Online Learning WebSite # 1 : Udemy
Udemy is for professional adults and students. As of January 2020, the online education website has 295+ million course enrollments. Students and instructors come from 190+ countries. And 2/3 of students are international. Udemy also has 5,000+ enterprise customers. And 80% of Fortune 100 companies use Udemy for employee upskilling. Students take courses to improve job-related skills. Some courses generate credit toward technical certification. Udemy attracts corporate trainers seeking to create coursework for employees of their company. Any trending topic out there today, you will find on Udemy.
Enrolled users: 50 million+
No. of instructors: 57,000 instructors
Language(s) of instruction: 65+
No. of courses: 150,000+
Instructors’ qualifications: Trained Online Instructors to Industry Experts
Fee range: $20 – $200
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- Diverse contents are offered.
- The institutions and their faculty is top-notch.
- Some offered courses are very affordable.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- Only some of the courses are completely free.
- Anyone can be an instructor these days. So, you might come across some inexperienced instructors.
Sample free courses: Introduction to Python Programming
Average User Rating: 4.9
Online Learning Website # 2 : Coursera
Like Udemy, Coursera is most people’s go-tos for online learning. And same as Udemy, it’s an American online learning platform. It offers massive open online courses (MOOC), specializations, and degrees. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online education. Courses on Coursera cover a variety of subjects, such as technology and humanities.
Coursera courses last approximately four to ten weeks. They contain one to two hours of video lectures/per week. These courses provide quizzes, weekly exercises, and peer-graded assignments. But sometimes a final project or exam, too. Courses are also provided on-demand. In that case, users take their time in completing the course with all the material available at once.
Enrolled users: 47 Million+
No. of instructors: 450+
Language(s) of instruction: 50+
No. of courses: 1500+
Instructors’ qualifications: lecturers/professors from different colleges/universities worldwide
Fee range:
Almost all the courses are available for free but you need to pay if you want to get a certificate for about $39 – $79 per month
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- The quality of taught courses is excellent.
- National leaders teach some courses.
- Prices are very reasonable.
- Academic rigor is strong.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- Topics on which courses are based on programming and science.
Sample free courses: Machine Learning (Stanford), The Science of Well-Being (Yale), Successful Negotiation (University of Michigan)
Average User Rating: 4.9
Online Learning Website # 3 : Lynda
A LinkedIn Company, Lynda is a leading online learning platform. It helps anyone learn business and creative skills to achieve personal/professional goals. Through various types of subscription plans, members have access to the video library. It consists of engaging, top-quality courses taught by recognized industry experts. LinkedIn came to being in 2003. It’s helped 364 million+ members worldwide succeed career-wise by making connections. LinkedIn’s global reach means you get to make a direct impact on the world’s workforce in ways no other company can. Together with Lynda, you can transform lives through innovative technology and learning products. At Lynda and LinkedIn, everyone aims to help employees find passion and purpose. Join Lynda in changing the way everything works!
Students enrolled: 17 Million
No. of instructors: 500+
Language(s) of instruction: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Mandarin, and Portuguese
No. of courses: 6000+ (60 new courses added every month)
Instructors’ qualifications: trained online instructors to industry experts
Fee range: $10 – $25 per month ($240 per year)
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- You’re offered a lot of learning material in a monthly subscription.
- Courses focus on professional development.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- It’s all hit-or-miss content based on skill and expertise of course creators.
Sample free courses: N/A
Average User Rating: 4.8
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Online Learning Website # 4 : Open Culture
Open Culture brings together high-quality cultural and educational media to learners. Web 2.0 has given us a lot of intelligent audio and video. It’s all free and enriching. But it’s also scattered across the web, and not easy to find. This is where Open culture comes in. It aims to centralize this content, curate it. And give everyone access to this high quality content whenever and wherever. The courses sometimes offer students statements of accomplishment/completion certificates after completing courses. But most traditional universities won’t give students credit for taking theses online courses. And students shouldn’t use these courses as a way to meet requirements for a degree.
Avg Monthly Visitors: 2 Million+
No. of instructors: 300+
Language(s) of instruction: English
No. of courses: 1600+
Instructors’ qualifications: lecturers/professors from different colleges/universities worldwide
Fee range: NA (only certificate is to be paid for; price varies depending on course)
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- This is a great platform for free educational materials.
- Browsing the large library of offered courses is a 100% free.
- You can suggest materials to list on the site.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- Open Culture has a vast collection of completely free materials. But it isn’t an ultimate educational provider. It contains content curated by other people.
