It can be daunting to take the first step in an online course. You’re up against a barrage of platforms, thousands of courses and you don’t know what you’re doing. But millions of people do just fine every year when starting to learn on the internet—you can too.
There has been a tremendous evolution in the field of online education. No more is a virtual school considered a poor substitute for school. Today, the world’s best universities, fortune 500 companies and industry experts offer online courses that are equal to (and in many cases better than) their classroom courses.
From locating, selecting, and enrolling in your first successful online course, this guide shows you all the steps. No matter if you want to change your career, pick up a new hobby or build new skills, you’ll discover the effective methods that work.
What is a Online Course?
But, before you get into particular platforms and courses, it is essential to understand what online courses are and what they are not.
An online course is a course that is designed, presented and organized in an online format, usually in a learning management system (LMS). Courses, unlike random blog posts or YouTube tutorials, are grouped into a logical sequence, lessons are available to build upon, assessments do their part to test your learning, and projects provide practical application.
The following are the important attributes of a good online course:
- Structured Curriculum – Content is arranged in a logical sequence, as planned by the teaching staff members of each subject area.
- Interactive components – Videos, quizzes, assignments and discussion forums actively involve you in the learning process
- Instructor support – availability of instructors/teaching assistants to answer questions
- Progress Tracking – Easy to see what you’ve done and what you haven’t
- Completion of training – certificates or credentials on completion
- Community – Peer interaction: Forums or group projects
This structure matters. One thing you can learn from a YouTube video, you can learn from a well-designed course how concepts relate to each other, how to apply concepts, and what to do when things go wrong.
The Search Intent – Why Beginners Opt For Internet Courses.
When searching for online courses, most novices are in one of three categories:
Career changers require to be equipped with structured skills in a short time before they can be job ready. They are putting in the time for a particular reason – to get a new job.
Skill builders are looking to grow and improve their existing profession or try something new for a fun pastime. They are flexible and do not necessarily need credentials—they desire knowledge.
Knowledge seekers want to know, are curious. They’re taking courses because they truly care about learning something in-depth.
It’s important to know where you fit in, as it will help you determine which platforms and courses will benefit you. A person looking to change careers has other qualities in mind than a person that is looking at a new interest.
Best Online Course Platforms To Get Started On Right Now:
Coursera
Suitable for: Learners with a focus on career and who want to get recognized qualifications
Coursera works with companies and universities to deliver courses, specializations and even entire courses of study. Their beginner courses have requirements so that they are indeed a beginner course – you don’t get thrusted into intermediate material.
The platform is great for structured learning paths. If you are working towards a “specialization” then you are essentially doing a mini-degree, where several courses are drawn from the same area, and each course is dependent on the other. Capstone projects are often a component of many specializations, which show true competency.
Strengths:
- Quality instruction, via partnerships with the universities and the companies.
- No cost audit (most courses offer no certificate but give access to all content)
- Clear beginner-to-advanced progression
- Trained in a variety of skills and disciplines that can be applied to a range of careers and industries.
Considerations:
- If you are doing multiple specializations, it’ll be expensive (usually it is $39-$49/month subscription).
- Free courses have fixed time limits in some courses
- Lack of features like video streaming and live chat could be a drawback for some users
Realistic scenario: Sarah is interested in moving from marketing to data analysis. She takes the course on Coursera “Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate. A series of five interdependent courses that culminate in a capstone experience building a portfolio with a foundation in spreadsheets and progressing to advanced analytics. She worked part-time for 4 months and now has a credential and project examples she can use in her job search.
Udemy
Suitable for: Learners who want to build niche skills and budget-conscious learners
Unlike Coursera, Udemy doesn’t require any fees to participate in their courses. Courses can be created by anyone, meaning that you are going to find amazing courses, and some not so amazing ones. There is a wide choice – there are courses available on virtually everything!
The quality of the courses on Udemy, however, is not as consistent as with other course providers since each course is developed by individual instructors. But the top teachers on Udemy make for incredibly in-depth and engaging courses at a fraction of the price of competition.
