Online learning platforms are fast evolving. They are adapting to the increasing demands of learners of all age groups, providing them with enriching and relevant information. In the last two years, more and more students and parents have discovered how dynamic, engaging, and worthwhile online learning experiences can be. In 2022, they have become essential mediums for both the ambitious students to learn new skills as well as the discerning teachers who enjoy coaching on online teaching platforms.
Some of the popular online learning platforms include Geneo, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, Edx, Codecademy, Pluralsight, Future Learn, and Moodle.
What is an Online Learning Platform?
Students can take online courses in a safe learning environment in an online coaching platform. Learners can search for and pay for online courses directly.
The online courses include creative courses and technical courses yet the majority are more educational-based and offer university-level education.
2022’s guide to online teaching platforms
The eLearning market has grown at a rapid pace. 2022 has witnessed students, parents, schools, teachers, and trainers having adapted to this modern way of learning.
The versatility and adaptability of learning management systems (LMS) like Online Learning Platforms, has enriched the learning experience of students and the teachers’ teaching experience. In addition, providing remote access to learning has made it a reasonable choice both for universities, schools, and corporates to provide education.
The most successful instructors spend time planning their online course before they record it to ensure their course meets their students’ expectations and allows them to learn what was stated in the course’s learning objectives.
We’d like to share with you our recommendations for 2022 based on their advantages.
Geneo
Geneo For School is a 360 Degree Learning Management System – an ed-tech solution that empowers schools and makes them future-ready. It uses audio-visual aids and interactive tools like animations, videos, and fun exercises to make learning easy and engaging and improve learning outcomes. Geneo For School caters to the needs of students, teachers, schools, and parents involved in the education ecosystem.
Geneo offers educational content in a personalized, self-paced learning method thereby making students better learners and their studies easier and more complete.
Advantages:
Access to all the assignments, learning content, and assessments that teachers provide
Teachers can conduct virtual class sessions with ease
Class notes, presentations, videos can be directly shared from the dashboard
Important announcements can be made from within the classroom interface
Teachers can administer assessments through interactive questionnaires
Personalized mentor support
Disadvantages:
Online teachers are chosen with a lot of care
A quality conscious approach imparts premium imagery to schools
Students tend to learn more than what’s in the syllabus
Ideal for:
Students: Geneo courses specifically for schools and students
Instructors: Useful for teachers, tutors, and educators
Pricing:
Upgrade to Geneo Premium at a special price @3800/- all-inclusive
Get free enrollment to the Geneo Teacher Ambassador Program
*Pricing information retrieved from LinkedIn Learning on the 17th January 2022.
Popular Online Teaching Platforms
Here’s a basic introduction to each online teaching platform. All of them possess a bank of courses and user-friendly learning platforms that make learning easy. We have also outlined some of their pros and cons to help you figure out whether it meets your needs or not.
Some of the online coaching platforms put high expectations on the instructors. An option to meet their demands is to launch your own course by uploading content on your website and monetizing the content.
LINKEDIN LEARNING
LinkedIn Learning is an educational platform that offers professional courses for the development of career-oriented individuals and growth-oriented companies. The courses include content in business, technology-related and creative fields in the format of video lessons. It possesses a world-class library of over 16,000 expertly-produced online and consistently updated courses across 7 languages.
Advantages:
Highly valued in the corporate world
Comes with a one-month free trial
Get personalized course recommendations
Certification upon course completion
Progress assessment through quizzes
Offline learning access to learn on the go
Premium career features are available too
Disadvantages:
You’ll have to research thoroughly the courses you need before enrolling
High expectations from instructors
Ideal for:
Students: Suited for professionals and businesses looking to train their employees.
Instructors: Apart from individual learners, business teams, universities, and government organizations can use the platform for educational and training purposes.
Course Creators: Apply to become a LinkedIn Learning instructor here.
Pricing:
LinkedIn Learning comes with two subscription plans for students:
Monthly: 1-month free trial then €39.33/month
Annually: 1-month free trial then €29,49/month
*Pricing information retrieved from LinkedIn Learning on the 17th January 2022.
UDEMY
Udemy is one of the leading online teaching platforms where learners learn from numerous educational courses and videos. This educational platform has over 50,000 instructors, over 40 million students across the world. It has over 183,000 courses offered in 50 languages with learning materials that include video content, PDF documents, PowerPoint, text, among many others.
Udemy makes course creation easy for everyone. Instructors can join Udemy and start teaching online, but it takes a major share from the income generated and controls the pricing and discounting of the course.
