Are you intent on learning a new skill, perhaps coding, or speaking Spanish, or digital marketing, or you want to learn how to make new chocolate recipes, or maths, or anything else? And you decided you want to learn it through an e-learning course or program, mostly because of its convenience.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU: BEST ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORMS IN NIGERIA 2020
With an online course you get to study from anywhere, at home, during breaks at work or school, when traveling, and so on. Before you do that however, you already know that there are thousands of eLearning courses in Nigeria alone. You can get lost trying to choose a good one for yourself. And when you do choose it, how do you know you have selected the best?
Here in this article, we will help highlight some of the points you should consider when choosing an e-learning program.
E-learning is growing in popularity day by day, and they are becoming better and better. You can learn anything you want now online, from anywhere. As long as you have an internet connection.
E-learning in Nigeria is perfect for private study, you can use it to advance your skills, or to tutor yourself on something you don’t understand from school. You can also use it to acquire certificates related to your work field, for example, if you are a Python developer for a startup, and you signed up for JavaScript classes and acquired the certificate of completion, it can open up opportunities for you.
Whatever your reason for signing up for an online course, the qualities that make up a good e-learning platform is always the same. Let’s take a look at some of the things you should look out for when selecting an eLearning website.
First off, check, does it have the features you need? Such as one-on-one Q&A sessions, certification, members’ forums, digital resources, for example, does it have templates if you need any, or an e-book, etc?
You need to check thoroughly before signing up on any e-learning platform, that they have what you need first. There are thousands of online courses offering the same topic, but you should ask yourself, which particular one has the features I need?
Some e-learning platforms allow you to return after spending a long time away from it, i.e. they allow you to learn at your own pace, some don’t. Some platforms are designed with a mobile app, you can learn on-the-go. There are so many other features for you to decide what is necessary for you.
We are not suggesting you choose one that is full to the brim with features and technicalities, templates, resources and such, no, but that you should choose something to your advantage. It could be simple, maybe that is what you need.
In our ever increasingly busy lives, it is important that you can take your online classes for a few minutes at a time. Many can hardly accommodate long and ceaseless lectures, they need to be bite-sized, so that they are easily digestible, and let you get on with your normal activities.
Some e-learning websites break down their courses into a series of videos, each a few minutes long, at most the duration is 15 minutes, and sometimes as short as 6 minutes.
Most online lessons are things people study on the side, it is usually not their main profession, so if it is to take up most of their time, they will hardly concentrate on it any longer.
You should find out if the course has long video lectures, or if it takes months to finish. Depending on what you are studying, it shouldn’t take months to study some courses. For example, it shouldn’t take 8-9 months to study the basics of social media marketing, two to three short weeks will suffice.
Choose an elearning website that provides short but precise online lessons.
Next up, you should check the eLearning website if their topics and subjects are well categorized, each topic and subtopic in well-organized groups. If not, there is a good chance it is not a quality e-learning website or platform.
Because taking the time to organize lessons indicates seriousness and a plan, sort of like a syllabus, it is absolutely necessary for e-learning websites to have a plan for their lessons because it is the most effective way to learn. Furthermore, it will help you commit to the online course.
Check the e-learning website, are the online courses it offers complete. Meaning, are they completely and fully comprehensive? You want a course where you are fully confident in the content they provide, that it is complete and comprehensive. Avoid e-learning programs that look like they were put together overnight.
They will just affect your progress and make you lose time and effort. You should check for eLearning websites that are reputable, and that have a definitive beginning-to-end lesson plan.
You should rely more on courses that have experts as the instructors of the course. Experts are more reliable as dispatchers of knowledge, their experience allows them to have a broader spectrum of the subject, and they will use it to convey a more complete outlook in the e-learning course.
Advantages of studying under an expert include but are not limited to; having a thorough understanding of the subject or skill, knowing what works and what doesn’t, experts are familiar with the past and present status of their industry, so they make a better judgement.
You will learn a great deal if you decide to enrol in an expert’s elearning course. Some of them have stand-alone eLearning websites while some others prefer to offer their online courses in third-party e-learning websites such as udemy and uLesson app.