Download - The Internet These Days is Full
The Internet these days is full of cat videos, bad lip
readings and hilarious memes. All good things, of course. But, believe it
or not, there’s some useful stuff there, too. And that proposes a
legitimate opportunity for the smart entrepreneur.
Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of
Online Education
When I set out to start my own online course , I didn’t know much about
education. All I knew was that I wanted to deliver a quality learning
experience to readers that went beyond the scope of my blog. That was
about it.
Then, I heard entrepreneur Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before
you can charge a certain amount for an information product, you had
better be willing to pay that much yourself. In other words, he was
saying, “Don’t charge $2,000 for a course until you spend $2,000 and
see what a $2,000 product looks like.”
So, I took that advice. I started signing up for online courses, and, boy,
did I learn some things.
Options for Education
Education on the Internet has changed, mostly for the better. This is not
like what I experienced in college, when a particular professor I had
would give out a long, complicated URL to remember. And it’s not like
those foreign language correspondence classes you may have taken in
high school to get around the fact that no one in your small town taught
Latin. At least that was the case in my farm town of 1,100 people.
So, yes, things have changed -- big time. Now, an online course can be
comparable to a real-life educational experience. In fact, sometimes it
can be even better.
Let’s say you didn’t go to college, or maybe like a lot of people you got a
degree in one field of study and then figured out that what you actually
wanted to do was something different. What, now? you probably asked
yourself. In the past, you had two options:
Option 1: Go back to school and get your degree.
Option 2: Go the Good Will Hunting route and teach yourself by reading
a lot of books.
Number one is the standard decision for many middle-class people who
don’t know what they want to do with their lives, or else realize that
college has not prepared them for the real world. Going back to school is
not necessarily a bad choice, but if college didn’t work for you in the first
place, why return to the institution that failed you? Not to mention that it’s
expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace.
Number two is just simply hard. Nor does it work for those of us who
need a teacher, someone to walk us through the process -- and that
means most of us.
So, what is there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.
Related: LinkedIn Inks $1.5 Billion Deal for Online Education
Company Lynda
Time to get serious about online courses
Today, we have a third option: the Internet. The Web is exploding with
legitimate online education opportunities that are literally changing
people’s lives. But, you may wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet
thing -- with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. I was
skeptical, too, until I finally understood why online courses work.
Here are five reasons why you should now take online education more
seriously:
1. Online courses are less expensive.
For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a university-level learning
experience taught by an industry expert. That is, you can if you take
the right kind of classes (more about that below).
2. Online courses are results-oriented.
Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online
educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of
simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line (literally),
after all.
3. Technology makes the experience of an online course more exciting.
Instead of attending a couple of 45-minute lectures per week, you'll now
have worksheets, discussion forums and interactive presentation at your
fingertips.
4. The classrooms are cooler.
You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your
local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly lit room. You can attend
class right in your living room -- whenever you want.
5. You get to keep the course.
This might be my favorite reason for online education. In contrast to
traditional education, where the only keepsakes you get are the
overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles,
many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including
the lessons).
If you haven’t considered taking an online course, then, you should. But,
and this is important, don’t sign up for just any class that comes along.
There are a lot of swindlers out there (who probably made those cat
videos -- no offense intended, of course, to Grumpy Cat).
Here's what to look for in a good online course:
Solid credentials. Has the teacher achieved the expertise he or she
claims? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get
published, is a published author teaching it? Or is the teacher at least
someone with real-life experience in that industry? If other marks of
legitimacy (i.e., licenses and such) are needed for what you want to
learn, make sure the instructor has those, too.
Trustworthy testimonials. What do previous students say about the
course? Don’t read just the
The Internet these days is full of cat videos, bad lip
readings and hilarious memes. All good things, of course. But, believe it
or not, there’s some useful stuff there, too. And that proposes a
legitimate opportunity for the smart entrepreneur.
Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of
Online Education
When I set out to start my own online course , I didn’t know much about
education. All I knew was that I wanted to deliver a quality learning
experience to readers that went beyond the scope of my blog. That was
about it.
Then, I heard entrepreneur Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before
you can charge a certain amount for an information product, you had
better be willing to pay that much yourself. In other words, he was
saying, “Don’t charge $2,000 for a course until you spend $2,000 and
see what a $2,000 product looks like.”
So, I took that advice. I started signing up for online courses, and, boy,
did I learn some things.
Options for Education
Education on the Internet has changed, mostly for the better. This is not
like what I experienced in college, when a particular professor I had
would give out a long, complicated URL to remember. And it’s not like
those foreign language correspondence classes you may have taken in
high school to get around the fact that no one in your small town taught
Latin. At least that was the case in my farm town of 1,100 people.
