What are the best online courses?
The world of work is changing dynamically and comprehensively. The steady advance of digitization is having a particular impact on companies’ production and work processes as many businesses are investing in complex digitization processes and designing future-oriented strategies. In this context, it is primarily online courses that can promote the skills of a company’s workforce by dealing with new processes and regulations with ongoing training that strengthens the company from within so that it can continue to grow externally.
There are now many opportunities for companies to teach their employees relevant skills for their personal and professional development via online courses. These are often more balanced than university courses or other education methods. They offer participants an unbiased view of the world that goes beyond technical knowledge and are also usually more focused and time-saving. Read here more abou the best online courses.
Why choose online courses and are they worth it?
Online courses not only increase the motivation of your employees, they also improve overall satisfaction and enhance the attractiveness of your company. The form of lifelong learning is key for employees to keep pace with technological and social change and the high degree of flexibility of online courses helps to achieve this. Therefore, continuing education itself should be regarded as a fluid process. In addition to the convenience of being able to complete the courses at any time on practically any electronic device, it also makes sense to adapt learning content individually to the company’s learning objectives. Managers should set a good example by establishing a positive learning culture and showing that lifelong learning is a natural part of everyday work. Above all, the desire to learn is awakened by clearly communicating the value of learning to the individual as it is the curiosity and openness of employees that leads to learning successes being consolidated in the long term. Training has long since ceased to end after school, college or university because online courses have become an important strategic means of enabling employees to deal successfully with constant change.
If your employees have only ever attended face-to-face courses for weeks on end, it would be normal for them to be a bit skeptical at first, even if they’re tech-savvy. However, there are many reasons why online learning is preferable to the outdated traditional approach. Here are some points to look for when choosing the best online courses for yourself or your employees:
Convenience
The biggest advantage of an online course is that the classroom and instructor are available 24/7 so there is no excuse to miss a class. Your employees can receive announcements, access notes, review assignments, complete practice problems, discuss questions, chat with fellow students and learn at any time. Learners create their own schedule over weeks to meet course requirements. Therefore, when selecting a course, care should be taken to ensure that learners always have a contact person available.
Flexibility
The traditional face-to-face event at a university or conference takes place at a fixed location, at a fixed time and with a fixed number of participants. A major risk, especially in the case of mandatory face-to-face events, is a fundamental attitude of rejection on the part of employees due to a lack of motivation and the greater length of time required. Therefore, these events can quickly lead to a lower appreciation for the employees and the knowledge imparted.
Online courses give your employees the flexibility to spend more time with work, family and friends which, as a result, encourages self-organization. Online courses should not be an additional burden, but should be easily integrated into everyday life. With more flexible work schedules and lifestyles, workers could now set their own pace and would not have to worry about buying additional materials.
Affordability
Online courses are often much more affordable than traveling to a seminar or spending hours in a classroom at a university, for which it is not unusual for attendees to have to buy a lot of materials. For many people, the high cost and time commitment could well be a barrier to taking the next step in their career. Online courses, on the other hand, are often less expensive and far more flexible.
Connectivity
Arguably, the internet is the most important invention of the last century, allowing us to connect with virtually any instructor or university in the world, even Harvard. Some courses may take place in other parts of the world, but online learning allows students to learn directly and at their leisure whilst connecting personally with instructors and teachers.
Isolated eLearning (i.e. just reading the content of a course) does not impart lasting knowledge. This is because knowledge is created through reflection, repetition and application of what is being learned. A popular mixture of different methods is known as hybrid learning. This blended learning process is designed to ensure efficient and effective achievement of learning objectives. Different formats, methods and media are used to convey content that blends together in a targeted manner. For example, online training courses are enriched by supplementary classroom formats or virtual events and exchanges between participants.
Variety
The best courses are multimedia. That’s because it has been proven that learning is more efficient when videos, podcasts and images are integrated. Everyone’s disposition varies in many ways, but most respond strongly to visual content. This is one reason why we at lawpilots also place great emphasis on variety in our courses so you will regularly find quizzes and gamifications to lighten up the content.
Self-explanatory
It is of high importance that the navigation is self-explanatory. An online course should be easy to navigate so that the minimum amount of time is spent on understanding the system. Acquiring new skills or improving existing ones should be the main focus.
What are the most in-demand online courses?
The younger generations in particular are very open and competent when it comes to digital applications. Therefore, it is important that managers pay more attention to the large group of 40- to 65-year-old employees, who perhaps have had less experience of using electronic devices, to provide them with digital knowledge and to make them more confident to participate in online courses.
An important factor in motivating lifelong learning is to make the whole thing fun. Modern knowledge transfer is practical and attractively presented. In our online training courses, for example, “Lucy Law” accompanies your employees using multimedia content such as videos or gamifications and sections are concluded with a learning objective test that could be in the form of a quiz.
Furthermore, each graduate of our online training courses receives a certificate that is a form of extrinsic reward that can lead to a mutual increase in motivation.
There are also great online course providers in other areas.
Which website is best for online courses?
Alison
Alison is one of the world’s largest free learning platforms for education and skills training. It’s a for-profit social enterprise that enables anyone to have an introduction to study anything, anywhere, at any time, at any subject level, for free online. They hope to be a catalyst for positive social change by creating opportunity, prosperity and equality for everyone who takes their courses and dedicates themselves to weeks of learning.
Udemy
Udemy is good for those on a budget. It hosts hours of free fast-paced courses by experts, professors, entrepreneurs and professionals with frequent discounts and class specials. In addition to classes in tech, business, and marketing, Udemy also teaches productivity, health, hobbies and lifestyle.
Coursera
Coursera offers cheap courses at university level. From professional development to psychology, history and literature, the courses are taught by professors at top institutions across the globe. Their universities include Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and more.
edX
edX offers university classes and certificates from Harvard, Berkeley, Dartmouth, Georgetown and the University of Chicago, plus more across various departments.
Udacity
Udacity is a software development teacher, offering hours and weeks of free courses in programing and introductions to data science and web development. An interesting nanodegree program is also offered for those who wish to master a skill-set or pursue a full-time career in tech.
LinkedIn Learning
The professional connector offers LinkedIn Learning with thousands of introduction courses in business, design, art, education and technology. As with all its products, it also offers a free one month trial.
General Assembly
One of the few to offer hours of online and in-person classes, the company focuses on well-paced digital skills covering subjects such as digital marketing, iOS and Android development and data analytics.
Skillshare
This clever provider offers short classes to those who have just 15 minutes to spare per day. There are several thousands of classes to choose from on topics such as film, tech and lifestyle.
At lawpilots you have the opportunity to take high-quality and visualized training courses in areas of data protection, compliance, occupational health and safety and information security, as well as individual online training courses for specific industries and positions. lawpilots provides you with the essentials to protect your business from the inside out and get your employees fundamentally involved.
Sources:
- King, T., & Nininger, J. (2019). Quality Improvement in Online Course Development. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 37(7), 349-356.
- Mullane, P. (2021). An Online Course or Degree Can Help You Achieve Career Goals — Here’s How to Pick the Right One.
- Nooijer, J., Schneider, F., & Verstegen, D. (2021). Optimizing Collaborative Learning in Online Courses. The Clinical Teacher, 18(1), 19-23.