As an online developer and consultant, I’m continuously finding out brand-new skills. Medium Skillshare… to keep up with the trade and make customers pleased. To do so, I’ve relied greatly on online learning over the past five years. Usually, when I wish to learn something new, I just go to YouTube and enter a question and hope for the very best.
Most of the time, I get videos taught by “professionals” with endless ad breaks and pitches to buy their product. I indicate, what else can you expect from “free courses.” Recently, fed up with the poor quality and doubtful understanding shared on free platforms, I relied on an online knowing platform I keep hearing so much about: Skillshare.
Impressed by Skillshare’s premium complimentary classes, I signed up for an annual membership (and scored a 40% discount rate, more on that in the Skillshare prices area) and dove much deeper into the Skillshare courses provided to premium members.
I will share my experience as a Skillshare learner here in this extensive review. While some reviews for online courses tend to be regurgitations of sales pages, whatever you are about to check out comes directly from my own experience as a devoted student.
If you are trying to find a TLDR variation of this review, here it is:
The large amount of new material that is contributed to the platform weekly suffices to keep even the busiest of brains engaged. Whether you want to pick up a new skill to make your resume shine, restyle your home, or master a pastime “just for the hell of it,” you can quickly find lots of chances to level up your collection. Further, Skillshare’s generous payment plans for teachers suggests that there’s no lack of exceptional trainers developing premium and brand-new material regularly.
Now, if only there was more time in the day to learn it all!
Neighborhoods of similar learners
Feeling part of a peer-group can be hard when you have specific niche interests like Parlor game Design or Floral Embroideries. Between Skillshare’s Groups, Workshops, and differed instructors, you’re unlocking a bonanza of chance for connection and neighborhood structure. This is a big perk for us “geeks” to feel part of something bigger than our own specific efforts AND it enables us to find out not just from the specialists, but from each other.
Easy to use all around
It took me all of 5 minutes to create my account, login, browse for material I have an interest in, and find a course that fit the bill. I was diving deep into my first course in less than 20 minutes, excited to discover much more content to devour.
Kudos to Skillshare for making an easily accessible desktop AND mobile platform, and for consisting of a start/stop performance that syncs across gadgets.
In between the ability to “preferred” great teachers and save Skillshare classes to personalized lists, not to mention the Discovery area of the Skillshare app, I am never ever for desire of new product to discover. And the fact that I get to find out on MY schedule makes Skillshare the equivalent of the 100 emoji.
Free trials readily available
Skillshare deals free Premium trials, providing new students a possibility to “try before they purchase”. You can constantly access a Skillshare complimentary trial from their website.
Skillshare mobile app offered
You can access Skillshare from your computer/ laptop via its site, or from your tablet/phone thanks to the Skillshare app. The very best part? You can sync your development in your selected Skillshare courses throughout all devices, be it your tablet, phone, or computer.
The Downsides (Cons) of Skillshare
These are the main drawbacks of Skillshare:
Not fully available
Not every instructor ROCKS
The advertisements are irritating, so you’ll want to pay
Not completely available
As I was testing courses and building my Skillshare review, I was continually dissatisfied by the absence of closed captioning offered on the videos. This basically makes the platform difficult to use for those who are hearing impaired and not able to check out lips. Minus points for exclusivity!
Not every instructor ROCKS
The variation in quality of instructors can be a continual difficulty on your way to understanding gain. Since having the ability to teach effectively is a hard-won skill in it of itself, it would be naive to think that every trainer on the platform excels at the essentials of teaching.
A good quality sign is the variety of students a course has hosted, as greater numbers tend to associate with higher quality instructors. This isn’t always the case– some courses are simply niche enough to not appeal to the “masses” anyway.
Conclusion: is Skillshare Worth it?
The opportunity to discover for learning’s sake is reason enough for me to peacefully announce that Skillshare is worth it. The hands-on projects and ability to connect with others, including experts in your desired fields of knowledge, makes the $14 a month cost a deal. The onus is on YOU to determine which courses would bring you the most worth, whether you intend to reinforce your resume with shimmering competitive skills or assert yourself as an expert enthusiast.
Skillshare members can acquire much more than simply new abilities from the courses. You’ll fall in love with finding out again, fulfill competent and inspired peers that will challenge and motivate you, and may find yourself addicted (nay, consumed!) with gaining knowledge.
Add a line item to your yearly budget for Skillshare gain access to. Your brain will thank you for it!
GO TO SKILLSHARE
Special deals from Skillshare:
40% off Annual Subscription– use discount code FLASH40 (ends 21 October).
30-day complimentary trial.
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E-student offers.
Accessing the courses is ultra-convenient. You can keep your courses in your pocket via your phone or fire it up in your work space from your laptop computer. Since Skillshare classes are pre-recorded, you can discover on your own time, at your own speed. No more class disturbances from Full-Of-Questions-Timmy or Constantly-Cracking-Jokes-Tommy.
Thanks to the “Discover” feature on the mobile app, you can get individualized suggestions based on your course participation and search history. This is a terrific function if you’re starving to find out, however you’re not quite sure what you want to discover just yet.
Pro idea: Get Concepts in the Project Gallery.
Visual learners may think about browsing course alternatives by seeing the Job Gallery in your Skillshare account. Here, you can see real examples of finished work by other Skillshare members, as this photo gallery rapidly displays the “outcomes” of others’ class selections and individual Medium Skillshare knowings. If you’re not pleased in the beginning glance, you can filter the gallery by Trending, Newest, and Top Voted jobs, not to mention similar categories from the site’s “Course Browse” functionality.
When you come across an image that catches your perfect task outcome, click the image to learn more information not only about the developer, however also the actual course they required to develop such a masterpiece!