[Column] Jens Ischebeck: The Udemy learning marketplace and possibilities for Africans Pt. 1

On Wikipedia the leading e-learning marketplace Udemy is described as follows: “Udemy.com is a platform or marketplace for online learning. Unlike academic MOOC programs driven by traditional collegiate coursework, Udemy provides a platform for experts of any kind to create courses which can be offered to the public, either at no charge or for a tuition fee. Udemy provides tools which enable users to create a course, promote it and earn money from student tuition charges.

No Udemy courses are currently credentialed for college credit; students take courses largely as a means of improving job-related skills. Some courses generate credit toward technical certification. Udemy has made a special effort to attract corporate trainers seeking to create coursework for employees of their company

As of January 2016, Udemy reports on its homepage that it has served over 10 million students, and offers more than 40,000 course alternatives.”

Udemy: E-learning for young and ambitious Africans

M-learning is one of the relatively new applications which use the new internet and mobile phone based technologies to improve the access to some basic needs or skills, such as mhealth, app based language learning or cheap online money transfers.
Probably the best option for young Africans, Udemy offers online courses in more than 80 languages and is part of the growing MOOC movement outside the traditional university system. Like Coursera, instruction is delivered by teachers from universities and colleges but by removing the university name and accreditation process it makes top quality training much more affordable.

Offering more than 40,000 online courses with many available free of charge, there is definitely something for everyone from business to personal interests. It focuses on helping professionals long out of the university system to keep up with ever-changing workplaces.
The majority of Udemy’s users are taking professional development courses, which teach skills that are practically useful in the workplace. About 30%, meanwhile, are taking “personal development” courses with subject matter ranging from music to fitness. To Udemy CEO D. Yang, that split is a sign that people increasingly view education as an investment upon which they expect a quantifiable return.

There are educational apps creating interactive, self-paced, offline elearning opportunities and courses include video snippets fully controlled by the student.

Udemy has redesigned its platform making elearning an enjoyable experience through up to date and fully functional online tools. The modern search facility allows students faster answers to questions and quizzes make for an engaging hands-on experience.
By entering the website, you have the menu bar on the left side. You can sort the offered courses by language with the menu bar. Then you can check all the offered courses and filter them by subject.

Prices are low with discounts of up to 30% every month and fees are charged per course rather than monthly which means you only pay for what you need. Purchased courses can be saved off-line meaning one payment gives you the keys to your future.
Payments can be effected with the mobile app that uses Apple’s or Google Play’s payment system depending on the device, often in your local currency.

Appetizer: For all offered topics there are also free courses available! To start with Udemy, you can first try a free course.

The Udemy course categories are:
Lifestyle
Education
Languages
Health and Fitness
Music
Sports
Games
Marketing

“Can I afford it?”

Perhaps the question should be can you afford NOT to invest in yourself? Barriers to learning are vanishing. Investing in e-learning promises a real quantifiable return by boosting your income for the rest of your working life. Social deprivation is no longer a prison as young people across the world can use e-learning to develop employable skills, forever breaking the cycle of dependency.

This article continues Part II next week.

 

Jens Ischebeck is an mLearning, eLearning and Online Courses specialist.

For more information about this important and exciting educational market, visit my apps-for-learning.com. Alternatively, if you wish, contact me directly today. Whether you are a student or teaching professional, we specialize in mobile education within Africa and will be pleased to help you with your enquiry.

By the way: If you are interested in online money transfers, the leading providers and how it works, just check my remittance site.