Strengths:
- Extremely affordable (courses are often on sale for $50 – $100 and can be purchased for $10 – $15).
- Large choice of options on virtually any subject matter
- Access to course content for life after purchase
- No scheduling—completely self-paced
- Instructor interaction with Q&A sections
Considerations:
- Many species of plants are not certified for human consumption
- The certificates carry less weight than the university based credentials.
- It’s important to read reviews and research teachers thoroughly
- Not as active as other communities are
Realistic scenario: James wants to learn web design but he only has a limited budget. He buys 3 highly recommended courses from Udemy, one on HTML, one on CSS and one on the principles of web design for a total of $45. There are 20-30 hours of content in each course. He does them at his own speed in the course of 3 months and he creates his own portfolio website. He has spent less money than the cost of one college course, and has learning skills that he can use in his career.
EdX
Used by: Educators and learners
EdX is a joint creation of MIT and Harvard, with the high academic standards of both. Courses are frequently taught by real university professors and are of the same level of rigor as a university course.
The platform was the first to launch into what people call the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) movement. This means that for beginners, they are free to University level content, but they can’t get the certificate without paying.
Strengths:
- Superbly written and skillfully researched
- Complete course materials available free of charge.
- The certificates of recognized institutions hold a lot of weight.
- Good sequence of courses from beginner to advanced level
- Professional certificates for career advancement and/or transfer to a micro master’s program.
Considerations:
- More work than some other options (university level rigor)
- Self-directed learning is not as common as most courses follow a schedule.
- If you would like to have credentials, certificate fees ($50-300+) accumulate.
- The courses are not as interactive as Coursera for most of them.
Realistic scenario: Answer to question 1, Michael is thinking about pursuing a career in computer science, but is not familiar with coding. He is a free student of “Introduction to Computer Science” (CS50) at MIT through edX. Challenging, yet comprehensive course. He has a feeling if he actually likes it or not, without having to pay anything. If he makes up his mind to do it, he knows that the certificates from edX will be trusted in his domain.
LinkedIn learning (linkedin premium)
Level: Entry level or beginner
LinkedIn Learning (previously called Lynda.com) is geared towards the workplace and professional development. Courses tend to be shorter in length (1-4 hours) and are very practical, where you can apply what you have learned directly in your work place.
The platform is also linked to LinkedIn profiles, which means that you can update your professional profile by completing courses, and show new skills to connections.
Strengths:
- Practical, job-focused content
- Quality and professional instruction in production is high.
- Courses can be added on LinkedIn
- Courses sync with LinkedIn profile
- Typically comes with LinkedIn Premium plans
- Skill assessments prove your understanding
- Very beginner-friendly pacing
Considerations:
- Must be a LinkedIn Premium member ($39.99+/month)
- Courses are of a shorter duration than comprehensive courses (less in-depth)
- You can display your certificates on your network, which may or may not be advantageous or pressurizing to some people.
- Udemy or Coursera have a larger selection.
Realistic scenario: Amanda is an HR employee who is interested in improving her project management abilities. She takes the LinkedIn course “Project Management Foundations” for four weeks from her LinkedIn Premium subscription. She includes the new skill in her profile on LinkedIn and in some way uses it when she applies for a promotion as a HR manager.
Skillshare
Effective with: Creative skills and project based learning.
Skillshare’s main focus is in creative disciplines such as design, photography, illustration, music production, writing, and more. The courses are very project-based – learning through doing.
There is a good community spirit. You present your work and get feedback from other students and learn how others did the same task.
Strengths:
- Project-based learning speeds up the learning of practical skills.
- Committed to producing quality work and giving feedback to peers
- Easy to set up and use (Solar and STBs are optional, making the option accessible to anyone regardless of their budget)
- Courses are from 20 minutes to several hours.