So, yes, things have changed -- big time. Now, an online course can be
comparable to a real-life educational experience. In fact, sometimes it
can be even better.
Let’s say you didn’t go to college, or maybe like a lot of people you got a
degree in one field of study and then figured out that what you actually
wanted to do was something different. What, now? you probably asked
yourself. In the past, you had two options:
Option 1: Go back to school and get your degree.
Option 2: Go the Good Will Hunting route and teach yourself by reading
a lot of books.
Number one is the standard decision for many middle-class people who
don’t know what they want to do with their lives, or else realize that
college has not prepared them for the real world. Going back to school is
not necessarily a bad choice, but if college didn’t work for you in the first
place, why return to the institution that failed you? Not to mention that it’s
expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace.
Number two is just simply hard. Nor does it work for those of us who
need a teacher, someone to walk us through the process -- and that
means most of us.
So, what is there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.
Related: LinkedIn Inks $1.5 Billion Deal for Online Education
Company Lynda
Time to get serious about online courses
Today, we have a third option: the Internet. The Web is exploding with
legitimate online education opportunities that are literally changing
people’s lives. But, you may wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet
thing -- with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. I was
skeptical, too, until I finally understood why online courses work.
Here are five reasons why you should now take online education more
seriously:
1. Online courses are less expensive.
For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a university-level learning
experience taught by an industry expert. That is, you can if you take
the right kind of classes (more about that below).
2. Online courses are results-oriented.
Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online
educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of
simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line (literally),
after all.
3. Technology makes the experience of an online course more exciting.
Instead of attending a couple of 45-minute lectures per week, you'll now
have worksheets, discussion forums and interactive presentation at your
fingertips.
4. The classrooms are cooler.
You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your
local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly lit room. You can attend
class right in your living room -- whenever you want.
5. You get to keep the course.
This might be my favorite reason for online education. In contrast to
traditional education, where the only keepsakes you get are the
overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles,
many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including
the lessons).
If you haven’t considered taking an online course, then, you should. But,
and this is important, don’t sign up for just any class that comes along.
There are a lot of swindlers out there (who probably made those cat
videos -- no offense intended, of course, to Grumpy Cat).
Here's what to look for in a good online course:
Solid credentials. Has the teacher achieved the expertise he or she
claims? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get
published, is a published author teaching it? Or is the teacher at least
someone with real-life experience in that industry? If other marks of
legitimacy (i.e., licenses and such) are needed for what you want to
learn, make sure the instructor has those, too.
Trustworthy testimonials. What do previous students say about the
course? Don’t read just the
The Internet these days is full of cat videos, bad lip
readings and hilarious memes. All good things, of course. But, believe it
or not, there’s some useful stuff there, too. And that proposes a
legitimate opportunity for the smart entrepreneur.
Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of
Online Education
When I set out to start my own online course , I didn’t know much about
education. All I knew was that I wanted to deliver a quality learning
experience to readers that went beyond the scope of my blog. That was
about it.
Then, I heard entrepreneur Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before
you can charge a certain amount for an information product, you had
better be willing to pay that much yourself. In other words, he was
saying, “Don’t charge $2,000 for a course until you spend $2,000 and
see what a $2,000 product looks like.”
So, I took that advice. I started signing up for online courses, and, boy,
did I learn some things.
Options for Education
Education on the Internet has changed, mostly for the better. This is not
like what I experienced in college, when a particular professor I had
would give out a long, complicated URL to remember. And it’s not like
those foreign language correspondence classes you may have taken in
high school to get around the fact that no one in your small town taught
Latin. At least that was the case in my farm town of 1,100 people.
So, yes, things have changed -- big time. Now, an online course can be
comparable to a real-life educational experience. In fact, sometimes it
can be even better.
Let’s say you didn’t go to college, or maybe like a lot of people you got a
degree in one field of study and then figured out that what you actually
wanted to do was something different. What, now? you probably asked
yourself. In the past, you had two options:
Option 1: Go back to school and get your degree.
Option 2: Go the Good Will Hunting route and teach yourself by reading
a lot of books.
Number one is the standard decision for many middle-class people who
don’t know what they want to do with their lives, or else realize that
college has not prepared them for the real world. Going back to school is
not necessarily a bad choice, but if college didn’t work for you in the first
place, why return to the institution that failed you? Not to mention that it’s
expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace.
Number two is just simply hard. Nor does it work for those of us who
need a teacher, someone to walk us through the process -- and that
means most of us.
