Have you ever taken an online video course? Did you successfully finish the course and gain a real, transferable skill that has improved your career? More than likely your answer is “No.”
When it comes to online video courses, there are some disadvantages to guided learning you should consider before you make a commitment. Giant online platforms offer hundreds of courses in everything from business management to cooking. These massive platforms might be growing larger by the day, but that doesn’t mean the courses on offer are always effective or worthwhile.
In this article, we’re going to lay out why you should think twice before investing your dollars in video courses and offer you a better alternative.
A Brief Definition:
First up, let’s start with a definition of what we mean by an “online video course”:
If you scroll through sites like Udemy, Coursera, Skillshare you’ll see hundreds of courses that have all been uploaded to the platform by various tutors of different skill levels. For the most part, these course work by having the student watch sets of videos (modules), which they mark off as they progress through the course. Some courses have written exercises and multiple-choice questions, many don’t. One other defining feature of these generic video courses is a lack of live support or guidance in case you come across any obstacles or questions about the course.
What’s wrong with most of these online video courses?
No Individualized Training:
The biggest problem with generic online video courses is one of customization. There’s simply no way to alter the course material to suit every learner’s unique needs. That’s a problem, especially if you combine it with the challenge of quick access to the creator of the course. For the most part, doing a traditional video course entails working through the modules as you find them, in the correct order and without any help if you get stuck.
It’s perfectly normal for individual students to have different knowledge and competence levels. It’s also normal for students to want to focus more on certain modules of a course and less on others. Unfortunately, most of these programs aren’t built for addressing these types of needs.
No Interactive Modules:
Let’s be honest – video courses are generally dull and depending on their length are hard to get through. A big part of that lies with the way they’re built. Tutors are encouraged to upload courses with the promise of “passive income”. That means that in reality, the person that made the course has zero interest in creating live or interactive training because it means more work for him or her.
It’s much easier to simply sell hundreds of the same course and hope that only a few students request email support when they run into difficulty. The entire business model of these mega-platforms is focused towards the creators of the courses, with little handholding for the learner or follow up to see whether he or she succeeded as a result of taking the course.
Outdated Information:
The same mindset that encourages tutors to churn out the not-very-interactive video courses also means the information contained in them could often be out of date. Why bother messing with the winning formula and keeping things current?
The reality is that for rapidly changing subjects in business or technology, these type of video courses are a massive waste of time and money, which you may find out after having paid for it.
Lack of Motivation:
Completion rates for online courses are quite low as referenced in this article, also a reason why many online education platforms are moving away from their original business model. According to this Financial Times piece, dropout rates for online courses are “astronomical” – about 96% over a 5-year period.
Clearly the static, non-interactive courses aren’t meeting the needs of the users. If you’re passively watching video modules, you’re not likely to retain the information, and you’re almost certainly going to be distracted. It’s all too easy to watch a training video while scrolling through your Twitter feed at the same time.
So is Remote Online Learning Pointless?
Absolutely not! Learning from the comfort of your own home is absolutely the future of training and education, you just need to find the right provider.
Introducing Lrnkey.com: A Better Way of Learning Online…
Training on LRNKEY is a better alternative to online video-courses, the content of which you can’t assess before paying for them.
LRNKEY provides an online learning portal that allows you to connect to coaches globally and learn through live, online, one-on-one video sessions that can be uniquely tailored to your interests and skill level. Here are few reasons why LRNKEY beats the competition hands down:
LRNKEY Has Online Coaches, Not Courses:
When you pick a LRNKEY tutor/coach, you’ll be getting a bespoke, guided, live and one-to-one training. That’s a massive difference to the one-size-fits-all courses that make you go through content with little or no interaction.
LRNKEY Coaches Keep You Motivated:
Because LRNKEY is based around live tutorials, it’s much more effective at keeping students engaged and motivated. With live video training, it’s much less likely you’ll procrastinate or give up before completing a course. It’s also much more fulfilling when you’re able to get direct feedback and guidance from your tutor during the lesson itself.
An online coach is able to get the most from a student, giving them increased confidence and real, transferable skills that they can use to further their career or gain a fulfilling new hobby!
LRNKEY Tutors Want to Help:
The business model for a LRNKEY coach is quite different to that of a Teachable or Udemy course creator. LRNKEY’s live training approach means that coaches on the platform are much more likely to be motivated by a desire to help the learners succeed. The better they perform, the higher their ratings will be, resulting in their personal success on the platform.
LRNKEY Makes Finding the Perfect Coach Easy:
LRNKEY works on an hourly pay structure. That means you are free to try out several different coaches to find the one that you feel most comfortable with. Best of all, you are never tied to a long-term contract, so you are free to learn as often as you like!
Tip: In some cases, coaches on LRNKEY offer free first lessons, meaning it’s possible to schedule an introductory lesson where you’ll be able to ask as many questions as you need in order to get a feel for what you’ll be learning with this tutor.
LRNKEY Lessons Are Always Up to Date:
As LRNKEY’s sessions are live, your coach will naturally be more motivated to research your curriculum on a session-by-session basis. That means you’ll be taught the most up to date methods and be able to discuss future changes and trends with your tutor.
If you are using live coaching to improve your career, a few sessions with a LRNKEY coach could provide you with a serious competitive edge when it comes to future promotions.
Is Online Learning Effective?
Absolutely! Here are a few reasons why remote education and training is the future:
- Remote online learning means fewer expenses: You do not need to budget for public transport, fuel or parking charges.
- Remote online learning is safer: You do not need to travel to the city center or risk having strangers in your own home.
- Remote learning saves time: Many students already spend a good deal of their lives commuting. Online learning saves ample amount of time and logistical headaches by conducting all sessions from the comfort of your own apartment.
- Remote learning is less stressful: For anxious or shy students, a one-on-one tutorial that has been perfectly tailored for their needs beats the stressful proposition of sitting in a busy classroom.
There you have it!
It is easy to imagine a world in the not-too-distant future where all learning is conducted online from the comfort of our own homes. It is still early days for the online learning model, but one thing is for certain -live online training will always beat video courses.
Why not head over to LRNKEY today and browse through the wealth of online learning options on offer? It really is the future of training and education!