- Learning through experience and practice
Considerations:
- Best suited to creative areas
- Certificates are not as professionally recognized as university backed certificates
- Focus on less structured skills such as Coursera for technical skills
- Is not fully utilized if people aren’t involved in it
Realistic scenario: Priya has always had an interest in graphic design and wants to learn the skills to use it as a hobby. She enrolls in Skillshare’s year round membership and enrolls in classes through the site, including “Design Fundamentals for social media” and “Logo Design Bootcamp. She fulfills design projects for every class, receives comments from teachers and classmates, and begins taking on freelance work using the new knowledge and skills. She has spent less than $40 on all of her investments.
For The Beginner, How To Select The Proper Online Course
There are thousands of courses available, you need to select the right ones. One framework that works is:
Step 1: Clarify your Objective
In particular, ask yourself: What is the reason for taking this course?
- To change careers? Look for established qualifications and courses)
- To gain an ability to use in my current occupation? (Professional sites are effective)
- To investigate an interest? This will be more successful on niche platforms and with low cost options.
- To develop a portfolio? (Courses with the most projects are the ones that will help you most)
What is important is what your objective is. An employer will acknowledge the career changer, and a hobbyist will focus on the satisfaction of the job and how quickly he/she can learn.
Step 2: Core Skills You need to Identify
List the specific competencies to be acquired in the course. When learning web development, is it a requirement for front-end, back-end or both? Will it be a design approach, or just code?
Avoid being unclear about your goal such as “learn web development. Instead, go through some job postings in your desired career and make a list of the technical skills that are commonly mentioned.
Step 3: Evaluate Instructor Credibility
The teacher is the key to a course. Investigate:
Background: What do they have for experience? Are they in the profession that they are teaching?
History Teaching: how many courses have they taught? (Volume suggests experience)
Read real student feedback:
- Reviews. Read comments regarding clarity, pacing, and support.
Engagement: Are they able to respond to student questions, in forums or Q&A sections?
A course whose instructor has 10 years industry experience and is actively involved in teaching is more valuable than a course taught by a movie star who has no teaching experience.
Course Content
A well organized course has:
- Clear objectives at beginning of each section
- Diverse methods of content delivery (videos, readings, quizzes, project)
- Increasing levels of challenge throughout, from basic to advanced ideas
- Practical projects or assignments on application of the concepts.
- Capstone Project or final project that brings all this together
Most platforms will have free preview videos – watch these! Are the teaching methods congruent with you? Does the instructor make clear explanations of concepts?
Step 5: Check for Alignment of Time Commitment
The length of the course is important, but misleading. A course marked as “20 hours” may require you to put in 30 hours of work for a thorough course or 15 hours for a course that requires little effort.
Make sure you communicate the time that you have. Are you able to dedicate 5-10 hours of your time each week? Otherwise, select another program that is smaller in scope or a longer amount of calendar time.
Step 6: Evaluate Support & Community
Is there any provision in the course for:
- Any instructors available to answer questions?
- Peer forums or discussion boards?
- TA who mark assignments?
- Feedback of work regularly?
Support is important for all, but particularly for the beginner. If you get stuck (and you will), then readily available assistance helps you learn a lot faster.
Avoiding The Mistakes That Beginners Make (And That You Should Avoid)
Mistake 1: Buying Only Based on Price
When it comes to the price of a course, there’s more to it than just the lowest cost. An outstanding instructor teaching a $15 course at Udemy is better than a free course teaching the same topic with nothing put into the course.
Fix: Do not use price as the key element of the decision, but as a filter. When shopping within your budget, focus on quality and fit.
Mistake 2: You Think You’re More Motivated Than You Actually Are.
Saying “I’ll watch all these 50 hours because I want to” is hardly compatible with work and life.
Remedy: Make sure you are taking courses that reflect your actual time, not your desired time. It’s better to finish a course well rather than three at once.
Mistake 3: Not Doing The Assignments
Many people watch videos, but do not attempt the projects and quizzes to “move faster.
Fix: Complete all assignments. Learning is what occurs when you’re doing a project. They are the distinction between looking at and learning to do.