So, what is there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.
Related: LinkedIn Inks $1.5 Billion Deal for Online Education
Company Lynda
Time to get serious about online courses
Today, we have a third option: the Internet. The Web is exploding with
legitimate online education opportunities that are literally changing
people’s lives. But, you may wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet
thing -- with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. I was
skeptical, too, until I finally understood why online courses work.
Here are five reasons why you should now take online education more
seriously:
1. Online courses are less expensive.
For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a university-level learning
experience taught by an industry expert. That is, you can if you take
the right kind of classes (more about that below).
2. Online courses are results-oriented.
Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online
educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of
simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line (literally),
after all.
3. Technology makes the experience of an online course more exciting.
Instead of attending a couple of 45-minute lectures per week, you'll now
have worksheets, discussion forums and interactive presentation at your
fingertips.
4. The classrooms are cooler.
You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your
local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly lit room. You can attend
class right in your living room -- whenever you want.
5. You get to keep the course.
This might be my favorite reason for online education. In contrast to
traditional education, where the only keepsakes you get are the
overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles,
many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including
the lessons).
If you haven’t considered taking an online course, then, you should. But,
and this is important, don’t sign up for just any class that comes along.
There are a lot of swindlers out there (who probably made those cat
videos -- no offense intended, of course, to Grumpy Cat).
Here's what to look for in a good online course:
Solid credentials. Has the teacher achieved the expertise he or she
claims? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get
published, is a published author teaching it? Or is the teacher at least
someone with real-life experience in that industry? If other marks of
legitimacy (i.e., licenses and such) are needed for what you want to
learn, make sure the instructor has those, too.
Trustworthy testimonials. What do previous students say about the
course? Don’t read just the
The Internet these days is full of cat videos, bad lip
readings and hilarious memes. All good things, of course. But, believe it
or not, there’s some useful stuff there, too. And that proposes a
legitimate opportunity for the smart entrepreneur.
Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of
Online Education
When I set out to start my own online course , I didn’t know much about
education. All I knew was that I wanted to deliver a quality learning
experience to readers that went beyond the scope of my blog. That was
about it.
Then, I heard entrepreneur Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before
you can charge a certain amount for an information product, you had
better be willing to pay that much yourself. In other words, he was
saying, “Don’t charge $2,000 for a course until you spend $2,000 and
see what a $2,000 product looks like.”
So, I took that advice. I started signing up for online courses, and, boy,
did I learn some things.
Options for Education
Education on the Internet has changed, mostly for the better. This is not
like what I experienced in college, when a particular professor I had
would give out a long, complicated URL to remember. And it’s not like
those foreign language correspondence classes you may have taken in
high school to get around the fact that no one in your small town taught
Latin. At least that was the case in my farm town of 1,100 people.
So, yes, things have changed -- big time. Now, an online course can be
comparable to a real-life educational experience. In fact, sometimes it
can be even better.
Let’s say you didn’t go to college, or maybe like a lot of people you got a
degree in one field of study and then figured out that what you actually
wanted to do was something different. What, now? you probably asked
yourself. In the past, you had two options:
Option 1: Go back to school and get your degree.
Option 2: Go the Good Will Hunting route and teach yourself by reading
a lot of books.
Number one is the standard decision for many middle-class people who
don’t know what they want to do with their lives, or else realize that
college has not prepared them for the real world. Going back to school is
not necessarily a bad choice, but if college didn’t work for you in the first
place, why return to the institution that failed you? Not to mention that it’s
expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace.
Number two is just simply hard. Nor does it work for those of us who
need a teacher, someone to walk us through the process -- and that
means most of us.
So, what is there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.
Related: LinkedIn Inks $1.5 Billion Deal for Online Education
Company Lynda
Time to get serious about online courses
Today, we have a third option: the Internet. The Web is exploding with
legitimate online education opportunities that are literally changing
people’s lives. But, you may wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet
thing -- with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. I was
skeptical, too, until I finally understood why online courses work.
Here are five reasons why you should now take online education more
seriously:
1. Online courses are less expensive.
For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a university-level learning
experience taught by an industry expert. That is, you can if you take
the right kind of classes (more about that below).
2. Online courses are results-oriented.
Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online
educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of
simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line (literally),
after all.
3. Technology makes the experience of an online course more exciting.
Instead of attending a couple of 45-minute lectures per week, you'll now
have worksheets, discussion forums and interactive presentation at your
fingertips.
4. The classrooms are cooler.
You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your
local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly lit room. You can attend
class right in your living room -- whenever you want.
