Online Teaching Platforms

The Best Online Teaching Platforms

Best Online Teaching Platforms

Introduction To The Best Online Teaching Platforms

Everything suddenly changed after the COVID-19 pandemic. It influenced every aspect of our life. No one could escape from its problems and challenges. One of the sectors that were heavily affected was education.

Many institutes went bankrupt because of those awful limitations. Also, many teachers lost their jobs. It was a terrible situation. Moreover, millions of parents started to get very worried about their children's education. Schools closed, and children had to stay at home.

So, gradually, everyone started to look at some alternatives. Online teaching was started many years ago, but nobody could see its potential. In fact, if people had not been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic limitations, all those students and teachers could have done their jobs as always! Institutes and schools wouldn’t have gone bankrupt.

Yes! The answer was an online teaching platform. With these platforms, education could have continued regardless of those crazy regulations about staying at home. As we said, online teaching platforms were around for many years without any significant progress.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed our perspective and opened our eyes. There are many benefits associated with online teaching platforms. Also, thanks to new technologies, many different brands are providing their services on the internet.

You can benefit from these online platforms by learning new skills. Or, if you have a specific talent or skill, you can easily set up your business and make money. Or, even more interesting, if you are looking to start a big educational company, these platforms will be at your service.

Are you interested in online teaching platforms? Would you like to know about them? If yes, then I will suggest you stay with us until the end. In this article, you will learn about online teaching platforms, their pros and cons, and some of the biggest names in the market. What are we waiting for? Let's get started.

 

What Are Online Teaching Platforms

 

What Are Online Teaching Platforms?

Imagine a normal class. What do we usually have in this class? Well, we have a teacher, some students, a whiteboard, and probably a computer. You have the same components in an online class too. There is a website that hosts classes. People from different places go to a website, find their class, and start learning.

The teacher can use different tools to make the lesson more interesting for you. You can also engage in the conversation or ask if you have any problems. Just like normal classes, the teacher is the person who controls the class and lets students speak. Online teaching platforms can hold tons of online classes at the same time.

 

What Are The Benefits Of Online Teaching Platforms

 

What Are The Benefits Of Online Teaching Platforms?

So, online classes are becoming more popular these days. Many people who didn’t feel OK to participate in these classes have changed their minds and started reconsidering it. Actually, there are several advantages associated with online teaching platforms that we are going to cover.

 

Efficiency

Online teaching platforms make both teaching and learning more efficient. For example, teachers will have access to different multimedia tools such as pdf, videos, podcasts, figures, voices, etc. Therefore, students will understand better when you are using these tools. Sometimes, a short video can save a lot of time because it can make lessons more understandable. Also, if students don’t understand some of the topics, they will watch educational content several times as they can easily save this content on their computer.

 

Accessibility Of Time And Place

The educational schedule can be more flexible with online teaching platforms as classes don’t need to be limited to working hours. For example, the class can be held in the evening without any problems. Also, both students and teachers will be able to be in the class from any location and time zone. It is just a matter of high-speed internet and a normal laptop.

 

Affordability

Online classes are economically beneficial for everyone, including institutes, schools, teachers, and students. First of all, teachers and students don’t have to drive to physical locations and spend money on gas and wait for hours in the traffic.

Also, because electricity and other expenses like worker's wage and the maintenance costs are much lower than normal, the institute or school running classes benefit more and accordingly provide cheaper courses to students and increase teachers' salary. It is a win-win situation as everybody gets his/her share.

Challenges To Online Teaching Platforms

Just like any other invention, teaching and learning online are not problem-free. There are no disadvantages involved. However, several obstacles need to be addressed. Here are the most important ones.

 

Inability To Focus On Screens

No matter how much effort teachers make, online classes can be distractive for students, not because of the classes themselves. In fact, students can be easily driven away from the class. They might check out their social accounts, text with their friends, check different websites, etc. So, the teacher must try harder to engage the students and keep them entertained.

 

Technology Issues

Technological problems are always present. However, there are more in some parts of the world. For example, internet connectivity, the quality of the camera, videos, sounds, etc., are many issues that have to work together to deliver the best quality of education. Internet disconnection and low quality of equipment are some of the most common challenges to online classes.

 

Sense Of Isolation

This is one of the most important drawbacks of online teaching. In fact, the quality of learning and teaching can be the best. However, social aspects of normal classes are missing in online platforms. Of course, there are some ways to compensate for this, but the issue is still present. This is especially very important to younger students because they should be exposed to social interactions.

Online Teaching Platforms

Online Teaching Platforms

So far, we have understood that online teaching is one of the best ways to save time, energy, and money. So, let's say you want to learn a new language. What should you do? Well, the first thing to do is finding good online teaching platforms. With professional online teaching platforms, you will automatically be in touch with professional teachers. You enroll and pay, and start learning.

