How to choose Online Course in 2023? Tips

Online learning is great as it allows you to learn from your own place and your own schedule, it's also very cost-effective but with so many options in terms of courses and platforms, it's also very confusing. It's really difficult to choose the right course and platform and if you choose the wrong one, you not only waste a lot of money but also some precious time. Being an author of a Java blog, people always ask me which platform is great for beginners? and what are some of the best courses to learn Java and other technologies. I have answered many such questions like in my earlier article about Udemy vs CodeCademy vs OneMonth and while publishing many course recommendations for learning Python, Java, and other useful technologies.

While those articles are really useful in terms of choosing a particular online learning platform or finding some niche courses to learn a particular technology, they don't provide you the blueprint to choose the best online course for you.

That's what I am trying to answer that question here. In this article, I'll share some of the tips you can use to choose the right online course for you depending upon your learning style and how you can benefit from other students' experience and community in general.

While it may sound very methodical approach but, in reality, it's not that hard, all you need to do is pay attention to a couple of points like learning styles, whether there is a project in the course or not, and support.

5 Tips to choose the right online courses for you

Now that you know how important it is to choose the right online course for you if you want to learn quickly and better, Let's discuss those points in a little bit of detail:

1. Learning Style

Everyone has a learning style, for example, I learn by doing stuff. Similarly, some people prefer interactive learning and some prefer video courses. In general, You should pick a course that addresses different learning styles so that you have a better chance of understanding the concepts. 

These learning styles complement each other and a course that has a nice blend of interactive discussion and clear videos can really help you to understand the material. So, choose the course which matches your learning style and prefer a course that has a mix of different learning styles.

One good example of this is Maximillian Schwarzmuller's React 16 — The Complete Guide course on Udemy. Max explains every step of the course, and you can read the transcription and follow along as he talks.

This transcription is helpful when you don’t quite hear what was said, or you want to reread for clarification — especially if he is explaining something step by step. Also reading is generally faster than watching

Similarly, if you like text-based courses more than Educative and Codecademy is a better learning platform for you but if you learn more by watching video courses then Udemy and Coursera is the right online learning platform for you. 

2. Projects

Since best practices in education and my own experience tell us that learning by doing is the best approach, you should only choose courses where there is a project that you have to build as you learn. This is a really important point, particularly if you learning a new programming language like Python or a new framework like React. 

A hands-on project experience goes a long way in your career. It not only provides you a much-needed experience and confidence but also provides an opportunity to use tools, concepts, and skills you have just learned. 

So, always go for a course that has project associated, one good example of that is Brad Traversy and Florin Pop's 50 Projects In 50 Days - HTML, CSS & JavaScript course.  

The entire course was centered around building 50 projects, each of them being fun, unique, and mini-projects which is not too hard to build.  Not only did I learn HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap, I learned quite a bit about design along the way, which is a bonus.

3. Quizzes, Assessments, and Coding Challenges

Research provides that if you don't repeat and recall the knowledge you just learn then it quickly disappears from your mind. Quizzes and Coding challenges provide you an opportunity to consolidate your learning. 

They also give your mind some work which prefers active learning by doing stuff than passive learning like watching and hearing. So, please make sure the course you are choosing has opportunities for you to problem-solve on your own. This will help you to know how well you are understanding the curriculum and which area you need to focus on more.

A good example of this is Colt Steele's classic The Web Developer Bootcamp course on Udemy which does a great job of assigning coding challenges and projects after every section of learning. 

The Complete JavaScript Course 2023 by Jonas Schmedtmann is very similar and, in addition, the course is project-based and you create a budget application using everything you learned in the course.

4. Community

You might have heard about "more study, more confusion" and "no study, no confusion". This is true. If you start learning and doing stuff you are bound to get doubts and obstacles. 

They try to stop your progress and more often than not we are stuck, especially if you are trying to learn new technology, and that's where a Community helps. 

Creating a community of learners helps you to get "unstuck" while you are working. Most of the successful courses also have their own private space like a Facebook group, a Slack channel to support their learners where you can get answers. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and choose a course that has a good community.

5. Milestones

Finally, choose a course that has milestones. Having obvious milestones will help you to complete short-term goals and stay motivated for the long haul. If you don't know, most of the people who join the course never finish it. 

This is actually the biggest problem with online learning where most of the people drop out from the course after a couple of lessons. This is not just a waste of money for students but also not very helpful for instructors who like to see their students succeed. 

By creating obvious milestones instructors can help motivate their students and encourage them to complete the journey. One course I like in this regard is 100 Days of Code: The Complete Python Pro Bootcamp for 2023 by Angela Yu, which focuses to teach you Python in 100 days. 

It's proven that the feeling of accomplishment motivates people to achieve more and I can say this from my personal experience. Whenever I achieve something or complete a milestone, even a smaller one, I feel great, which further improves my productivity.

My Simple test to choose an online course

If these tips sound boring and time-consuming, here is what you can do instead. Just watch a couple of preview lessons. If you can go through those lessons without forwarding or skipping then it's a good sign that you are engaging with the instructor and the course has something good to offer you.

This is my litmus test and I often use this before I purchase an online course on Udemy and other online learning platforms, and it works. This is by no means a litmus test but with so little time in our hands, It has served me well.

That's all about how to choose an online course to learn in 2023. As I have said, online courses are great to learn a new programming language, technology, framework, library, tools, and other cool stuff. You not only have the flexibility to learn from your office or home but also you can learn on your own schedule. 

The best thing about online courses is that they are also very affordable, particularly on Udemy. Other online platforms like Coursera, CodeCademy, Educative, edX, Udacity, OneMonth, and Pluaralsight are also not very expensive and you can easily subscribe to them with less than a cup of coffee per day.

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Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these tips for choosing online courses then please share them with your friends and colleagues, they will appreciate it. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P. S. - If you want to become a web developer in 2023, then you can also check out The Web Developer RoadMap, which also contains all the tech and resources you need to become a professional web developer.

P. S. S. - If you want to become a DevOps Engineer in 2023, then you should check out this awesome The Complete DevOps Engineer RoadMap, which also contains all the tech and resources you need to become a professional web developer.