Its been a period of exams and general life learnings for me….. so what better way to learn than from the comfort of my bed through online courses right??? Who agrees with me?
I have a love hate relationship with online courses… love because I generally love to learn but hate traditional school. I am also not the best tester in the world and school was just blehhh… In fact.. I daydreamed away 60% of my time in school and avoided ALOT job interviews that required an entrance test..
Nigerian Companies please let’s discuss quickly…. Why would you want to hire a sales person that knows dy/dx in an entrance test over someone who is hopeless at math that doesn’t involve money but is a good communicator and deal closer… I just don’t get it.
Moving on!! I have some apps that I swear by for learning. I like to take courses on a lot of subjects but I focus on Marketing, Coding, Computer science in general, Business, designing etc. I use the following criteria to pick the online learning platforms and courses I use. Heres a list of my Learning goals in 2018.
- Price: Everyone loves free courses but they might not always be the best.. Not because of your level of commitment to it. I use a lot of free courses sha… Anyone that clicks first. I try to pay for the ones that I might need to get a certificate in at some point.
- Offline access: cos I want to download videos when I have free WIFI and watch later… its simple. We all don’t have access to mobile data all the time… especially people like us blessed with Lagos traffic. I want to download videos in app and watch later… It’s also annoying when you are trying to watch a video and its buffering.
- Watch or Read: Its really nice when a video is transcribed or there are alternate texts to read cos sometimes i misplace my earpiece or Im just not in the mood to hear someone elses voice. Theres could also be video lessons and text based lessons. It’s nice when online course platforms to give students this option.
- Mobile App: Just because I Live on my phone.. I prefer online course platforms with a mobile app. Even better when the app is well designed for both IOS and Android.
- Interactive: Udacity has quizzes in between the videos and the teachers are interactive… It makes for a very nice learning experience. If your content or language can’t be understood by a 4 year old then you need to break it down further
- Length: I love short videos… if your video is longer than 2 mins then you have almost lost me.. I like when courses are broken down into smaller bits.
- Range of courses: Design, marketing, coding, etc.. Its nice when you have one good platform that does it all.. The platform might not be excellent in all but its still nice to be able to get all your learnings from one place.
Here’s a list of my fav Online learning platforms below.
- Udacity: Udacity is one of my best learn platform ever.. I signed up for there front end dev and data science scholarship and fingers crossed… check them both out here… Mostly has Tech inclined courses but the content is easy to understand.
- Skillshare: would recommend if you need fancy craft courses. Need to learn how to draw, garden etc… then skill share is an amazing platform.. I was signed up to them for almost a year until Nigerian cards started having issues internationally I couldn’t pay anymore.. The videos can be accessed offline and theres a wide range of topics. They also want more teachers and you can sign up here.
- Pluralsight: Pluralsight is an amazing learning platform that I can’t afford… not only in terms of the money but the general commitment and time etc… I also don’t like the look and feel.. Its dark and “Techie…” I could be quite girlie and UI affects how I learn.. But I couldn’t resist signing up to the free Azure courses sponsored by Microsoft on there… Now the concepts might be a little bit difficult for beginners but its worth checking out. They are also recommended by a lot of major top tech companies.. A certificate from Pluralsight could get you into some doors. It’s the real deal.
- Solo learn for coding: I am currently learning the Python programming language and the lessons here are the best.. For coding. Theres a quiz after every short lesson.. The lessons are short, like 30 seconds each, text based so your data is saved.. The app is accessible offline and you even get a certificate when you are done… I understood phyton only after I had used this app.. No joke. They have other programming languages you can learn.
- Primer: this is a hidden gem for business owners… trust me you’ll love it if you are one.. It covers everything you need to know about marketing, sales and strategy for any kind of business you can imagine.. It’s the mobile app for Learn digital marketing with Google.. I love the interactive cards method used in teaching… I have also gotten so many amazing business tips from here… it’s mind blowing… oh and in case you forgot I was an entrepreneur… check out my baby Yevandaisy here...
- Duolingo: My attempt at learning a language that I will eventually forget. lol. I have started both French and Spanish classes on Duolingo and I have come to accept that I might just need to attend a physical class. Thank God I understand Yoruba; my native language… I can claim to be duo lingual.. Get it? No? ok.
Ill stop here .I use more apps but these are my fav for mobile… We are getting to the middle of Q2 and you should start learning those courses you always wanted to. Whats your favorite online learning app or online learning platform?
Do you have any you would recommend?
Let me know in the comment section below!!!
2 Comments
Pingback: Things to do when you are searching for a Job | Yevandy
Pingback: A look back to 2018 and Goals for 2019. - Yevandy