What about not very popular topics. For example, you might want to learn to work with particular software. Not too many people know about this. So, the online teaching platform you are looking for must have the topics you want to learn. So, the diversity of topics is essential. There are several big names in the market. From now on, we are going to introduce some of these big names in the market. Let's get started.

 

CreativeLive

CreativeLive

Here are some facts about CreativeLive you might want to know:

  • There are more than 1,500 classes with more than 700 professional instructors.
  • The main topics taught on this platform are writing, blogging, art, and design.
  • There are more than 10 million students who have used the platform.
  • The quality of classes is one of the best compared with other platforms. This is because all the classes are filmed by professional videographers who work for the platform.
  • The teachers who teach you are the best in their respective fields. Among them, you can interestingly find best-selling authors, Grammy, and Oscar winners.
  • When classes are online, you can watch them for free.
  • All the materials, including videos, texts, and images, are downloadable.
  • If you are not happy with the classes, don’t worry, as the platform has a refund policy.
  • You can enroll in classes as an individual. However, CreativeLive offers more. If you are an employer or a CEO of a big company and want all your employees to improve their skills, you can pay for courses for teams and employees.
  • Adobe Photoshop CC: The Complete Guide, fundamentals of photography, How to break the habit of self-doubt and build real confidence, and 28 days of portrait photography are some of the most successful courses ever presented on CreativeLive.
  • CreativeLive has five categories, including
    • photo & video
    • money & life
    • art & design
    • craft & maker
    • music & audio
  • But it doesn’t stop here. There are subcategories as well. This is great because people with whatever skills they want to learn can find something. For example, there are five subcategories in the category of photo & video:
    • essentials
    • genres
    • techniques
    • software
    • and cameras
  • With every subcategory, there are more specific topics as well. For example, the courses for the cameras subcategory include camera guides, canon tutorials, Nikon tutorials, and Sony tutorials.

>>>click here to read my review of CreativeLive<<<

Teachable

Teachable

Here are the most important things you need to know about Teachable:

  • It is one of the best platforms for people who have some skills and want to make money. In fact, all instructors with a specific ability can build up their business very quickly and make money.
  • Some instructors never start their online courses because they fear dealing with technical issues on the platform. However, on Teachable, you can easily build your first-course thanks to its intuitive admin interface.
  • There is a pre-made template available on Teachable that helps you create courses with videos and written content.
  • It is very famous since nearly 70 thousand course creators are involved with it.
  • Getting a separate Stripe or PayPal account is unnecessary because Teachable has a built-in payment processing option.
  • With Teachable, all instructors are given a chance to advertise their courses through Teachable's built-in email marketing tool.
  • Teachable is available on the iOS platform too.
  • You can be flexible concerning the prices of your courses. In fact, your students will be able to pay monthly if the courses are expensive. This gives them more flexibility.
  • There are some downsides as well. For example, there is no free plan. The cheapest plan has a 5% transaction fee.
  • Sometimes, especially for a sales funnel builder, you have to have a third-party platform such as ClickFunnels or LeadPages.
  • Phone support is not available in case you run into a problem.

There are several useful features on Teachable. Here, we are going to mention some of those briefly:

 

Theme on Teachable

  • While you are teaching and showing your abilities, you can do something about branding as well. For example,
    • adding your business or course logo
    • uploading a professional background image
    • customizing the fonts and colours etc.,
  • These are all possible on Teachable.
  • There are also more advanced options available.

 

Custom Domain

Believe it or not, having a customized domain name is very important to your fame. On Teachable, you have two options regarding your domain. First, if you choose the free plan, the address of your online courses will be a sub-domain of Teachable.com.

However, if you are willing to pay $39 per month for a Teachable paid plan, you can have a custom name. This custom name can be a nice and very brief description of your business and your teaching topics. So, your branding is going to be secured through Teachable.

 

Blog

Nowadays, blogging and creating content are very important to your business. Do you know why? It is mainly because they can help you get visibility and an online presence. If you create SEO-friendly content on your website closely related to your teaching topics, you are more likely to get new students since they first search the keywords and find their target courses. Thanks to Teachable, you can have a blog and expand your brand by producing engaging content.

>>>click here to read my review of Teachable<<<

Udemy

Udemy

This is another big player in the market. Here is a review of its basic information.

