Over the summer, after I had finished my Certificate in Professional Coaching and a Certificate in Career Coaching, I had the urge, time, and want to continue growing my knowledge. I am not very good at having to read for long periods of time, especially from a computer, but online was the only real option and I had already forked out a lot of money for my other courses. I did not want to spend any more money for the moment anyway.
Years ago, I would get courses in different places like Groupon and other platforms like this. I had looked through them and nothing really interested me at that point anyway, so I decided to look further afield. I had heard about Teachable and Udemy; I am sure there is a lot more, but I am going to base my findings on the ones I have mentioned. Also, to point out, I am not affiliated with these sites and do not receive money from them if you do any of their courses unless it is a course directly linked to me.
You can get certificates from these courses, but they are not certificates from a registered university. For example, if you did one of these online courses on Psychotherapy and received a certificate, you cannot register and practice as a psychotherapist. It will give you the knowledge and an understanding of psychotherapy but not the accredited certification that you would need to be a licensed professional. That being said, it may add to your continued personal development for work and add some new tools to your box.
This is where I feel these kind of courses are really useful and beneficial. Nowadays, more and more people are deciding to change their careers at some point and opting for something very different from what they had originally qualified in. Returning to university can be extremely costly and taxing on your health and well-being, whether you decide to go back full time or part-time, continue to work or give up work completely. It is not easy to return to university or studying. For this reason, you need to be sure that it is the right thing for you. By taking some short and inexpensive, sometimes even free, courses you get to have a better idea of what types of topics you may learn and if it is the right course for you.
If it has been any length of time since you have been studying or partaking in any form of learning, online courses can be a way to help you get back into learning. It may even help to find your new way of learning, as for many reasons you will not be in the same position or circumstances and so will not study and learn the same way.
Some other reasons why doing a short online course can be useful are:
- You will get a range of different types of courses. So, if you want to learn a new craft or want a better understanding of how to do an Excel sheet, amongst many other things, these types of courses are really beneficial.
- The courses are readily available. Once you purchase them, you have unlimited access to them whenever you can fit it in.
- There are different levels that you can learn from. So, if you are brand new to an area of learning, you can start with beginner and work your way up.
- Udemy also offers a money-back guarantee if you are not happy with the course and no sign-up fee
- Some say the quality of courses is better on sites where you pay to sign up fees, but it all depends on what you want to get out of such courses
- Most courses do not require much or any prior learning and will state what you need to know before taking the course and what you will gain from it.
- Courses are broken down into sections so you can do them at your own pace.
- They are relatively short and should not take forever to finish them.
- You can connect with the tutor and ask them questions you may be unsure of.
- If it is a paid course, you get a certificate of completion.
- Doing such courses can give you an added edge if and when you do apply to a university or even a job, showing that you like to upskill and want to continue to learn and grow.
Of course, there are negatives also, they only give a general idea of your topic of choice, sometimes too many courses to choose from can be more overwhelming than anything else amongst other things. But, if you are not doing all the normal things that you used to do, and have more time on your hands, what is stopping you. My thoughts are that yes value courses are the way to go and now is the perfect time to try something new, you may be surprised about what you can gain and anything gained is always positive to me. I wish you the best of luck if you do take on a value course, I do not think you will regret it.
