Feeling Overwhelmed: How to Differ Great Online Learning Resources from Shady Ones

Online learning has many advantages. The most obvious is that you can save time by learning from home. Since the hours are flexible, you can fit them in between your work hours and other chores. And the price is a bonus. Many of the courses and resources available on the Internet are more affordable for anyone operating on a tight budget.

In addition to low cost and convenience, many students prefer online resources because they focus on practical, valuable knowledge that can be used in a modern-day professional environment.

However, because this is the Internet we’re talking about here, and not a university with a firm set of rules, there is a big chance to run into a shady online course. By shady, we mean the type of course that provides poor knowledge and skills while taking a lot of money out of your pocket. Steering clear of those and choosing the right course can be very overwhelming, so we’ll try to help you with that by showing you how to differ great online learning resources from the less trustworthy ones.

Who is behind the website?

The three letters at the end of the website’s domain name can tell you a lot about the site. There are “.gov” (government), “.edu” (educational), “.org” (nonprofit), “.com” (commercial), and others. Generally, .gov and .edu are dependable, but you’ll still want to be careful when it comes to sites that use these suffixes in a misleading manner. Try to interpret the agenda and purpose of the organisation, both commercial and nonprofit, because many of them can offer biased resources.

Next, cross-reference the professionals listed on the site pages. Start with a simple Google search of the program directors, resource authors, and instructors. Check out their profiles on publicly available sites, including LinkedIn. Does the information you’ve found match their listed credentials?

Do they provide certification?

One of the best examples of this is language learning and certification. For example, if you want to take an online IELTS course to make career progress, you’ll need to find a site that provides quality tutorials, constructive feedback, and a certificate. The same goes for accounting, coding, graphic design, and other things that may require providing proof to potential employers.

Search for the signs of exemplary online courses

Sometimes the online resources can seem quite credible, especially when it comes to the instructors and certifications. But if you look behind the façade, you might see that not everything is as peachy as it seems.

Some of the e-learning standards a good website should have include:

• clearly presented course structure and learning resources

• institutional support

• evaluation and assessment

• transparent student reviews

The website itself is also a good indicator of the organisation’s professionalism – in other words, a sloppy website usually points to a sloppy organisation. Look for basic web design and professional presentation criteria such as:

• good page formatting

• minimized long scrolling

• interactive multimedia items

• balanced fly-down menus

• lack of typos and grammatical errors

• consistent fonts

• links to external learning resources

• consistent language flow

Look for the red flags

Sometimes you just need to look at things as a sceptic. That’s how you will be able to spot all the red flags warning you that this is the resource you should skip on. Here are some alerts you should pay attention to:

• If you’re trying to choose an online college course, consider it a warning if the credits you earn cannot be transferred to another college.

• They don’t want to answer the hard questions (e.g., the level of support you’re going to get during the learning process).

• Their financial aid counsellors are pushy and reluctant to give you the information you’re asking for.

• A low completion rate is an instant deal-breaker.

• The instructors offer unclear syllabuses.

• If there’s no set timetable for email communication with the instructors, there’s a possibility you won’t be getting the needed feedback.

You are your final obstacle

Finally, even if you enrol in the best course, it’s all for nothing if you do not invest your time and effort into gaining actual knowledge. It’s easy to quit when the deadline arrives or when the material is difficult to keep up with, but it’s far more rewarding to stick it out to the end and get your certificate. Here are some tips that will help you remain persistent:

• Feel free to discuss the challenges of the course with your instructor whenever you feel like it’s too much for you. Ask them to clarify the goals set in front of you, as well as any other specific question regarding the course set-up that may be bothering you.

• It’s easy to procrastinate with e-learning. Use planners and apps to create time management habits.

• If you find the course not challenging enough, ask for additional resources and tasks from the instructor.

• When you’re not sure you want to continue with the course, take a step back, and allow yourself to take a deep breath. Write pros and cons lists, consider your alternatives, and take your time coming to the final decision.

Bottom line

It’s difficult to know who to trust in the online realm. First and foremost, you need to trust yourself and your assessment. Then you need to do some detective work using the clues we gave you above. After that, you just need to start learning and give it your best.