Introduction to our Best Education Platforms Online Review
Which platform for education works best for you?
Online courses are all the rage these days. If I'm being honest, I've also taken an online course! Undoubtedly, the eLearning industry has enjoyed unprecedented growth as people and organisations pivot to the Internet to acquire skills. In a Forbes article, the educational platform industry's value is expected to balloon to $350 billion in 2025. In the present- and post-pandemic situation, it's safe to say that education platforms online will be a staple under the “new normal.” Make no mistake: online learning has enjoyed a presence in the previous decade. However, physical distancing protocols and the drive towards work-from-home (WFH) arrangements has heightened the need for education digital platforms.
The statistics speak for themselves:
- The eLearning industry has grown in value by 900% since 2000;
- Nearly 7 out of 10 organisations consider educational platforms online to be profitable;
- In the United Kingdom, a Statista report indicates that those who were like to take an online course were aged 25 to 34 years old.
Hence, judging by these numbers alone, there is significant professional and business advantage with education platforms online. I'm here to help you narrow down the sea of educational platforms so you can decide only from the best of the best.
Overview: What is an Educational Platform?
There are various online learning or educational platform modalities, which are discussed below.
Educational Platforms Online Modalities:
Dedicated Course Platforms – Course creation software:
These include software focused on launching your online academy and letting you sell online courses. They give you the ability to create and customise your course, branding, and landing pages through software. However, to use these platforms, you need to pay transaction fees.
Best Examples of these platforms include;
| Ranking | Course Platform | Our View |
|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Thinkific | Best for building your online course empire |
| 2 | Learnworlds | Best for interactive and visually stunning courses |
| 3 | Teachable | Best for easy course creation |
| 4 | Podia | Best for digital product sales and online courses |
| 5 | Teachery | Best for streamlined online course creation |
All-In-One Course Platforms:
These multifunctional platforms empower you not only to sell online courses but also to do lead generation and marketing strategies. Therefore, you can create and launch webinars, create email sequences and broadcasts, and even automate processes.
Best Examples of these platforms include;
| Ranking | My View |
|---|---|
| 🥇 Podia | Best for selling digital products and courses all-in-one |
| 2. Systems.io | Best for creating and automating online courses |
| 3. Kartra | Best for building a complete online business |
| 4. Kajabi | Best for creating and scaling online courses |
Online Course Marketplace:
These platforms are what is usually known as massive open online courses (MOOCs) that seek to democratise the educational experience through affordable (even free) courses. For instance, if you're a course creator, you have the freedom to manage content and landing pages only, get free publication, with a share in sales. An advantage is that you have a wide marketplace to sell your digital products to.
Best Examples of these platforms include;
| Ranking | Platform | Our View |
|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Udacity | Best for tech-focused and industry-aligned courses |
| 2 | Skillshare | Best for creative and practical courses |
| 3 | Udemy | Best for a wide variety of courses |
| 4 | Coursera | Best for academic and professional courses |
| 5 | LinkedIn Learning | Best for business and professional development courses |
Enterprise learning management systems (LMS) Platforms and virtual learning environments (VLE):
These are software dedicated to creating an interactive and engaging learning experience. However, these are prominently used either in a school or company setting. Most small companies use LMS to handle their workforce training efforts. For instance, Paylocity, SAPLitmos, Bridge Learning and TalentLMS are popular enterprise LMS.
E-Learning WordPress Plugins or Themes:
These plugins are ideal options for anyone who wants to run online courses within their WordPress website. These LMS or eLearning plugins enable you to manage course content, handle payments, grade quizzes, and others.
Best Examples of these platforms include;
| Ranking | eLearning Wordpress Plugins | Our View |
|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | LearnDash | Best for creating advanced e-learning sites |
| 2 | Memberpress | Best for membership and course management |
| 3 | AccessAlly | Best for advanced membership and course management |
| 4 | Lifter LMS | Best for creating and selling online courses |
In this review, we cover all third-party online platforms explicitly developed for creators and businesses who want to monetise their wisdom by offering online courses.
