Reviews Learning
Written by Connie Chen
Updated
2020-12-22T21:38:54Z
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- As jobs change, so must educational systems so that workers can learn the skills needed to succeed in growing industries.
- Skillshare democratizes education by offering thousands of creative, business, and technology online classes to students for a low price ($8.25 to $19 a month).
- Students learn from top teachers with real experience in their industries and share their work to receive feedback and improve their skills.
- Read more: Coursera offers affordable computer science courses from companies like Google Cloud and schools like UC Santa Cruz — and a bunch of them are free until the end of the year
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Education — at least in the way we typically think of it, synonymous with the ivy-lined walls and hushed libraries of elite institutions — isn't a privilege everyone can enjoy, thanks to increasing tuition costs and deep-rooted economic inequality.
Formal education also doesn't guarantee that you'll be ready for the "real world," as more employers report that they're not seeing the tangible skills they want from college grads. Throw rapidly changing technologies and trends into the mix, and it's no wonder the modern job seeker often feels like they're drowning.
Online education is touted as a solution that can even the playing field, giving job seekers the flexibility and opportunity to pursue quality courses and programs they wouldn't necessarily be able to access otherwise. Millions of results pop up when you search "online classes", but a select few, including those offered by online learning platform Skillshare, truly stand out.
Founded in 2011, Skillshare now offers more than 19,000 classes across creative, business, and technology categories, and has been used by more than seven million students worldwide. For an affordable price, students learn from some of the top leaders in their industries, such as graphic designer Aaron Draplin and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, as well as in-house professionals from companies like MailChimp, Squarespace, and DKNG Studios.
In 2014, Skillshare became one of the first online education companies to move from a pay-per-class model to a subscription model, making it even more affordable for students to learn the new skills they want and need. Students can take unlimited classes across the Skillshare catalog with a Premium membership, which starts at $19 for one month or $8.25 a month for an annual membership. There are also hundreds of classes available for free on the site.
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More great e-learning classes to try:
- Yale's most popular class ever is available free online — and the topic is how to be happier in your daily life
- The 20 fastest-growing skills in the freelance job market, according to Upwork — and the online courses you can take to learn them
- 54 free online courses from the best colleges in the US — including Princeton, Harvard, and Yale
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Plenty of sites boast talented teachers and accessible prices, but what sets Skillshare apart is that it provides a deep and broad set of expertise while also fostering a supportive community for non-traditional workers (such as freelancers). In fact, it doesn't consider itself simply an online learning website as much as an online learning community.
Skillshare CEO Matt Cooper told Business Insider:
For freelancers, it can be a pretty lonely journey. When you're in a traditional company, you always have someone to run ideas by, get feedback from, and learn new techniques [from]. One of the voids that Skillshare fills is providing that network of peers and experts.
This community approach is essential to keeping students motivated. While anyone who is pursuing online classes is likely inherently self-motivated, Skillshare's project-based design further incentivizes students. They must upload completed projects to the site in order to receive feedback, validation, and constructive criticism to spur improvement.
Learning-by-doing also bridges the gap between what job-seekers are offering and what employers actually want to see. Cooper says:
You go from the value of your pedigree to "Show me what skills you have. I want to see your portfolio, your GitHub. I want to see what you've done."
When you look at our content, it skews heavily towards actually getting things done. The overall shift in our content is towards more tangible, hands-on deliverables, as opposed to purely academic content.
From UI/UX design and web development to illustration and even culinary skills, Skillshare courses empower students to take control of their own education and have something to show for it.
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Get unlimited access to 19,000+ courseswith a Skillshare Premium membership here.
If you're not sure where to start on Skillshare, we've shared some of the top courses in business, design, and tech below.
Read on for 15 of the top Skillshare classes:
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Business classes
- Art of the Start: Turning Ideas into High-Growth Businesses by Guy Kawasaki
- E-Commerce Essentials: How to Start a Successful Online Business by Tracey Wallace
- Entrepreneurship Hustle: From Business Plan to Real Success by Michael Chernow
- Instagram for Business: Build an Engaged Community by Tyler McCall
- Make a Living as an Artist: Strategies for Crafting Your Creative Business by Brooke Glaser
Get unlimited access to these courses and more with a Skillshare Premium membership.
Design classes
- True Grit: Handmade Textures & Halftones for Designers & Illustrators by Andrew Fairclough
- Illustrate Your Day: An Intro to Symbol Design by Edward Boatman
- Surface Pattern Design 2.0: Design a Collection by Bonnie Christine
- Watercolor for Surface Pattern Design: Working with Adobe Illustrator by Bonnie Christine
- Brushpen Logo Design: Develop Your Signature Style by Matt Vergotis
Get unlimited access to these courses and more with a Skillshare Premium membership.
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Tech classes
- Web Design Essentials: Creating Marketing Homepages That Drive Results by Dennis Field
- User Experience Design Essentials - Adobe XD UI UX Design by Daniel Scott
- Understanding Web Development: A Beginners Guide to the Web by Christopher Dodd
- Hand-Coding Your First Website: HTML and CSS Basics by Rich Armstrong
- The JavaScript Toolkit: Write Cleaner, Faster & Better Code by Christian Heilmann
Get unlimited access to these courses and more with a Skillshare Premium membership.
Connie Chen is a former senior reporter on the Insider Reviews team, where she led coverage of home textiles, home entertaining, and food and drink. While at Insider, she specialized in all the things that enhance life at home, from the most comfortable bed sheets and fluffy pillows to cool online wine clubs and bartender-approved co*cktail shakers. She combined rigorous testing methods, conversations with professionals, and active knowledge of the home and kitchen space to help readers get the most out of their money. When she's not changing duvet covers or washing towels twice a day for articles, she loves talking about and trying the newest snacks, drinks, andfood gifts. You can see more of her testing process and other behind-the-scenes of being a product journalist on her Instagram @connayreviews. Connie joined Insider Reviews as an early member in 2017 and has also reported on products and services in the style, tech, fitness, travel, and e-learning spaces, with a particular interest and expertise in emerging startups. She has represented the team at CES and moderated panels on media business and the future of retail. Connie graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in media studies and business administration, which help inform her perspective on and coverage of industry trends, as well as the competitive e-commerce landscape at large. Read some of her work: The 4 best co*cktail shakers in 2021 The 7 best women's bathrobes in 2021 The 5 best wine openers and corkscrews we tested in 2021 The 5 best bed sheets we tested in 2021 The 5 best cordless vacuums we tested in 2021 12 direct-to-consumer kitchen startups that are changing the way we shop for cookware and knives 8 tableware startups changing the way we shop for dishes Even chefs experience cooking burnout — here's how they get re-inspired in the kitchen How businesses create successful virtual experiences 50 cookbooks from famous restaurants across the US that will help you recreate their best dishes at home Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here. Learn more about how we test kitchen products.
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