5. You get to keep the course.
This might be my favorite reason for online education. In contrast to
traditional education, where the only keepsakes you get are the
overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles,
many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including
the lessons).
If you haven’t considered taking an online course, then, you should. But,
and this is important, don’t sign up for just any class that comes along.
There are a lot of swindlers out there (who probably made those cat
videos -- no offense intended, of course, to Grumpy Cat).
Here's what to look for in a good online course:
Solid credentials. Has the teacher achieved the expertise he or she
claims? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get published,
is a published author teaching it? Or is the teacher at least someone with
real-life experience inThe Internet these days is full of cat videos, bad lip
readings and hilarious memes. All good things, of course. But, believe it
or not, there’s some useful stuff there, too. And that proposes a
legitimate opportunity for the smart entrepreneur.
Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of
Online Education
When I set out to start my own online course , I didn’t know much about
education. All I knew was that I wanted to deliver a quality learning
experience to readers that went beyond the scope of my blog. That was
about it.
Then, I heard entrepreneur Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before
you can charge a certain amount for an information product, you had
better be willing to pay that much yourself. In other words, he was
saying, “Don’t charge $2,000 for a course until you spend $2,000 and
see what a $2,000 product looks like.”
So, I took that advice. I started signing up for online courses, and, boy,
did I learn some things.
Options for Education
Education on the Internet has changed, mostly for the better. This is not
like what I experienced in college, when a particular professor I had
would give out a long, complicated URL to remember. And it’s not like
those foreign language correspondence classes you may have taken in
high school to get around the fact that no one in your small town taught
Latin. At least that was the case in my farm town of 1,100 people.
So, yes, things have changed -- big time. Now, an online course can be
comparable to a real-life educational experience. In fact, sometimes it
can be even better.
Let’s say you didn’t go to college, or maybe like a lot of people you got a
degree in one field of study and then figured out that what you actually
wanted to do was something different. What, now? you probably asked
yourself. In the past, you had two options:
Option 1: Go back to school and get your degree.
Option 2: Go the Good Will Hunting route and teach yourself by reading
a lot of books.
Number one is the standard decision for many middle-class people who
don’t know what they want to do with their lives, or else realize that
college has not prepared them for the real world. Going back to school is
not necessarily a bad choice, but if college didn’t work for you in the first
place, why return to the institution that failed you? Not to mention that it’s
expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace.
Number two is just simply hard. Nor does it work for those of us who
need a teacher, someone to walk us through the process -- and that
means most of us.
So, what is there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.
Related: LinkedIn Inks $1.5 Billion Deal for Online Education
Company Lynda
Time to get serious about online courses
Today, we have a third option: the Internet. The Web is exploding with
legitimate online education opportunities that are literally changing
people’s lives. But, you may wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet
thing -- with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. I was
skeptical, too, until I finally understood why online courses work.
Here are five reasons why you should now take online education more
seriously:
1. Online courses are less expensive.
For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a university-level learning
experience taught by an industry expert. That is, you can if you take
the right kind of classes (more about that below).
2. Online courses are results-oriented.
Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online
educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of
simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line (literally),
after all.
3. Technology makes the experience of an online course more exciting.
Instead of attending a couple of 45-minute lectures per week, you'll now
have worksheets, discussion forums and interactive presentation at your
fingertips.
4. The classrooms are cooler.
You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your
local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly lit room. You can attend
class right in your living room -- whenever you want.
5. You get to keep the course.
This might be my favorite reason for online education. In contrast to
traditional education, where the only keepsakes you get are the
overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles,
many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including
the lessons).
If you haven’t considered taking an online course, then, you should. But,
and this is important, don’t sign up for just any class that comes along.
There are a lot of swindlers out there (who probably made those cat
videos -- no offense intended, of course, to Grumpy Cat).
Here's what to look for in a good online course:
Solid credentials. Has the teacher achieved the expertise he or she
claims? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get
published, is a published author teaching it? Or is the teacher at least
someone with real-life experience in that industry? If other marks of
legitimacy (i.e., licenses and such) are needed for what you want to
learn, make sure the instructor has those, too.
Trustworthy testimonials. What do previous students say about the
course? Don’t read just the
The Internet these days is full of cat videos, bad lip
readings and hilarious memes. All good things, of course. But, believe it
or not, there’s some useful stuff there, too. And that proposes a
legitimate opportunity for the smart entrepreneur.
Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of
Online Education
When I set out to start my own online course , I didn’t know much about
education. All I knew was that I wanted to deliver a quality learning
experience to readers that went beyond the scope of my blog. That was
about it.