Advantages:
No setup cost for instructors
Enjoy self-paced learning and video courses
Simple interface and no need for technical knowledge
A Udemy app available for iOS and Android
Disadvantages:
Less interaction with students (both for students and instructors)
Competition between course creators (for instructors)
No personal branding opportunity (for instructors)
Sells courses for incredibly low prices (for instructors)
No data ownership – It keeps emails, user data, and does not share this information with their instructors (for instructors)
Promotes only popular courses (for instructors)
Ideal for:
Students: Udemy courses are available for almost every discipline
Instructors: Great for teachers, instructors, educators, and freelancers
Pricing / Revenue (for instructors):
No initial fee but very high commissions on sales of up to 75%
50% per course sale when students come through organic search on Udemy or search engines
75% when students come through their paid user acquisition channel
97% on course sales when you sell through your links. Udemy keeps a 3% administration fee
*Pricing adjusted on a global price tier matrix developed by Udemy
*Pricing information retrieved from Udemy Support on 17th January 2022
EdX AND OPEN EdX
EdX.org (learning platform) and Open-edX (open-source content management system) are the brainchild of a team of scientists from Harvard University and MIT to provide online university-level education across the globe.
EdX.org has powered over 8,000 online courses from 100 prestigious universities and businesses. It offers higher education covering a broad range of topics from engineering, computer science, data science, math, humanities, business, and management. It is your university’s partner in delivering flexible, accessible, high-quality learning at scale.
Advantages:
Free and open-source for instructors
App available on iOS and Android
Interactive online classes with students
Disadvantages:
Discussion forums seem to be difficult to navigate
Requires technical knowledge or hiring a developer/web designer to implement (for instructors)
Comes with the additional costs of a self-hosted server and its maintenance (for instructors)
Who is it for?
Students (EdX): Presents a diverse library of courses suitable for most ages.
Instructors (Open-edX): Great for businesses who can afford a team or outsource the development and maintenance of the platform in their servers.
Pricing for Instructors:
Free to join. Additional costs include procuring a server and system support. You may also need to hire an expert from Open-edX’s service providers or freelancers whose pricing varies according to your project’s requirements and budget.
COURSERA
Coursera partners with world-class universities and businesses, to offer students distinctive certifications from renowned institutions. This online teaching platform with 23 million users, offering high-quality training courses. They include individual courses, specialized courses, and degree programs that support on-demand video lectures, homework exercises, peer-reviewed assignments, and community discussion forums.
Advantages:
Offers numerous learning options and activities
Awards students with different types of certificates and degrees
Offers high-quality educational tools and instructor interactions (for instructors)
Disadvantages:
Limited to educators in partner institutions (for instructors)
Less flexible course creation options compared to other platforms (for instructors)
Ideal for:
Students: Learn from prestigious institutions. Get a one-off course, certification, or an online degree.
Instructors: Professors who are based at a partner institution or business.
Pricing:
Coursera offers free courses, subscriptions, and one-off payments depending on the course or program.
SKILLSHARE
Skillshare is an online learning community with a focus on creative and curious people who want to learn topics that include illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing, and more. Its thousands of classes inspire creative exploration and further the learner’s creative expression, learning and application.
It has more than 4 million students and over 24,000 lessons in various disciplines. Course lessons include a series of small videos, class projects, and a student community that encourages interaction through discussion forums.
Classes are divided into 4 categories:
Creative Arts: From graphic design to fine art, cooking, and music production
Technology: Data science, web design, e-commerce, and more
Business: Finance, accounting, and project management
Lifestyle: Teaching, languages, gaming, and wellness
Advantages:
Supportive discussion forum for students to exchange feedback
Provides many courses at similar prices
Disadvantages:
Class content limited to only four categories
No certificate of completion or any other formal recognition
Ideal for:
Students: Ideal for students interested in the creative arts, technology, business, and lifestyle classes as mentioned above
Instructors: Great for instructors who are in the creative field and want to make a side income. Instructors can make money through Skillshare’s royalty system and referral program.
Pricing:
Students: After a 14-day free trial, the pricing is $32 per month or $168 per year for access to all the courses
Instructors: Free to join, but it comes with specific class guidelines you need to follow
Skillshare pays instructors based on minutes watched from their course and premium referrals
*Pricing information retrieved from Business Insider on 17th January 2022
Disclaimer: The positions of the online learning platforms in 2022 mentioned above are arbitrary and do not indicate any preference. Numbering is used to show the number of online coaching platforms and not differentiate one from the other.
