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:
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.
There are various online learning or educational platform modalities, which are discussed below.
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 | Platform | Our View |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thinkific | Best Overall Online Course Platform |
| 2 | Learnworlds | Best Online Learning Platform for Video Creators |
| 3 | Teachable | Best Online Course Platform for Beginners |
| 4 | Podia | The Perfect Online Teaching Platform for Non-Techies |
| 5 | Teachery |
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 | Platform | Our View |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Podia | Best Overall |
| 2 | Systems.io | Best Runner up |
| 3 | Kartra | |
| 4 | Kajabi |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Udacity | Best Overall |
| 2 | Skillshare | Best for for teaching creative skills |
| 3 | Udemy | |
| 4 | Coursera | |
| 5 | LinkedIn Learning |
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.
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 | Platform | Our View |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LearnDash | Best Overall |
| 2 | Memberpress | Best Runner up |
| 3 | AccessAlly | |
| 4 | Lifter LMS |
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.
You might be wondering what an end-user stands to gain from educational platforms. Here are the best reasons we can think of:
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 educational platforms.
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.
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.
Here, we look at must-have features of platforms for education, including:
Is help accessible? What kind of resources is available for users?
Is it affordable for small businesses? Are there plans that cater to the needs of large enterprises?
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.
Some education platforms online enjoy early adopter advantage and, therefore, are more famous than their rivals:
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.
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.
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