When I get the opportunity and time to explore iTunes for some new iPad Apps, I am seriously one happy camper.
Look, I know that should there ever be a house fire (heaven forbid) tradition suggests that it is appropriate to firstly save your kids and then secondly your photos. Right? Well …. ok … I can understand the kids being a priority but to be real with you, I’m positive I’d sprint past the photos to grab my beloved iPad. For real.
From previous posts, you’ll know that I’m an avid reader and a thirsty learner. Inspection of my bookcase would reveal a passion for non-fiction – specifically in the categories of learning theory, self development, behaviour management, productivity, biographies and household systems. I have a pile of books lined up waiting to be devoured and possibly a few hundred more loaded onto the iPad hanging out for a spare year or two’s worth of free reading time. One day, I promise … one day.
On the weekend, whilst stumbling around in the App Store, I encountered Udemy and let me tell you, it was a very welcomed discovery for this geeky-mum and I thought that it would certainly appeal to anyone else with a desire to broaden their knowledge via short online courses. So ta-da, here is some App lurrrrve for you today
Udemy is a free app – compatible for iPad and iPhone – that provides a gateway to some super learning material, much of it also free. Once you’ve registered an account you can sign up for any course offered from a HUGE course catalogue with a varied range of interest areas including: technology, design, photography, crafts and hobbies, lifestyle, languages, games and more! There is truly something here for everyone.
Courses are streamed to your device but can also be saved for offline access. Once enrolled in a course you can revisit it should any updates be released and there is a downloadable Certificate available once a course has been completed. Although completion Certificates such as this are not counted towards credit at an academic institution, they can be a great way of documenting any new skills and learning that you may be acquiring.
Format
A minimum of 60% of each course is presented in video tutorials which makes for easy access of information and naturally courses vary in length from a few hours content to those modules which present hours and hours of information.
Pricing
Yes, there are a number of courses offered FREE. Others have an enrolment fee and the prices I’ve seen while browsing range from $9 to $997, with an average of around $29.
So far, I’ve enrolled in 16 courses – 14 of those free and the other 2 were subsidised by a 75% discount coupon so there are no complaints from me at all. I’m looking forward to getting stuck into them and learning lots of new and interesting things.
What do you love most about online learning opportunities?
Linking up again this week with IBOT over with the gorgeous Jess at her place. You can find lots of great Tuesday blog reading here – Essentially Jess!