  • Udemy is an American massive open online course provider.
  • It is massive because thousands of people can participate in classes.
  • The company was founded in 2010.
  • The services are available in English, French, Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, German, and nearly 50 other languages.
  • The numbers are amazing. So far, it has had nearly 40 million students, 155 thousand courses, and 70 thousand instructors.
  • Udemy has courses related to the improvement of job skills.
  • Many employers have already been attracted to it and used its courses for their employees.
  • There are 12 major categories in Udemy. So, it provides one of the most diverse courses on the internet. Perhaps bigger than any other platforms out there. The main categories include
    • development
    • business
    • finance & accounting
    • IT & software
    • office productivity
    • personal development
    • design
    • marketing
    • lifestyle
    • photography & video
    • health & fitness.
  • It is beneficial for instructors since there is no fee involved. However, you should know that Udemy usually makes big money by taking 50% per sale of your course.
  • The prices of the courses are fairly affordable for students. The courses cost from $19.90 to $199.99, which many students can afford.
  • The number of free courses is amazing! In fact, there are more than 600 free courses that cover many different topics, from WordPress to fitness. Also, if you pay for a specific course, you will access it for the rest of your life.
  • There is a 30-day refund policy available.
  • If you go for paid courses, you will receive a certificate at the end, which you might need in an interview or other places.
  • As we said earlier, it is the best option for people looking to gain skills, career change, complementing their studies, free courses, publishing their own courses, or courses in English and other languages.
  • 2021 Complete Python Bootcamp:
    • Go from zero to hero in Python
  • An Entire MBA in 1 Course:
    • Award-Winning Business School Prof
    • The Complete Financial Analyst Course 2021
    • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate 2020
    • Microsoft Excel – Excel from Beginner to Advanced

The above-mentioned are some of the best ones offered on Udemy.

>>>click here to go to Udemy.com<<<

Thinkific

Thinkific

  • This is one of the oldest online teaching platforms with more than 20 years of experience.
  • This platform doesn’t just hold the classes. In fact, it is responsible for designing, developing, and implementing online course platforms.
  • There are three plans with Thinkific, including basic, pro, and premier. They cost 39, 79, and 399 dollars, respectively.
  • Custom URL, SSL, white labelling, and text changes are some of the additional features of this platform.
  • Let's review some of the facts related to this professional platform. Now, it has more than 50 thousand course creators. Also, there are near amazingly 100 million courses taken so far.
  • This platform is available in more than 165 countries.
  • Also, creators have been able to earn more than 650 million dollars so far.
  • The platform is very user-friendly. For example, if you think you have some abilities to learn and convey to others, you need to take just a few steps, and then you can easily make money.
    • First, it is straightforward to customize your classes using videos, building quizzes, and organizing your learning content.
    • All these things are possible through a drag and drop builder within the platform.
    • Then, you can market and sell your content
    • and finally support your students.
  • You are equipped with plenty of features such as one-time payment, subscription/membership, monthly payments, coupons, sales Widgets, and Affiliates for marketing and selling. These tools help you build your brand and make more money.

 

What Are Some Pros And Cons Associated With Thinkific

Well, what are the advantages and disadvantages of Thinkific? I went online and read some reviews from different people to have a better picture of Thinkific characteristics. Let's get started.

  • One person who is a learning experience designer and graphic designer believed that the platform's community forum and online tutorial videos are great. He is also feeling good because a free account is available on the platform for people who want to try it. However, he is not happy with themes and user usability.
  • Another person who is an internet marketing coordinator says that it is straightforward to set up a course website using this platform. Also, he states that the classes on this platform look professional. On the negative side, the WYSIWYG and templates could be better.
  • Another person who is a digital media consultant from the Vogue media expresses her opinion about the platform. She thinks that user interface design, customized branding, and intuitive flow for the student are some of the platform's advantages. Any negative points? Yes! First, monthly payment from the students is not allowed in the basic plan. Also, their affiliate interface is not very appealing to this user.
  • A professional learning management system, clear user interface, professional classroom-style course outlines, knowledge checks, and customizing your school are some of the other positive points about the platform.

>>>click here to go to Thinkific.com<<<

Conclusion

If you think that your options are limited to a few numbers of teaching online platforms, you are totally wrong. Nowadays, there are many competitors in the market trying to be the best.

In addition to all those platforms we talked about, there are others as well. Some of the most important ones include Educadium, Ruzuku, WizIQ, Academy of Mine, etc.

Teaching online platforms is one of our world's most important necessities today. We have to keep receiving education even when everybody needs to stay at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online teaching platforms have made our lives easier because we don’t need to deal with other problems such as traffic, wasting time, spending too much, and receiving unexpected educational levels. You will pass all those limitations associated with normal classes to make education more exciting for you.

This article first highlighted the importance of online teaching platforms and what they need to have. Then, we started introducing some of the most popular platforms worldwide. We discussed their features and emphasized their pros and cons.

I trust you enjoyed this blog post on the best online teaching platforms. Please stay tuned for more articles like this to come. Take care!

JeannetteZ

 

 

Your Opinion Is Important To Me

I would love to hear from you. Please leave me your questions, experiences, remarks, and/or suggestions about the best online teaching platforms in the comments section below. You can also reach me by email at Jeannette@WorkFromAnywhereInTheWorld.com.

You might also enjoy the following blog posts:

7 Tips On How To Prepare For Teaching Online

How To Become An Online Teacher

CreativeLive vs Skillshare

 

 

You might also want to check out my personal product recommendations.

 

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