Pencil tray on notebook stack in classroom. Back to school concept
The internet gets a bad reputation, for a lot of reasons: Social pressure, trolls in the comments section, clashing ideals, the seemingly endless flow of negativity. But then there are the gems that seem to exist outside of all that, which offer something of value without falling into the common trappings of digital life. When done right, educational websites fit into that latter category.
Here are four of the best educational sites around:
Learn from the ultimate experts with Masterclass
Masterclass’ lineup of exclusive video-based classes range from classes in subjects like business, society, entertainment, writing, design, photography, fashion, film, sports and games. The big draw here is that the instructors are often quite famous in their fields, or in general. For example, there are classes from people like David Lynch, Natalie Portman, Gordon Ramsey and Dr. Jane Goodall, among many others.
The classes themselves consist of videos paired with a downloadable PDF workbook that students work through. Those can be submitted to the private student community for feedback, too, which adds an extra layer of support to the learning process. Typically, the classes last two to five hours in length, with each lesson ranging from five to 25 minutes each. There are suggested timeframes for completion, but it’s entirely at your own pace.
Masterclass is pass-based, meaning that you’d need to buy a pass to either take a specific course, or you can get an all-access pass to enable you to try out all of the available courses on the site. You’d have unlimited access to a one-off course, but if you chose the all-access pass, that would only last as long as you had an active account.
Develop your professional skills with LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning is an educational platform that takes a LinkedIn user’s profile and creates a personalized learning experience, based on job title and skills, with courses from the site formerly known as Lynda.com. The aim of LinkedIn Learning is to help those users succeed in their current role at work. But, on the flipside of the platform, there’s also an option for companies to help employees by highlighting useful courses and further personalizing “learning paths.”
It costs about $30 per month for an individual subscription, or the equivalent of about $20 per month if you opt for the annual plan. And that gives you access to all of the courses on the site — there are over 15,000 of them in seven languages, and over 60 new courses are added each week. Users can pick from courses in three main areas: Technology, creativity and business. But there are also certification programs, which can help people prep for exams and earn continued education credits.
Learn a new language with Duolingo
Duolingo is a language-learning platform that uses quizzes to help you commit vocabulary to memory and use the language correctly. Users can pick their language and set a daily study goal of five to 20 minutes. If you’ve already started learning the language elsewhere, you can take a placement test rather so you don’t have to slog through the basics before you can really begin learning new things.
In addition to the quizzes, which use a combination of words, pictures and audio recordings to help you pick things up, users are also able to practice constructing sentences in their language of choice. You earn XP for completing levels, and if you get all the questions correct in a given level, you’d get bonuses. And, those who are able to make it a daily habit can get satisfaction in the form of a ‘streak.’ It’s this combination of factors, when practiced regularly over time, that can make learning a new language feel fun and even natural.
Users can also interact with the Duolingo community through the discussion forums, participate in events, earn “crowns” as they level up their skills, or earn “lingots,” (the site’s virtual currency) as well as view their performance statistics. There are both free and paid versions of Duolingo. And, as an added bonus, Duolingo is also available in app form.
Expand your knowledge with Udemy
Udemy is an online platform for education, featuring a wide-ranging lineup of courses. For example, there are classes on business, finance and I.T., as well as other topics like design, marketing and photography and beyond. Users can access over 150,000 courses, taught in over 65 languages and is available in app form, for both iPhones and Androids.
Udemy courses can include things like audio, video, text and quizzes, but not all of those elements are required, and it’s the instructor who chooses which to include. So the overall experience may vary from course to course. However, you would have the opportunity to preview the course and, once purchased, request a full refund as long as it’s within the first 30 days of purchase if you aren’t satisfied.
The prices can vary widely, with some courses costing less than $20 and others costing upwards of $200. But, regardless of price, you’d get lifetime access to the course, as well as a certificate of completion once you’ve finished all of the modules.
