What to Buy > Software 228 228 people found this article helpful The 10 Best Educational Websites for Taking Online Courses in 2024 Look to the web for learning new skills and gaining fresh knowledge By Elise Moreau Elise Moreau Freelance Contributor University of Ontario George Brown College Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on January 18, 2023 We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Back in the day, if you wanted to learn something new, you'd go to school for it. Today, educational institutions offer their full programs and individual courses online. Experts in almost every field create programs and courses online to share their knowledge with a worldwide audience. Both educational institutions and individual experts who want to offer their courses online need somewhere to host it and get it out to people who want to learn. This is why there are many platforms dedicated to offering online courses. Some focus on tighter niches like green technology. Others include courses in a variety of fields. Whatever you're interested in learning, you can find a course about it from the educational course sites listed below. From beginner levels to intermediate and advanced, there's something for everybody. Our Top Picks Udemy Udemy Sign Up Now What We Like Diversity of content; some inexpensive Top-notch faculty and institutions What We Don't Like The "anyone can be an instructor" approach means lesser-known instructors will be hit-or-miss Udemy is the online education site that tops this list for being a popular and valuable resource. You can search over 190,000 courses on different topics. Download the Udemy app to take your learning mobile for quick lessons and study sessions when you're on the go. Some Udemy courses are free, and others start as low as $15. If you're an expert looking to create and launch a course of your own, you can become an instructor with Udemy and take advantage of their massive user base to attract students. Coursera Coursera Sign Up Now What We Like Excellent courses taught by national leaders Reasonable price points Academic rigor is reasonably strong What We Don't Like Topics are heavily focused on programming and science If you're looking to take courses from over 275 of the country's top universities and organizations, then Coursera is for you. Coursera has partnered with the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and others to offer universal access to the world's best education. You'll find over 5,400 paid and unpaid courses on Coursera related to computer science, business, social sciences, and more. Coursera also has a mobile app available so you can learn at your pace on-the-go. LinkedIn Learning LinkedIn Learning Sign Up Now What We Like Ala carte model for one monthly subscription cost Focus on professional development What We Don't Like Hit-or-miss content based on the skill and expertise of the course designer LinkedIn Learning is a popular educational hub for professionals looking to learn new business, creativity, and technology skills. With over 20,600 expert-led courses, categories include animation, audio and music, business, design, development, marketing, photography, video, and more. When you sign up with LinkedIn Learning, you get a 30-day free trial. You're then charged either $20 a month for an annual membership or $40 for a month-to-month membership. If you want to deactivate your membership and come back later, LinkedIn Learning has a reactivate feature that restores your account information, including your course history and progress. Open Culture Open Culture Sign Up Now What We Like Great clearinghouse of free educational materials No cost to browse the large library of offerings What We Don't Like Open Culture isn't an educational provider. It's only a curator of other people's content If you're on a budget and looking for quality education content, check out Open Culture's library of 1,700 courses with over 45,000 hours of audio and video lectures that are free. You'll have to spend a bit of time scrolling through the single page containing 1,700 course links with courses organized by category in alphabetical order. Many of the courses available on Open Culture are from leading institutions from around the world, including Yale, Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Berkley, and others. Audiobooks, ebooks, and certificate courses are also available. edX EdX Sign Up Now What We Like Open-source philosophy Well-curated and well-delivered content by industry experts Credential programs available What We Don't Like Content tends to be dominated by programming and the sciences Similarly to Coursera, edX offers access to higher education from over 160 of the world's leading educational institutions, including Harvard, MIT, Berkley, the University System of Maryland, the University of Queensland, and others. Founded and governed by colleges and universities, edX is the only open-source and nonprofit MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) leader. Find courses in computer science, language, psychology, engineering, biology, marketing, or any other field that interests you. Use it for high school level education or to earn credits for university. You'll receive an official credential from the institution to verify your achievement. Tuts+ Tuts+ Sign Up Now What We Like Great content for creative professionals What We Don't Like A subscription-only model with no trial period Envato's Tuts+ is for those who work and play in creative technology. In addition to its vast library of how-to tutorials, courses are available in design, illustration, code, web design, photography, video, business, music, and audio. Tuts+ has almost 30,000 tutorials and over 1,300 video courses, with new courses added every week. There isn't a free trial, but the membership is affordable at $16.50 a month. Udacity Udacity Sign Up Now What We Like Focus on technology skills that are in demand by businesses A well-designed platform that offers credentials and transcripts What We Don't Like The catalog is deep, but not broad Heavy focus on tech topics Udacity is dedicated to bringing higher education to the world in the most accessible, affordable, and effective ways possible. Udacity offers online courses and credentials that teach students the skills that are currently in demand by industry employers. They claim to offer their education at a fraction of the cost of traditional schooling. This is an excellent platform to look into if you plan on working in technology. With courses and credentials in Android, iOS, data science, and software engineering, you can get access to the most up to date education in these innovative areas that are relevant to today's tech companies and startups. ALISON Alison Sign Up Now What We Like No-cost education Clean, easy-to-use interface Wide variety of subjects What We Don't Like Some courses are too niche Not many well-known providers of content With 25 million students from across the world, ALISON is an online learning resource that offers free, high-quality courses, education services, and community support. Their resources are designed for anyone looking for a new job, promotion, college placement, or business venture. Choose from a variety of subjects to pick from thousands of free courses designed to provide you with certificate and diploma level education. You'll also be required to take assessments and score at least 80 percent to pass, so you'll have the skills to move forward. OpenLearn OpenLearn Sign Up Now What We Like An eclectic collection of lessons on a variety of subjects Free content What We Don't Like Some content is so terse (like five-minute video courses) that its value is questionable OpenLearn is designed to give users free access to educational materials. It was launched in the late 1990s to offer online learning in a broadcast collaboration with the BBC. Today, OpenLearn offers topical and interactive content in a variety of content formats, including courses. You can filter the free courses by activity, format (audio or video), subject, and more options. All courses are listed with the level (introductory, intermediate, and more) and the time length to give you an idea of what to expect. FutureLearn FutureLearn Sign Up Now What We Like Emphasis on group learning and peer engagement A broad cross-section of content What We Don't Like Can't jump into a course whenever you want, many have start and end dates Like OpenLearn, FutureLearn is part of The Open University. It is another alternative on this list that offers course programs from leading educational institutions and organization partners. Courses are delivered a step at a time and can be learned at your pace while accessed from a desktop or mobile device. One benefit of FutureLearn is its commitment to social learning, giving its students the opportunity to engage in discussions with others throughout the course. FutureLearn also offers full programs, which contain several courses for more extensive learning. The 5 Best Online Flashcards of 2024 Was this page helpful? 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