Then, I heard entrepreneur Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before
you can charge a certain amount for an information product, you had
better be willing to pay that much yourself. In other words, he was
saying, “Don’t charge $2,000 for a course until you spend $2,000 and
see what a $2,000 product looks like.”
So, I took that advice. I started signing up for online courses, and, boy,
did I learn some things.
Options for Education
Education on the Internet has changed, mostly for the better. This is not
like what I experienced in college, when a particular professor I had
would give out a long, complicated URL to remember. And it’s not like
those foreign language correspondence classes you may have taken in
high school to get around the fact that no one in your small town taught
Latin. At least that was the case in my farm town of 1,100 people.
So, yes, things have changed -- big time. Now, an online course can be
comparable to a real-life educational experience. In fact, sometimes it
can be even better.
Let’s say you didn’t go to college, or maybe like a lot of people you got a
degree in one field of study and then figured out that what you actually
wanted to do was something different. What, now? you probably asked
yourself. In the past, you had two options:
Option 1: Go back to school and get your degree.
Option 2: Go the Good Will Hunting route and teach yourself by reading
a lot of books.
Number one is the standard decision for many middle-class people who
don’t know what they want to do with their lives, or else realize that
college has not prepared them for the real world. Going back to school is
not necessarily a bad choice, but if college didn’t work for you in the first
place, why return to the institution that failed you? Not to mention that it’s
expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace.
Number two is just simply hard. Nor does it work for those of us who
need a teacher, someone to walk us through the process -- and that
means most of us.
So, what is there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.
Related: LinkedIn Inks $1.5 Billion Deal for Online Education
Company Lynda
Time to get serious about online courses
Today, we have a third option: the Internet. The Web is exploding with
legitimate online education opportunities that are literally changing
people’s lives. But, you may wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet
thing -- with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. I was
skeptical, too, until I finally understood why online courses work.
Here are five reasons why you should now take online education more
seriously:
1. Online courses are less expensive.
For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a university-level learning
experience taught by an industry expert. That is, you can if you take
the right kind of classes (more about that below).
2. Online courses are results-oriented.
Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online
educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of
simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line (literally),
after all.
3. Technology makes the experience of an online course more exciting.
Instead of attending a couple of 45-minute lectures per week, you'll now
have worksheets, discussion forums and interactive presentation at your
fingertips.
4. The classrooms are cooler.
You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your
local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly lit room. You can attend
class right in your living room -- whenever you want.
5. You get to keep the course.
This might be my favorite reason for online education. In contrast to
traditional education, where the only keepsakes you get are the
overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles,
many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including
the lessons).
If you haven’t considered taking an online course, then, you should. But,
and this is important, don’t sign up for just any class that comes along.
There are a lot of swindlers out there (who probably made those cat
videos -- no offense intended, of course, to Grumpy Cat).
Here's what to look for in a good online course:
Solid credentials. Has the teacher achieved the expertise he or
she claims? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get
published, is a published author teaching it? Or is the teacher at
least someone with real-life experience in that industry? If other
marks of legitimacy (i.e., licenses and such) are needed for what
you want to learn, make sure the instructor has those, too.
Trustworthy testimonials. What do previous students say about
the course? Don’t read just the
The Internet these days is full of cat videos, bad lip
readings and hilarious memes. All good things, of course. But, believe it
or not, there’s some useful stuff there, too. And that proposes a
legitimate opportunity for the smart entrepreneur.
Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of
Online Education
When I set out to start my own online course , I didn’t know much about
education. All I knew was that I wanted to deliver a quality learning
experience to readers that went beyond the scope of my blog. That was
about it.
Then, I heard entrepreneur Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before
you can charge a certain amount for an information product, you had
better be willing to pay that much yourself. In other words, he was
saying, “Don’t charge $2,000 for a course until you spend $2,000 and
see what a $2,000 product looks like.”
So, I took that advice. I started signing up for online courses, and, boy,
did I learn some things.
Options for Education
Education on the Internet has changed, mostly for the better. This is not
like what I experienced in college, when a particular professor I had
would give out a long, complicated URL to remember. And it’s not like
those foreign language correspondence classes you may have taken in
high school to get around the fact that no one in your small town taught
Latin. At least that was the case in my farm town of 1,100 people.
So, yes, things have changed -- big time. Now, an online course can be
comparable to a real-life educational experience. In fact, sometimes it
can be even better.
Let’s say you didn’t go to college, or maybe like a lot of people you got a
degree in one field of study and then figured out that what you actually
wanted to do was something different. What, now? you probably asked
yourself. In the past, you had two options:
Option 1: Go back to school and get your degree.
