Coursera
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Paid Alternatives to Coursera
These were all the free alternatives of Coursera but there are some paid alternatives as well. Let us explore them below:
This is an online learning platform specifically for creative individuals like hobbyists, artists, etc. The instructors here are those people who practice these skills on the ground and have gained enough experience from their practice to make others learn from them. The platform sticks to this domain only. However, the platform does not offer enough support to the instructors to craft their course content leading to a great variation in the content of different courses.
It is a strong alternative to Coursera being a leading digital learning platform with a reasonable cost for paid courses. Users can upgrade their skills by taking courses from Udemy in various disciplines like cloud computing, photography, business, software development, etc. It comprises over 210,000 courses ranging from arts to technical domains. There is no time limit for completing the course as the students get the content for a lifetime on purchasing it. It is not only reasonable comparatively but also offers discounts. It promotes interactive learning with graded assignments by top industry professionals. But anyone can become an instructor here, so one needs to be careful while choosing the course. However, its certificates lack formal accreditation.
LinkedIn Learning is also a digital platform providing multiple professional courses to enhance your skill set. It consists of video lessons and a very user-friendly interface that even beginners can understand easily. It offers a free trial of one month where you can access 17,000 courses. It is comparatively low in price. However, most of these courses are not updated and rely on old data. It offers a certificate at the end as well which can help in polishing your LinkedIn profile to attract potential employers. However, the certificates are not accredited in institutes outside LinkedIn. You can access the courses in multiple languages.
We have already discussed EdX which is the free version but EdX Verified Track is its paid version. It comes with a certificate at the completion of a certificate. The courses are however very expensive comparatively. You will need to have internet all the time to access the courses as it does not support offline mode. But it comes without any time limit making the courses accessible for all learners at their own schedule. It also offers detailed individual feedback on the assignments. You can connect with the highly ranked world institutes and get your degree from them.
The Udemy Business is yet another platform to polish your skills. This is mostly for organizations who want to train their employees to convert their sales into leads. Mostly, the corporate sector gets benefits from it. Thereby, you can only access it as a team and pay as a team too. The employees will have pressure from the office to complete their courses which are offered by using multiple teaching styles like on-demand learning, immersive learning, and cohort-based learning. However, the burden of management might make the group lethargic.
This digital learning platform specifically focuses on the field of IT incorporating certificates like AI, programming, machine learning, data science, etc. These will not only teach you fundamentals but will also equip you with enough knowledge to solve complex problems. These courses equip the students with hands-on skills to give tough competition to their competitors, especially during job placements. The mode of learning is interactive with a number of quizzes, assignments, projects, etc. to engage students and help them retain information. It even offers many free courses but they are of beginner level only. This is not an affordable choice for many people. If you are taking complex courses, you can feel a level of difficulty in solving assignments and navigating through the website.
This is an online platform to access many courses from instructors but with a paid plan. Students get many reports on their performance while instructors get good revenue without sharing the marketplace.
Masterclass offers high-quality content for its students provided the exceptional instructors it selects. These industry experts generate high revenue because the registration of courses is very high. But the course videos are crafted with great care to give you the best learning experience.
As the name suggests, Code Academy is an alternative to Coursera that specifically deals with coding in twelve different programming languages. The students can learn hands-on skills and professional expertise in Java, HTML, SQL, Python, etc. You can find courses in the technological domain as well like data science, web development, software development, etc. It has a very simple user interface so anyone who does not know much about coding can easily navigate through all features. The mode of learning is interactive as students are engaged using different learning materials like simulations, quizzes, projects, etc. In fact, students can also interact with their like-minded community. The wide range of courses fulfills the demand of the competing IT industry.
Unfortunately, it is not a hundred percent free platform, however, you will get much content in the free plan but this content will only benefit the beginner level. For the advanced topics, you will have to consider the premium membership of Code Academy. There is another issue of the credibility of their certificates when used professionally. The certificates are not accredited making it difficult to add some worth to your portfolio.
This platform is a great opportunity, especially for industry experts who can create their own courses on digital learning platforms. The courses are customized according to the demands of the students. It has a user-friendly interface so any amateur can use the dashboard easily. In fact, tech-savvy can get triggered due to its no-coding nature. It is quite affordable and even offers a free version. Its paid plan starts from $29 per month. Also, it offers rapid reviews of complaints offering great customer support. Users get full support in solving all issues that they face on this platform.
Another remarkable alternative to Coursera is Udacity offering over 50p professional courses that are job-focused Nanodegrees. It was started in 2011 for disciplines like programming, business, computer science, etc. and now has over 160,000 students getting benefits from one-on-one mentoring. The best things about this platform are the individual feedback and practical technical skills and learning as compared to others. These skills are very beneficial and demanding in the job market. It is very user-friendly. It offers very high-cost courses mostly starting from $399 per month but it also provides scholarships coming from third parties as it does not take government funding. It only offers courses in the tech domain and does not hold accreditation for further education.