Avoid making this common mistake: Thinking of Certificates as Job Qualifications.
Completion of a course does not guarantee a job. It indicates development of skills, while employers are concerned about proven skills.
Fix: Create a portfolio of “real” work. Develop work outside of the course. There is nothing more powerful than real examples to demonstrate competency than certificates.
Mistake 4 – Taking Too Advanced Courses
‘But, I will rush into more advanced courses to save time’ might seem like a good idea, but it can have negative effects. If you skip the basics, there will be gaps in your knowledge that will be frustrating afterwards.
Fix: Beginner-level courses may have content that is obvious, but start there anyway. It’s more about foundations than about speed.
Strategies That Will Help You Succeed In Online Courses From Experts
In addition to selecting the appropriate course, the key to success in the course lies in how you do it:
Strategy 1: Formulated Learning Schedule.
Not “I’ll do it when I can” but “I’ll study Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings for 90 minutes.
Creating a specific schedule, even a 5 hour a week one, generates momentum. Your brain becomes accustomed to the routine. You progress consistently.
Strategy 2: Use More Than One Modality Of Learning
Don’t simply watch videos. Also:
- Read for comprehension and study the assigned material or additional reading books.
- Use notetaking to capture information (Enhances memory)
- Join new students and teachers in the course forums and discuss ideas with them.
- Explain it to someone else (brings clarity)
- Use concepts in their own work straight away
Learning is reinforced much better through repetition and variation than by passive viewing of video.
Strategy 3: Create Projects That Are Important To You
While the course projects are your foundation, personal projects increase your mastery. If you are learning the web design, create a website of your real business or portfolio. When learning data analysis, analyze data for a company or industry you have an interest in.
By using real stakes, learning becomes meaningful and it generates portfolio pieces that truly reflect the learning.
Strategy 4 – Connect with the Community
Engage in forums and/or group projects (if applicable to the course). Inquire when in a dilemma. Provide answers to other people’s questions (teaching helps you to learn). Sharing work and asking for feedback.
The class you are in with is your peer group, prospective members of your network. Treat them as such.
Strategy 5 – Review and Spaced Repetition
Once a section is completed spend the time to review the key concepts for 15-20 minutes before beginning a new section.
Studies on learning reveal that spacing your review over several days (e.g. today, 3 days, a week) is an incredibly effective method for long-term retention, so much so that it is much better than cramming!
Is It Worth Taking Online Courses For Beginners?
That’s a problem that needs a frank assessment. For some individuals, online courses are a great option, while for others, it is not an option.
It’s worth doing an online course if you:
- Be able to learn on their own and don’t need to be mentored in person
- Have goals that are in line with the course material
- Can follow through on projects, dedicate time and adhere to the schedule.
- Practice the material with hands-on practice problems for practice tests and exams.
- Learn at your own pace with structured lessons.
- Choose a more economical option as opposed to traditional education
You may not be the best fit for taking an online course if:
- Requires immediate, simultaneous teaching and real time interaction.
- Instruct students to master a motor skill (some sports or activities)
- Thrive on mentoring and relationships in person
- Do not have self-discipline to learn on their own time
- Must have formal university degree qualifications not skill certificates
The straight up answer: Online courses are very useful for learning skills. They have less to offer in the way of a substitute for formal education for careers that demand state licensing (medicine, law, etc.). The best of which are when used in conjunction with your own practice and application.
Common Questions and Answers
Q1. Do Employers Consider Online Course Certificates Valuable?
Answer: This varies depending on the source of the certificate and the field. Having a Google Data Analytics Certificate from Coursera means it is a valuable credential in that field. While less prestigious than a specific Udemy certificate, a generic one still demonstrates a desire to learn and invest in your skills.
The most important thing to employers is proven ability. But, if you have a collection of real-life work or real-world experiences in your use of the course material, the certificate is not as significant. As more people are taking the leap to change their careers without experience, course certificates take on greater significance as proof of competency.
Best approach: Certificates in combination with portfolio of projects and application.
