According to Forbes, the market for learning online is expected to triple between 2015 and 2025, reaching $325 billion. In other words, the days of learning being shackled to the classroom environment are over. For the sake of convenience, speed, and cost, eLearning platforms have been surging in the educational market. But with some of the latest players in the game, users now get more than speed and convenience—they get quality.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the best online course platforms for e-learning in 2020.
1. UDEMY
If there’s a flagship for online courses, it would be Udemy. The platform features subtitles, which expands its appeal to a more diverse range of learners. It’s no wonder their student enrolment is in the tens of millions and they have over 40,000 instructors. Users have two options for plans: Enterprise and Team. The Team plan aims at smaller groups of between five and 20 people. The Enterprise plan can handle more users and provides additional features. Some of these include analytics that displays the level of user engagement and a variety of APIs. Udemy also provides a Udemy for Business account. When you sign up for this, you gain access to over 2,500 business-related courses. These are ideal for upskilling your workforce. The analytics can also help you examine learning patterns so you can see what works and what doesn’t.
2. TEACHABLE
Teachable focuses on providing users with a simple interface that makes course design straightforward. Users gain access to graded quizzes they can utilize to assess student progress. You can also craft your own completion certificates. These help students feel a sense of accomplishment after fulfilling course objectives. One Teachable account can support as many as five administrators. This allows a team of educators to collaborate on interconnected classes. To help make your classes unique, Teachable lets you upload content that you can incorporate in the look of your courses. You can use graphics and design elements to solidify the brand of your classes.
3. DOCEBO
Docebo focuses on being a collaborative learning solution. It is a learning management system (LMS) that gives users the ability to keep track of and distribute online courses. These can be for employees, customers, or clients. Some solutions only provide the ability for a teacher to address the students. Docebo takes it to the next collaborative level. It connects learners with those in relevant disciplines. By encouraging connections between employees and students and those teaching them, Docebo adds value to the learning process. The platform gives you the ability to organize and assign training sessions. You can direct these at those who need upskilling in your organization. You can also customize the platform to make its look and feel match the brand of your organization.
4. WizIQ
WizIQ targets teachers. The platform features virtual classrooms and LMS software designed to help you create courses. Teachers can also sell the courses they create. You can then make these into massive open online courses (MOOCs). With MOOCs, teachers can expand their student-customers to include a worldwide audience. Organizations can use WizIQ to create custom-designed learning solutions. They can incorporate the platform by incorporating the company’s branding. The online courses can help employers train employees, partners, customers, and clients. Users can choose between pre-designed tutorials and live sessions. They also have an app that works on both iOS and Android devices.
5. SKILLSHARE
Skillshare sets its sights on creative folks who want an interactive teaching experience. The classes tend to focus on endeavors like photography, design, business, and tech. You can also sign up for disciplines like writing and filmmaking. Skillshare targets an immersive learning experience. Participants get their hands dirty as they learn more by doing than listening. The approach seems to be working: The Skillshare community is growing. They have seven million creators onboard so far. People from a wide array of disciplines are using the platform to come together to learn either general or niche skills.
6. LEARNDASH
LearnDash is trusted by some pretty big names. Some include the University of Michigan, Yoast and WP Elevation. One of the drivers behind LearnDash’s appeal is its integration with WordPress. The familiarity and user-friendly features of WordPress make course design simple and easy—even for beginniners. LearnDash has a feature called “Focus Mode” that eliminates distractions as students navigate a course. This helps students who get easily distracted hone in on the lesson and learning objectives. LearnDash makes it easy to record classes in a matter of minutes. You can record lectures, group activities, or design interactive learning experiences.
7. SAP Litmos
SAP Litmos takes aim at the corporate world. It has development and training programs covering sales, support, and service. Learners can also get training regarding business partnerships, contractors, and suppliers. SAP Litmos functions on the could. This gives it more flexibility because you can send its courses to as many employees as you need. There are two levels on SAP Litmos: basic access and full access. The PRO + Courses are available if you have at least 50 users. Once you have more than 500 users, you can get the PRO + Courses for a discounted rate. SAP Litmos strives to provide a solution for virtually all types of business learners. The platform encourages closed captions to further enhance user engagement, which helps users comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
8. KAJABI
Kajabi offers options for course design and email marketing. These are intertwined to make Kajabi an inclusive creation and marketing solution. Kajabi even has upselling features that enable users to encourage students to purchase more courses. Instead of only focusing on class design, Kajabi gives users dedicated marketing pipelines. These come complete with landing pages and the ability to manage up to 10,000 contacts.
9. THINKIFIC
Thinkific is designed to help people make their own online courses and profit from them. The platform gives users a strong selection of tools they can use to design their custom classes. Thinkific even has tools and instructions to help you make the classes accessible for the hard of hearing. Users can sign up for a one-month free trial to see if they like it. While giving it a spin, they can enjoy features like drag-and-drop editing. This makes it simple to design appealing classes that draw more learners. If you use Zapier, you also have the ability to integrate Thinkific with more than 1,500 apps. You can also target certain demographics with custom-designed email campaigns. You can connect Thinkific with your email provider to make marketing courses smoother and easier.
10. PODIA
Podia incorporates podcasting as a teaching tool to draw a range of learners. When you sign up, you get a variety of marketing tools as well. Some of these include the ability to add coupons, sales pages, and memberships. You can also use drip courses that you feed to targeted groups a little bit at a time. Podia’s design is made to help users grow their customer base. It helps you interact with members and even allows you to connect with Slack and Facebook groups.
It’s also nice to see that in developing countries like Nigeria, the government has started to recognize the value of eLearning as well. The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on Wednesday, April 29 2020, inaugurated a Virtual Learning Academy to provide Nigerians in various sectors with the opportunity to access digital education and skills. The academy which has more than 12,000 Nigerians already enrolled for virtual learning programs would provide free courses that could lead to certification from CISCO, Oracle, Huawei, and Havard among others. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami has revealed that plans are underway to hold future Federal Executive Council meetings virtually through the academy.
Enhancing Online Learning with VocalScript
VocalScript offers transcription, captions, and subtitling—all of which add accessibility to an online class. If you’re creating an online course, you can use VocalScript to make sure your offerings are available to those who are hard of hearing. With VocalScript incorporated in your online course design, you can also appeal to learners who prefer to have on-screen text accompany their learning experience. A more diverse base of learners means more revenue, and the VocalScript solution can help you get there.