This digital learning platform specifically targets fields of technology, for instance, data science, web development, software development, game theory, etc. It helps the users in upgrading their skills by accessing practical assignments, video courses, quizzes, etc. One can learn all skills related to tech from this one platform to apply in their career like cyber security, information analysis, IT operations, etc. It also provides cloud development tools for practice. Pluralsight has cloud labs for its users. The courses are available for all levels of individuals like experts, newbies, intermediates, etc. It equips everyone with technological abilities to polish their futures. This platform also uses podcasts as an engaging learning model for many courses.
It has two learning plans, Pluralsight Flow which is specifically for organizations. This learning management system is not only strong but also helps in the optimization of the team’s workflow. The other plan is Pluralsight Skills which is available for self-reliant learners.
The first and the most apparent issue comes with the financial cost. The courses it offers are very highly paid mostly starting from $399 per month. This platform strictly sticks to the technology courses and one cannot find room for other disciplines. The students are provided with pre-recorded classes making the interaction between the instructor and student rare. It can make the course one-way and boring.
There are a number of alternatives to Coursera, some of them are paid while some are entirely free. Coursera is one of the most trusted platforms for online learning because of its wide range of courses and collaborations with multiple universities that are offering their degrees using this platform. These courses vary widely in subjects and topics inculcating every niche like technical, arts, science, business management, linguistics, etc. Another benefit of taking the Coursera course is that you can learn anything from anywhere in this entire world as the platform offers fully remote learning.
With all these pros, Coursera has a few cons as well like the platform is not free of cost. The certificate will cost you nothing, however, you can audit some courses in the free plan. The other issue with Coursera is that you can’t simply manage it in your free time. The courses and degree programs are a bit lengthy and take a lot of time to finish.
These things make people reconsider the need for Coursera and hunt for its alternatives. Coursera undoubtedly is a good platform with global outreach and a great reputation for learning and high-quality content but the sky is the limit and there is always a chance for improvement when one shoe does not fit all.
Free Alternatives to Coursera
The alternatives of Coursera are preferable by many students because of the microlearning opportunities, pricing models, course layout, student experience, etc. Let us start by exploring the free alternatives to Coursera first:
Khan Academy is an online platform specifically for high and elementary school students. It started in 2008 as a non-profit to help students with extra explanations by tutoring the simple concepts of their textbooks. Salman Khan started it with the aim of teaching his cousin who was having difficulty understanding basic concepts in subjects like chemistry, physics, maths, etc. It is equipped with modern ways of learning like whiteboard animations to help with fast learning. However, the content is not aligned with the modern curriculum. The time limit for each course is short so students can easily manage these by side of their studies. An issue with this learning platform is the absence of certificates. You cannot grow your profile with them but you can only learn skills. The onboarding instructions for the students are also limited making it hard for them to navigate.
EdX Audit offers courses in the technical domain covering topics like blockchain technology, digital transformation, biotechnology, data policies, etc. The mode of learning is online. In the audit track, the instructors do not generate direct revenue from the students who can take any course for free. This helps them with building their brand identity and polishing skills in the job market. The assignments are however not graded in the audit track but you will have the chance to learn from the world’s leading institutes like Google, Berkeley, AWS, Harvard, etc. The courses start at a defined time and go on a cohort basis, so you need to get enrolled timely.
Alison Academy is yet another great alternative to Coursera for developing professional skills to apply in your current field. You can upskill your career with their free courses provided virtually. This platform earns revenue from advertising but not directly from the students being free of cost. The offered courses are short so one can take multiple courses at one time. The instructors, however, are not selected on a rigorous vetting process, so any person can slip in as your teacher impacting the quality. Since they do not draw much money from Alison Academy, so they often lack the enthusiasm to put energy into their courses. However, being free the platforms reach many areas worldwide providing free education to students belonging to different backgrounds.
This learning platform is specifically created for university-level students to help them with their courses by extra preparations. It is a product of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology but students can get enroll in other universities as well. The lesson contents are provided free of cost to students. You can benefit from the reputation of MIT. The content that you are being taught can come from the pre-existing lectures of university professors as only those people can become instructors who are already associated with MIT. The website of MIT is outdated making it complex for students to search for appropriate courses. The courses are present online but can be accessed only after downloading which makes it difficult for some people who study using different devices.
This is one of the best alternatives to Coursera providing free online courses to all since 2008. Its motto has not changed over the years making it one of the biggest nonprofits in the domain of open learning. The big news is that the credits that you earn from Saylor Academy’s courses can be used as degree credits in your institute. No direct revenue is generated from the students. Great people enlighten young minds with their thought-provoking leadership fostering a culture of innovation in education. The instructors teaching should be qualified enough to deal with a degree equal to college. However, the website layout is getting outdated now making it harder to understand it.