Average User Rating: 4.7
Online Learning website# 5 : edX
edX is a massive open online course provider. It also conducts research into learning based on how people use its platform. edX is a nonprofit organization. So, it runs on the free Open edX open-source software platform. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University created edX in May 2012. 140+ schools and corporations offer/plan to offer courses on edX website. edX courses consist of weekly learning sequences. Each learning sequence contains short videos interspersed with interactive learning exercises. There, students can immediately practice concepts from the videos. Furthermore, research about distance education makes use of edX. It does so by collecting learners’ clicks and analyzing the data. As well as collecting demographics from each registrant.
Students enrolled: 14 million+
No. of instructors: 150,000+
Language(s) of instruction: English
No. of courses: 2650+
Instructors’ qualifications: trained online instructors to lecturers/professors from different colleges/universities worldwide
Fee range: $50 – $300 (professional courses with a certificate courses)
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- It runs on an open-source philosophy.
- The content is well-curated and well-delivered by industry experts.
- Credential programs are available.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- Most courses focus only on programming and the sciences.
Sample free courses: The Architectural Imagination (Harvard), Financial Analysis for Decision Making (Babson), Omnichannel Strategy and Management (Dartmouth)
Average User Rating: 4.7
Online Learning website # 6 : Khan Academy
This website includes supplementary practice exercises to videos and materials for educators. Donations coming from philanthropic organizations fund Khan Academy. It aims to provide a personalized learning experience. An experience built on videos hosted on YouTube. The website is a supplement to those videos. Because it includes other features like progress tracking, practice exercises, and teaching tools. The videos are recordings of drawings on an electronic blackboard. This mode of delivery resembles that of a school classroom. Khan Academy videos translations come with almost 20,000 subtitle translations. Khan Academy has been the official SAT practicing website since 2015. In 2015, it joined Pixar to create a new course called Pixar in a Box. It teaches how skills learned in school help Pixar creators. Khan Academy Kids is for two-year to six-year olds to learn basic skills before grade school.
Students enrolled: 2.5 million
No. of instructors: NA (courses are delivered by Khan Academy online tools)
Language(s) of instruction: 36+
No. of courses: 50+
Instructors’ qualifications: NA
Fee range: NA
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- Everything is free! All the videos and lectures are accessible to the public for free.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- Limited categories of courses are available.
Sample free courses: algebra, geometry, statistics and probability
Average User Rating: 4.7
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Online Learning Website # 7 : Tuts+
Envato Tuts+ helps you learn creative skills and create the life you want. Education here is self-paced. You can either focus on one topic, or go broad across a wide range of areas. It has creative skills for every age group. You can sell your digital items on Envato Market or offer creative services on Envato Studio. There are many learning possibilities. And it can all start with learning new skills at Envato Tuts+. Because it offers video courses and written tutorials to teach you creative skills. Targeted subjects include design, photography, video, music, web design, game development, and more. Envato Tuts+ tutorials are available to learners completely free—all 28,770 of them! Besides, they include step-by-step written instructions and screenshots for mastering creative skills.
Students enrolled: 1 million+
No. of instructors: 500+
Language(s) of instruction: 30+
No. of courses: 1000+
Instructors’ qualifications: trained online instructors to industry experts
Fee range: $16.50 – $29 per month
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- There is great content for creative professionals.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- There is no free trail period.
- You have to subscribe.
Sample free courses: none
Average User Rating: 4.6
Online Learning Website# 8 : Udacity
Udacity, Inc. is a for-profit educational organization offering massive open online courses. According to its founders, the name Udacity came from the company’s motto. It’s to be “audacious for you, the student”. Before, it focused on offering university-style courses. But now it focuses more on vocational courses for professionals. Udacity partnered with San Jose State University in 2013 to start three courses. In June 2014, Udacity and AT&T announced the “Nanodegree” program. It’s designed to teach programming skills. Skills to get an entry-level IT position at AT&T. “We can’t turn you into a Nobel laureate,” Mr. Thrun has told a learner. “…what we can do is something like upskilling — you’re a smart person, but the skills you have are inadequate… We can help you get those skills.” Each course consists of several units containing video lectures with closed captioning. Furthermore, quizzes are there. The follow-up homework tasks promote a “learn by doing” model.
Students enrolled: 11 million+
No. of instructors: 2000+
Language(s) of instruction: English
No. of courses: 120+
Instructors’ qualifications: trained online instructors to lecturers/professors from different colleges/universities worldwide
Fee range: free – $399 per month
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- Udacity focuses on technology skills that are in demand by businesses.