Option 2: Go the Good Will Hunting route and teach yourself by reading
a lot of books.
Number one is the standard decision for many middle-class people who
don’t know what they want to do with their lives, or else realize that
college has not prepared them for the real world. Going back to school is
not necessarily a bad choice, but if college didn’t work for you in the first
place, why return to the institution that failed you? Not to mention that it’s
expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace.
Number two is just simply hard. Nor does it work for those of us who
need a teacher, someone to walk us through the process -- and that
means most of us.
So, what is there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.
Related: LinkedIn Inks $1.5 Billion Deal for Online Education
Company Lynda
Time to get serious about online courses
Today, we have a third option: the Internet. The Web is exploding with
legitimate online education opportunities that are literally changing
people’s lives. But, you may wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet
thing -- with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. I was
skeptical, too, until I finally understood why online courses work.
Here are five reasons why you should now take online education more
seriously:
1. Online courses are less expensive.
For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a university-level learning
experience taught by an industry expert. That is, you can if you take
the right kind of classes (more about that below).
2. Online courses are results-oriented.
Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online
educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of
simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line (literally),
after all.
3. Technology makes the experience of an online course more exciting.
Instead of attending a couple of 45-minute lectures per week, you'll now
have worksheets, discussion forums and interactive presentation at your
fingertips.
4. The classrooms are cooler.
You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your
local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly lit room. You can attend
class right in your living room -- whenever you want.
5. You get to keep the course.
This might be my favorite reason for online education. In contrast to
traditional education, where the only keepsakes you get are the
overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles,
many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including
the lessons).
If you haven’t considered taking an online course, then, you should. But,
and this is important, don’t sign up for just any class that comes along.
There are a lot of swindlers out there (who probably made those cat
videos -- no offense intended, of course, to Grumpy Cat).
Here's what to look for in a good online course:
Solid credentials. Has the teacher achieved the expertise he or
she claims? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get
published, is a published author teaching it? Or is the teacher at
least someone with real-life experience in that industry? If other
marks of legitimacy (i.e., licenses and such) are needed for what
you want to learn, make sure the instructor has those, too.
Trustworthy testimonials. What do previous students say about
the course? Don’t read just the
The Internet these days is full of cat videos, bad lip
readings and hilarious memes. All good things, of course. But, believe it
or not, there’s some useful stuff there, too. And that proposes a
legitimate opportunity for the smart entrepreneur.
Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of
Online Education
When I set out to start my own online course , I didn’t know much about
education. All I knew was that I wanted to deliver a quality learning
experience to readers that went beyond the scope of my blog. That was
about it.
Then, I heard entrepreneur Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before
you can charge a certain amount for an information product, you had
better be willing to pay that much yourself. In other words, he was
saying, “Don’t charge $2,000 for a course until you spend $2,000 and
see what a $2,000 product looks like.”
So, I took that advice. I started signing up for online courses, and, boy,
did I learn some things.
Options for Education
Education on the Internet has changed, mostly for the better. This is not
like what I experienced in college, when a particular professor I had
would give out a long, complicated URL to remember. And it’s not like
those foreign language correspondence classes you may have taken in
high school to get around the fact that no one in your small town taught
Latin. At least that was the case in my farm town of 1,100 people.
So, yes, things have changed -- big time. Now, an online course can be
comparable to a real-life educational experience. In fact, sometimes it
can be even better.
Let’s say you didn’t go to college, or maybe like a lot of people you got a
degree in one field of study and then figured out that what you actually
wanted to do was something different. What, now? you probably asked
yourself. In the past, you had two options:
Option 1: Go back to school and get your degree.
Option 2: Go the Good Will Hunting route and teach yourself by reading
a lot of books.
Number one is the standard decision for many middle-class people who
don’t know what they want to do with their lives, or else realize that
college has not prepared them for the real world. Going back to school is
not necessarily a bad choice, but if college didn’t work for you in the first
place, why return to the institution that failed you? Not to mention that it’s
expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace.
Number two is just simply hard. Nor does it work for those of us who
need a teacher, someone to walk us through the process -- and that
means most of us.
So, what is there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.
Related: LinkedIn Inks $1.5 Billion Deal for Online Education
Company Lynda
Time to get serious about online courses
Today, we have a third option: the Internet. The Web is exploding with
legitimate online education opportunities that are literally changing
people’s lives. But, you may wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet
thing -- with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. I was
skeptical, too, until I finally understood why online courses work.
Here are five reasons why you should now take online education more
seriously:
1. Online courses are less expensive.
For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a university-level learning
experience taught by an industry expert. That is, you can if you take
the right kind of classes (more about that below).
