People are so dependent on the internet today that it seems impossible to imagine life without it these days. This trend became more prominent when smartphones presented a whole new virtual world to us. The average screen time has reached as high as 4.5 hours, the major contributor being the social media platforms. People use the internet for innumerable motives – entertainment, banking, finding information, socializing, reading news, learning new things, shopping, and so on. When it comes to learning, the eLearning platforms have become quite popular among students and professionals alike.
Online training providers fulfil one of the most important aspects of effective learning – teaching through visuals. Learners understand the concepts better when they see something through animations rather than just text. So, a variety of players in the edtech industry make interactive videos of short duration that people find easy to grasp. Now the courses available online are generally of two types, one that is available free of cost and the other that needs a paid subscription. People usually tend to look more for free online courses in a range of categories like cybersecurity, digital marketing, data science, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, software development, and more.
Today, you may find thousands of online tutorials and courses on a single topic. However, many of them are irrelevant and do not deliver what learners look for. This is the reason many are skeptical about taking free online courses. It doesn’t indicate that online courses are not worth your time and effort. You just need to do some groundwork for finding reliable online training providers that have benefited a number of learners. If you still have doubts about whether free online courses are actually helpful, then this article is for you. We have listed some of the top reasons why you shouldn’t ignore free online courses.
Top reasons to enroll in free online courses
There are some major reasons why thousands of learners are turning to online courses where they don’t have to invest any money.
1. They impart industry-oriented knowledge
Unlike university courses that mostly cover theoretical concepts, online courses focus more on practical learning as they are often designed by instructors who have rich work experience in a given domain. You will learn about the latest trends, and best practices followed in enterprises and what skills do they actually seek from employees.
2. They offer in-demand digital skills
Today, technology is advancing so rapidly that people who are not keeping pace with it may soon become invaluable to organizations. The eLearning players offer you free courses to help you learn the basics of emerging technologies like blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), quantum computing, big data analytics, and robotics. When you learn these digital skills, you become eligible to apply for many job roles associated with promising career growth. Moreover, you will be able to adjust better in the dynamic workforce of the future.
3. Tech giants have stepped into the edtech industry
You may not instantly rely on a lesser-known training provider, but you will surely like to try those courses that are offered by popular tech companies. Google, IBM, and Accenture are some of the popular names that have stepped up to upskill employees by designing courses with the help of industry experts. Google Digital Unlocked is the platform that you can explore, and you may even achieve certification if you pass the exam associated with the offered course.
4. Learn from international instructors
Gone are the days when you had to depend on the mentors available locally to teach you the desired concepts. Today, by simply signing up on the edtech platforms, you get exposed to a whole new world of courses that are designed by professors at top universities and professionals working in renowned companies. This means you can get access to courses monitored by Harvard professors sitting at your home in a small town as well.
5. Become a part of the global community
By creating an account on the eLearning platforms, the learners gain access to a community where they can interact with their peers in real-time. They can discuss their queries and doubts on the given forums and learn about the approach other learners are taking to learn a new concept. With such an interactive and user-friendly environment, learners are encouraged to complete the entire course with better interest.
What do you think?
Now that you are aware of the top reasons to enroll in free online courses, would you sign up for it? Well, one thing is for sure that you will at least gain something valuable through these online courses. Many universities are getting on board the MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) bandwagon to promote their courses and expand their learner reach. Even the governments are taking effective steps to make learning affordable to all through online learning schemes. So, why not make use of this opportunity and learn something new!