- It’s a well-designed platform that offers credentials and transcripts.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- Course catalog is deep, but not broad.
- There is too much focus on tech topics.
Sample free courses: Firebase Analytics, Android, Product Design, JavaScript Testing, Intro to jQuery etc
Average User Rating: 4.6:
Online Learning Website # 9 : Alison
ALISON is a free online education platform focusing on workplace-based skills. Many famous universities and organizations have published courses and specializations here. The certificate level courses need two to three hours of study. And the more rigorous diploma level courses need ten to fifteen hours. There is no time limit for completing a course. Alison is not currently accredited by any external body. It delivers content through globally accepted pedagogical standards.
Students enrolled: 14 million+
No. of instructors: 1500+
Language(s) of instruction: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian. Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, and Urdu
No. of courses: 1000+
Instructors’ qualifications: trained online instructors to industry experts
Fee range: Free – $37
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- A lot of the courses offered by this e learning website are free!
- Alison runs on a clean, easy-to-use interface.
- Wide variety of subjects are available.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- Some courses are too niche.
- Few well-known providers of courses are there on Alison.
Sample free courses: NA
Average User Rating: 4.7
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Online Learning Website # 10 : OpenLearn
OpenLearn is UK’s Open University’s contribution to Open educational resources (OER) project. And home to free open learning from The Open University. Open Education materials make three contributions. They make new knowledge available to everyone. They allow users to download, alter, and adapt material to improve its usefulness. And they provide an opportunity to co-modify, co-produce, test and co-produce again. The Moodle-based virtual learning environment offers 600+ structured media-rich study units. They’re supported by many learning and communication tools in the Free Courses area. Learners use the profiles, journals and rating options for self publishing. OpenLearn enables viral content through its licensing model. It does so through open technologies. In 2012, overhauling of LabSpace occurred. This allowed for a better user experience and focus on partner collaborations. That area is now called OpenLearn Create.
Students enrolled: 16 million+
No. of instructors: NA ( (courses are delivered by OpenLearn online tools)
Language(s) of instruction: English
No. of courses: 1000
Instructors’ qualifications: NA
Fee range: FREE
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- OpenLearn offers an interesting collection of lessons on a variety of subjects.
- Content is free!
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- Some content is so terse—such as the five-minute video courses—that its value is questionable.
Sample free courses: NA
Average User Rating: 4.6
Online Learning Website # 11 : FutureLearn
Like OpenLearn, FutureLearn is also a child of UK’s Open University. It’s a digital education platform founded in December 2012. This MOOC learning platform includes 143 UK and international university and non-university partners. FutureLearn is the first platform to let students earn credits online. Those earned credits lead towards degree completion. And top UK universities provide students those credits. Like almost all the platforms listen above, FutureLearn too requires registration.
Students enrolled: 8.7 million+
No. of instructors: 2000+
Language(s) of instruction: English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Chinese
No. of courses: 70
Instructors’ qualifications: Lecturers/professors from different colleges/universities worldwide
Fee range: Free courses, with a certificate for $50 – $90
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- Great emphasis is laid on group learning and peer engagement.
- FutureLearn carries a broad cross-section of content.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- FutureLearn follows an open learning model that predates MOOCs. So, content delivery is more traditional and compartmentalized.
Sample free courses: NA
Average User Rating: 4.5
Online Learning Website # 12 : Stanford Online
Stanford University boasts of academic wealth and proximity to Silicon Valley. It ranks among the top universities in the world. Stanford Online commits itself to support a lifetime of learning opportunities for learners. Those learners are both on-campus and remote. Stanford Online provides every kind of education. That includes courses, advanced degrees, graduate and professional certificates, and executive programs. There are many options to choose from. For instance, learners can opt for subjects like bio-science, humanities, engineering, and philosophy. Furthermore, learners will have the added knowledge of learning from the best. You can audit selected courses for free or choose to receive a verified certificate for a small fee.
Students enrolled: 16,000+
No. of instructors: 1 million+
Language(s) of instruction: English
No. of courses: 160+
Instructors’ qualifications: industry experts, professional lecturers and professors
Fee range: Free – $250 per month
Pros of choosing this e learning platform:
- There is a wide range of courses to choose from.
- Topics covered on Stanford Online make you an expert in chosen field.
- Instructors are some of the best ones.
- There are various levels and types of courses. They are high school, undergraduate, post-graduate, summer and free courses.
Cons of choosing this e learning platform:
- Prices are a bit high for some courses.
Sample free courses: Introduction to Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Through The Lens of Venture Capital, How To Learn Math
Average User Rating: 4.8
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