2. Online courses are results-oriented.
Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online
educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of
simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line (literally),
after all.
3. Technology makes the experience of an online course more exciting.
Instead of attending a couple of 45-minute lectures per week, you'll now
have worksheets, discussion forums and interactive presentation at your
fingertips.
4. The classrooms are cooler.
You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your
local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly lit room. You can attend
class right in your living room -- whenever you want.
5. You get to keep the course.
This might be my favorite reason for online education. In contrast to
traditional education, where the only keepsakes you get are the
overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles,
many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including
the lessons).
If you haven’t considered taking an online course, then, you should. But,
and this is important, don’t sign up for just any class that comes along.
There are a lot of swindlers out there (who probably made those cat
videos -- no offense intended, of course, to Grumpy Cat).
Here's what to look for in a good online course:
Solid credentials. Has the teacher achieved the expertise he or
she claims? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get
published, is a published author teaching it? Or is the teacher at
least someone with real-life experience in that industry? If other
marks of legitimacy (i.e., licenses and such) are needed for what
you want to learn, make sure the instructor has those, too.
Trustworthy testimonials. What do previous students say about
the course? Don’t read just the
The Internet these days is full of cat videos, bad lip
readings and hilarious memes. All good things, of course. But, believe it
or not, there’s some useful stuff there, too. And that proposes a
legitimate opportunity for the smart entrepreneur.
Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of
Online Education
When I set out to start my own online course , I didn’t know much about
education. All I knew was that I wanted to deliver a quality learning
experience to readers that went beyond the scope of my blog. That was
about it.
Then, I heard entrepreneur Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before
you can charge a certain amount for an information product, you had
better be willing to pay that much yourself. In other words, he was
saying, “Don’t charge $2,000 for a course until you spend $2,000 and
see what a $2,000 product looks like.”
So, I took that advice. I started signing up for online courses, and, boy,
did I learn some things.
Options for Education
Education on the Internet has changed, mostly for the better. This is not
like what I experienced in college, when a particular professor I had
would give out a long, complicated URL to remember. And it’s not like
those foreign language correspondence classes you may have taken in
high school to get around the fact that no one in your small town taught
Latin. At least that was the case in my farm town of 1,100 people.
So, yes, things have changed -- big time. Now, an online course can be
comparable to a real-life educational experience. In fact, sometimes it
can be even better.
Let’s say you didn’t go to college, or maybe like a lot of people you got a
degree in one field of study and then figured out that what you actually
wanted to do was something different. What, now? you probably asked
yourself. In the past, you had two options:
Option 1: Go back to school and get your degree.
Option 2: Go the Good Will Hunting route and teach yourself by reading
a lot of books.
Number one is the standard decision for many middle-class people who
don’t know what they want to do with their lives, or else realize that
college has not prepared them for the real world. Going back to school is
not necessarily a bad choice, but if college didn’t work for you in the first
place, why return to the institution that failed you? Not to mention that it’s
expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace.
Number two is just simply hard. Nor does it work for those of us who
need a teacher, someone to walk us through the process -- and that
means most of us.
So, what is there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.
Related: LinkedIn Inks $1.5 Billion Deal for Online Education
Company Lynda
Time to get serious about online courses
Today, we have a third option: the Internet. The Web is exploding with
legitimate online education opportunities that are literally changing
people’s lives. But, you may wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet
thing -- with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. I was
skeptical, too, until I finally understood why online courses work.
Here are five reasons why you should now take online education more
seriously:
1. Online courses are less expensive.
For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a university-level learning
experience taught by an industry expert. That is, you can if you take
the right kind of classes (more about that below).
2. Online courses are results-oriented.
Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online
educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of
simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line (literally),
after all.
3. Technology makes the experience of an online course more exciting.
Instead of attending a couple of 45-minute lectures per week, you'll now
have worksheets, discussion forums and interactive presentation at your
fingertips.
4. The classrooms are cooler.
You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your
local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly lit room. You can attend
class right in your living room -- whenever you want.
5. You get to keep the course.
This might be my favorite reason for online education. In contrast to
traditional education, where the only keepsakes you get are the
overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles,
many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including
the lessons).
If you haven’t considered taking an online course, then, you should. But,
and this is important, don’t sign up for just any class that comes along.
There are a lot of swindlers out there (who probably made those cat
videos -- no offense intended, of course, to Grumpy Cat).
