JOIN USRemember your school days, when you had to attend tuitions before or after school hours, just to make sure that you supplement your school learning with something extra and ensure that you ace your exams? Well, how about supplementary learning for working professionals, particularly those who have just started working?
While it may sound off-putting, this is something that one can consider to help grow their career. And to keep up with the times, there's no better path to supplementary learning than through online courses.
Why do online classes click? Besides the most obvious benefits of not having to travel to a physical location, online learning has a lot of strategic benefits that make it a better choice than classroom learning. Take anonymity for instance. While you might hold back on clearing a doubt in a physical classroom due to the fear of making a fool of yourself, in an online class, you can clear the doubt from the instructor in real time without fear.
Now, let's look at a slightly more serious reason. It's common knowledge that the current education system makes you a theoretical master of most subjects, but when you embark on your professional journey, you find that the industry expects something entirely different. This by no means suggests that your college studies are useless. They are not. You just need to build on it and understand practical applicability of everything you've learnt in college. For this, you need to understand how the various theories apply in the real world. Online courses may help you get this practical experience.
But before you start an online course, it's important to know what to look for in an online course. In this light, you will need to identify a course that gives you maximum practical experience and allows you to simulate real-life scenarios and challenges. Depending on your career aspirations, you can choose a career path best suited for you and supplement it with online courses.
Let's consider this in the case of professionals in the technology field. For instance, if you have Java and SQL experience, Big Data and Hadoop will be easier to pick up. Doing so ensures two things: first you are future-proof and second, you stay globally relevant. A few other things that you will have to look out for include the nature of the course, who the instructor is, the platform of dissemination of content and feedback from previous learners.
While there are plenty of courses available online, there are some that have caught the attention of many. This is particularly true in the technology segment. Some of the popular ones here include cloud computing, big data, data analytics, and emerging technologies such as augmented reality. Additionally, by learning new technologies with real-life examples, you will have the ability to gain mastery over them faster.
Stamp of authority
Most professional and well-recognised online courses come with certifications that you get once you successfully complete the course. Some of these certifications are in association with the creators of specific technologies, while some are affiliated to universities. Having these certifications adds weightage to not only your CV but you as well, as it will showcase your mastery over the subject matter.
So, what are you wanting for? All you need to do is embark on a journey of learning over an internet connection.
(The author is CEO, Edureka,
Bengaluru)