Q2: What Is The Cost Of Online Courses?
Response: There is a wide range of pricing:
- Free: There are a number of universities, including MIT, Harvard and Stanford, that provide free course audits, such as edX.
Some of the advantages of these are that they are budget-friendly, accessible to everyone, and offer a variety of courses. - The middle ground is where LinkedIn Learning ($39.99/month) and Coursera ($39-49/month subscription) fit.
- Premium: University degree programs ($5,000-30,000+)
There are a lot of sites that provide a free trial or free courses to get started. Do not need to spend thousands of dollars to start learning.
Q3: What Is The Time Taken For An Online Course?
Response: Basically, beginner courses are 4-12 weeks in duration of 5-10 hours per week. Some shorter courses (on LinkedIn Learning or Skillshare) are 2-4 weeks. Specialties can be comprehensive, ranging from 3-6 months.
The duration listed is for a part-time effort. You will make more progress if you commit 10 hours or more every week.
Reality check: The stated course duration is the minimum possible. Include 20-30% to allow for assignments, projects and extensive practice.
Q4: Is It Possible To Find A Career Immediately From An On-Line Course?
Answer: It is not going to obtain you a task to finish an internet class. However, with practice, portfolio building and networking it’s a big part of the mix.
Job seekers who transition to a new career usually:
- Complete relevant courses
- Build portfolio projects
- Learn more about your industry.
- Go for a job at entry level with skills and zeal.
This course is a building block. It is through your portfolio and persistence that you get a job.
Q5: What Is The Best First Course To Take As A Beginner?
Answer: The best “first course” is NOT a “beginner” course, it is one with a specific goal.
Learn data analysis from fundamentals of data analysis, not from “Introduction to computer science. When learning UX design, begin with UX design and not web development at large.
Specific beats general. It helps to keep them motivated and shows early practical application.
Q6: Is It A Good Idea To Do More Than One Course At A Time?
Answer: No. Generally, it is advisable for most beginners to take one course at a time.
Multitasking means that multiple content areas are taught at the same time, depth of learning will be limited, and there will be a higher risk of dropping out. After completing one course, move on to another course.
Exception: Very short beginner courses (2-4 hours total) are sometimes able to be combined but traditional courses require full attention.
Q7: What If I Am Having Trouble In A Course?
Answer: “Struggling is normal. It’s where you’re on the verge of knowing; it’s where learning takes place.
If you are thinking of dropping the class, consider:
- Slow down. Spend more time on challenging parts. Rewatch videos.
- Ask for help. Post on Course Forums. Email the instructor.
- Adjust your environment. If concentration is an issue, study at various times or in different locations.
- Change your approach. Use transcripts for videos if they aren’t working. If you don’t like quizzes, put more emphasis on projects.
- Connect conceptually. Make connections between new and familiar information.
There are “bumps” in most courses. This is where community support comes into play.
Doable Next Steps To Begin Today!
Ready to begin? What to do now:
- Make your goal specific. Write it down as a one sentence statement: “I want to learn _____ because _____.
- Find 3-5 courses that match your objective. Read reviews. Watch preview videos.
- Make a decision. Don’t endlessly research. Choose a course and stick to it.
- Make a plan for studying. Schedule it as any other appointment.
- Finish up the first module this week. The most challenging aspect is the initial step. After the first part is done, it’s a natural progression.
The only difference between those who take online classes and those who say they do is that they take the leap and do it.
Conclusion
For the first time, online courses provide the beginner with an unusual and unique chance: to study at an expert’s level, at an affordable price with the ability to learn at your own speed. By the right online course, you can drastically speed up your learning, whether you are pursuing a career change, acquiring new skills or just exploring your interests.
But the platform itself is only infrastructure. Success is contingent on selecting a course that fits your objectives, adhering to the plan, actively participating in the material and utilizing what you learn in actual courses.
The optimum time to begin an on-line course was years ago! The next best time is now! Choose your initial course, and stick with it, and take the first step towards acquiring a new skill.