Here's what to look for in a good online course:
Solid credentials. Has the teacher achieved the expertise he or
she claims? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get
published, is a published author teaching it? Or is the teacher at
least someone with real-life experience in that industry? If other
marks of legitimacy (i.e., licenses and such) are needed for what
you want to learn, make sure the instructor has those, too.
Trustworthy testimonials. What do previous students say about
the course? Don’t read just the
The Internet these days is full of cat videos, bad lip
readings and hilarious memes. All good things, of course. But, believe it
or not, there’s some useful stuff there, too. And that proposes a
legitimate opportunity for the smart entrepreneur.
Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of
Online Education
When I set out to start my own online course , I didn’t know much about
education. All I knew was that I wanted to deliver a quality learning
experience to readers that went beyond the scope of my blog. That was
about it.
Then, I heard entrepreneur Ramit Sethi say in an interview that before
you can charge a certain amount for an information product, you had
better be willing to pay that much yourself. In other words, he was
saying, “Don’t charge $2,000 for a course until you spend $2,000 and
see what a $2,000 product looks like.”
So, I took that advice. I started signing up for online courses, and, boy,
did I learn some things.
Options for Education
Education on the Internet has changed, mostly for the better. This is not
like what I experienced in college, when a particular professor I had
would give out a long, complicated URL to remember. And it’s not like
those foreign language correspondence classes you may have taken in
high school to get around the fact that no one in your small town taught
Latin. At least that was the case in my farm town of 1,100 people.
So, yes, things have changed -- big time. Now, an online course can be
comparable to a real-life educational experience. In fact, sometimes it
can be even better.
Let’s say you didn’t go to college, or maybe like a lot of people you got a
degree in one field of study and then figured out that what you actually
wanted to do was something different. What, now? you probably asked
yourself. In the past, you had two options:
Option 1: Go back to school and get your degree.
Option 2: Go the Good Will Hunting route and teach yourself by reading
a lot of books.
Number one is the standard decision for many middle-class people who
don’t know what they want to do with their lives, or else realize that
college has not prepared them for the real world. Going back to school is
not necessarily a bad choice, but if college didn’t work for you in the first
place, why return to the institution that failed you? Not to mention that it’s
expensive and doesn’t guarantee you success in the marketplace.
Number two is just simply hard. Nor does it work for those of us who
need a teacher, someone to walk us through the process -- and that
means most of us.
So, what is there left to do? Until a few years ago, nothing.
Related: LinkedIn Inks $1.5 Billion Deal for Online Education
Company Lynda
Time to get serious about online courses
Today, we have a third option: the Internet. The Web is exploding with
legitimate online education opportunities that are literally changing
people’s lives. But, you may wonder, how can I trust this whole Internet
thing -- with all its cat videos and memes? Good question. I was
skeptical, too, until I finally understood why online courses work.
Here are five reasons why you should now take online education more
seriously:
1. Online courses are less expensive.
For a fraction of the cost, you can now get a university-level learning
experience taught by an industry expert. That is, you can if you take
the right kind of classes (more about that below).
2. Online courses are results-oriented.
Since you’re likely giving money to someone you’ve never met, online
educators are motivated to help you get the results you want (instead of
simply teaching dry theory). Their reputations are on the line (literally),
after all.
3. Technology makes the experience of an online course more exciting.
Instead of attending a couple of 45-minute lectures per week, you'll now
have worksheets, discussion forums and interactive presentation at your
fingertips.
4. The classrooms are cooler.
You no longer have to grab a sack lunch and spend a half-day at your
local community college, sitting in a cold, dimly lit room. You can attend
class right in your living room -- whenever you want.
5. You get to keep the course.
This might be my favorite reason for online education. In contrast to
traditional education, where the only keepsakes you get are the
overpriced textbook and a three-ring notebook full of illegible scribbles,
many online courses let you keep a lot of the course material (including
the lessons).
If you haven’t considered taking an online course, then, you should. But,
and this is important, don’t sign up for just any class that comes along.
There are a lot of swindlers out there (who probably made those cat
videos -- no offense intended, of course, to Grumpy Cat).
Here's what to look for in a good online course:
Solid credentials. Has the teacher achieved the expertise he or
she claims? In other words, if you’re taking a course on how to get
published, is a published author teaching it? Or is the teacher at
least someone with real-life experience in that industry? If other
marks of legitimacy (i.e., licenses and such) are needed for what
you want to learn, make sure the instructor has those, too.
Trustworthy testimonials. What do previous students say about
the course? Don’t read just the
that industry? If other marks of legitimacy (i.e., licenses and such) are
needed for what you want to learn, make sure the instructor has those,
too.
Trustworthy testimonials. What do previous students say about the
course? Don’t read just the