leading companies and tertiary institutions are also offering online courses via Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which give participants free access and unlimited participation to any course of their choice.
These courses can be found on reputable online learning sites such as Udemy, Coursera, edX, Khan Academy and Udacity.
Another renowned MOOC platform is OpenLearning.com, which provides a comprehensive list of MOOCs that are being offered by universities, including those in Malaysia, as seen in this link: https://www.openlearning.com/malaysiamoocs/.
Pay attention to the details
As tempting as certain courses might look to you, it is crucial not to get easily swayed by, for example, how cheap it is or how it guarantees you success purely based on its description.
Thus, make sure to read through every detail of the course in order to understand what the online course entails, such as its content (syllabus, outcomes, etc.), requirements (is it for beginners, intermediate, advanced learners, etc.), pricing (compare prices between similar courses), and flexibility (does the schedule and deadlines allow you to complete the course on time?).
You might also want to take into account reviews and testimonials from former students or professionals, as well as credentials of the course instructor to determine the online course’s validity and quality.
Photo by Lewis Keegan – Skillscouter.com on Unsplash.