Benefits of Using Educational Platforms:
You might be wondering what an end-user stands to gain from educational platforms. Here are the best reasons we can think of:
- Flexibility – Education platforms online are helpful because of their sheer convenience. They are self-paced opportunities for any entrepreneur to enhance their skills set or knowledge assets.
- Scalability – Business owners need to be up-to-speed with the latest developments in their field to stay competitive; an enormous selection of education platforms is within their reach;
- Cost – Online courses are less expensive than traditional courses and free from the burdens of associated costs such as commuting or textbooks (these are provided usually free);
- Profitability – Companies that use education platforms online for employee engagement activities see a $30 dollar profit for every dollar they spend;
- Environment-Friendly – It's paperless, fuel-less, and therefore, good for the environment.
What To Look For When Choosing the Best Education Platforms Online?
If you want to harness educational platforms' marketing potential, you need to choose one that creates an engaging and immersive learning experience for the end-user. Your course content may be high-quality, but a platform that does not provide a seamless experience will defeat the course's purpose. Specifically, we look at several factors to size up education platforms online.
Criteria for our Educational Platform Reviews:
It makes perfect business sense to read up and understand what the most popular educational platforms have to offer. This will add to your knowledge help you decide better on which education digital platforms best suits your needs.
Ease of Use:
Online learning should be comfortable and stress-free. Therefore, one of the most important criteria when judging an education platform is its ease of use. The biggest advantage of online learning is its self-paced nature, yet the more effortless the platform is to navigate, the better.
Features:
Here, we look at must-have features of platforms for education, including:
- Course navigation – What formats does it support? What about video and audio quality? Is its layout simple and easy to follow? Is there a strong community interaction feature for immersive learning? Does it support mobile responsivity?
- Course content – What is the range of the courses that the platform for education offers? What are its best-selling courses? Does it offer accreditation?
- Content quality – How does the platform referee course quality? What about quizzes and assessments?
Support:
Is help accessible? What kind of resources is available for users?
Pricing:
Is it affordable for small businesses? Are there plans that cater to the needs of large enterprises?
Free vs Paid Education Platforms: What Gives?
Learners can take advantage of entirely free education platform courses. All it takes is to sign up for their platform. In general, education platforms online have an extensive menu of paid and free online courses to choose from.
Most education platforms offer course-based prices; therefore, the cost of courses can range from $15 to $200 a pop. Some providers offer more expensive courses as they tie up with prestigious higher education platforms to deliver accreditation and professional certificates on diverse courses, specialisations, and degrees.
Note that several online platforms about education also offer enterprise plans for teams or businesses. This is especially helpful for employees working on their continuing education.
What are the Most Popular Educational Platforms?
Some education platforms online enjoy early adopter advantage and, therefore, are more famous than their rivals:
- Udemy is the most massive education platform online, with 40 million students enrolled, 130,000 courses offered, and 50,000 instructors.
udemy-home - Coursera stands out as the official partner of top higher education institutions for online learning with more than 3,900 academic courses.
coursera-home - Skillshare boasts of personalised learning and is the platform of choice of artists and creatives, offering more than 20,000 classes.
skillshare-home - LinkedIn Learning (previously Lynda) is geared towards professional development with over 15,000 courses.
linkedIn-learning-home
FAQ:
What does an accredited course mean?
If an online course offers accreditation, this means it adheres to academic standards set by a higher education institution. A school or university will formally recognise the credits you complete. For education digital platforms, it's a seal of quality and reputation.
Who are the instructors of online courses?
Education digital platforms have different vetting procedures, but instructors are usually experts in their fields. Some platforms require academic credentials, while others don't. As a result, in less stringent platforms, almost anyone can teach, so that the content quality can fluctuate greatly.
That's all for now:
If you've read all the way through this best education platforms online guide, we are thankful. We hope you can now answer the question of what are the pros and cons of the best education platforms online! We have a large collection of articles, guides, and comparison reviews of eCommerce solutions, web hosting providers, website builders, and more! Feel free to check them out;
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