Questions to ask yourself when deciding about an online course

Whether you are someone right out of high school, or a working adult looking to expand his or her knowledge, then an online course is a blessing in disguise. Both short, and long term online courses can fit into a daily busy schedule pretty easily. These days the internet is flooding with tens of thousands of online courses and certificates programmes that can advance your career. An online course gives you an opportunity, and flexibility to start learning from the comfort of your home. Hence the first step towards selecting the best online courses is to finalize a list of potential online course providers Udemy, UpGrad and Great Learning. Then you should start asking questions to help yourself narrow down the most suitable course options. Down below we have identified the top 15 questions that as learners you can ask yourself in the case of pursuing a new online course along with their answers.

List of 15 Questions To Ask Yourself While Deciding on an Online Course

The main factors affecting a course selection may include course delivery and its structure. These questions will not only allow a learner to seek full advantage of the knowledge from the online tutor but also get themselves trained into becoming better teachers themselves and giving course suggestions. Let us have a look at the top 15 questions:

1. How to decide about taking up the course

Whether a novice or a professional, not all online courses are suitable for one level. Being a complete beginner may require a stronger foundation of the subject to be able to extract knowledge so taking up a full detailed course with a certification will add more value towards your skill development. If any applicants have completed graduation, and now want to shape their career towards becoming a business analyst then, they can choose a Business Analytics Program from any esteemed educational institution. This selection is based on the content, duration, eligibility, and institution of the programme.

2. What is the duration of the online course? Will the working applicants be able to manage to learn from a busy schedule?

The duration of any online course is one of the most important questions to be asked. Every course will have a start, and an end time but there must be an exact time duration that one can expect it to get completed like weekend classes so that students who are working professionals can chalk out their schedule, and fit it according to their convenience. For example, there may be tons of Java Programming certification courses available from different course providers, and if you are a working professional the main criteria would be to find out the one which has a suitable weekend duration.

3. Is the curriculum designed in a synchronised order?

If you have already taken part in an online course then you must have an idea about the logical placement of the content in that course. It is a must that the course lessons are structured in such a way that is divided into small units so that it transitions smoothly. A logically structured content is best when it has been broken down into days or weeks of study. This structuring can be beneficial in making content learning digestible for the students. All this will expedite the progress of the course learning outcomes.

4. What study materials are used to teach the course ?

When you get enrolled into a free online certification it is always better to judge the content with the types of study materials that have been used for designing it. It becomes important to check whether the syllabus includes relevant assignments, case studies, notes, quizzes, or games. This kind of engaging content from online course providers can train the learners to apply the theoretical knowledge learnt to complex real world situations.

Also Read: 45+ Free Online Certification Courses to Improve Your Career

5. How did you make up your mind to take up an online course?

Another important question that crops up in a learner's mind is what makes him or her take up a particular course. Factors that encourage pursuing an online certification depend upon the testimonials from previously enrolled students, their ratings, and the different advertisements flooding the social media regarding the online course.

7. How would you rate the quality of audio & video modes of learning ?

On some occasions, before a candidate signs up for a course, they are able to view a demo version which allows them to watch the audio or visual sessions of the course. This will help them choose or make an opinion on whether or not to take admission. For example the Advanced Certification in UI UX Design Strategy by Intellipaat offers the students a sneak peek into the content by giving them an opportunity to access preview videos.

8. Does the course match your pace of learning?

Getting an idea of the pace is another criteria that must be looked upon. If the course is self-paced you can learn depending upon your timings without having to worry about missing out on any of the classes. Again, some courses like a PG diploma certification in Cloud Computing online course may require a tutor to hold live virtual sessions to build up an engaging community of students. Self-paced courses give you the freedom to learn on your own whereas instructor-led programmes may have definite pace that needs to be maintained.

9. Do the technologies used in course facilitate your learning ?

There are certain online certification courses that require just a laptop, mobile or desktop with a strong broadband or a Wi-Fi network connection. But in some cases, additional software may be required to be installed on the computers. It becomes necessary to enquire about the total cost, time, and security of the installation process to give you a better idea of selecting that course.

10. Does the curriculum of the course include all the topics one has expected for ?

Before selecting an online course it is very important to understand whether the topics covered will be helpful in the long run or not. Those who wish to aspire to become a data scientist without any prior coding experience then they ought to find out if or not if the topics like machine learning, deep learning, data analytics etc are covered in the syllabus or not. On the other hand, if you already have taken up a data science online course certification, then you already know how the course fared in terms of the topics it was expected to cover.

11. Is the customer support facilitative ?

In online courses, there is no actual classroom so sometimes students become hesitant to seek online customer support from the provider. One must look out for those courses that offer 24*7 support so that it is easy to communicate with the instructors or course coordinators of online course providers for query resolution as online courses certification do not actually have face-to-face interactive sessions.

11. Are you satisfied with the modes of learning offered by the faculty?

If I am interested in learning Python for Absolute Beginners by Udemy, then I should first see the content, duration, and then jump towards reading the bio of the instructor teaching you. You are going to spend your hard-earned money on something that is worthy enough for your future endeavors, so only if a faculty has the experience, good credits and belongs to the same course domain, then only he or she will be able to explain the course content in depth.

12. Who has accredited this course?

Every course that you find online need not be accredited or accepted globally. Whenever you are choosing an institution, make accreditation a top priority. This will ensure that the course meets the highest academic standards.

13. What is the average number of applicants enrolled in the course?

Usually an online certification course considers equipping a batch size of 10 to a maximum of 60. It is believed that smaller the batch size greater the time an instructor can devote to teaching an individual student. But if learning in a larger batch makes no difference to you then no need to worry about it. But it is advisable to learn about the class size so that you can prepare yourself in a better manner.

14. What is the possibility of taking up any other course offered by the same teacher again?

If your learning experience has been smooth from a prior teacher then why miss the opportunity to study from the same teacher again as it will become easier to communicate and you would feel more comfortable clearing your doubts.

15. How would you conclude the offering of the online course?

The confidence level only builds up by participating in a course when you have really put in your hard work, completed all the assignments, passed with flying colours, and received your completion certificate.

Benefits of Asking Yourself These Questions

• Identifying the right skill sets

While you keep asking yourself the above questions, it becomes clearer what are the skill sets that you must learn to be able to grow in your workplace, or in life. Doing a thorough assessment will open up the opportunity to find out which skills are relevant and at the same time ties into with the tasks and responsibilities performed while being engaged to an organization.

• Choosing the right course

Even after deciding upon the desired skill set, you may not be able to make a decision regarding picking that apt course for you. That is when these course evaluation questions play a vital role. The proper course selection, the better end results the students shall reap.

• Help you transform into a better teacher

Some questions when asked by students to themselves can be really helpful in becoming better teachers. In some scenarios asking questions may give birth to other questions, and the answers may become useful for you as a learner to stay updated, and distinguish between the content materials of different courses to be able to give proper suggestions to others or plan your way ahead in picking the right course.

Conclusion

The bottom line is to get a fair idea that every paid online course is not the right choice for you, and not every free one is bad either. It all comes down to the fact that the course which is suited for a candidate may not be relevant for the other. Therefore researching, asking yourself these questions may help you in enrolling for the most appropriate online courses.

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