In the search for opportunities for continuing education in a nontraditional setting, Udemy offers an appealing option in 2021. But is Udemy legit? And is it worth it? Through this review, it becomes clear that Udemy is a great resource that is indeed legitimate and worth it for all parties involved.
What Is Udemy?
Udemy is a website and application that connects instructors and learners from around the world. The platform has more than 150,000 courses, 57,000 instructors, 50 million students, 295 million course enrollments, 33 million minutes of video, and 5,000 enterprise customers. It also includes courses in more than 65 languages.
Udemy aims to appeal to both individual students and companies looking to further the education of their workforce. The company began in 2010 with founder and CEO Eren Bali at the helm. Today, it holds the status as one of the biggest online course platforms in the world.
Is Udemy Legit, and Are the Courses Worth It?
Udemy is a legitimate platform that connects instructors and students. Most of the courses offered on Udemy are worth it, providing a great deal of value for students. This is particularly true given the low pricing.
Official prices on Udemy can vary greatly, and there are also many free courses available. For those who want an exceptional value, many courses cost $50 or less. Additionally, discounts are common.
Even the more expensive courses on Udemy are worth it when compared to other learning methods. Students can pay several hundred dollars and get a similar level of education on a topic as they would by paying thousands at a community college or university. When put into perspective in this way, Udemy provides a very affordable method of gaining skills.
For further proof that Udemy is legit, keep in mind that the company has a refund policy. It is simple to request a refund, and students can do so within 30 days of the purchase.
Udemy Is Worth It — For Both Students and Instructors
Udemy is worth it for all parties, providing benefits for both students and instructors.
Students can use Udemy to refresh certain skills or gain skills in a new area, such as Python programming. The vast range of courses on Udemy allows students to find courses in nearly any topic. Students also reap the benefits of online learning, such as flexibility.
Instructors get to use Udemy to share their knowledge with the world. This is a strong advantage for those in search of fulfillment. More importantly, Udemy also allows instructors or anyone especially skilled in an area and with an ability to teach to supplement their income. An instructor can put the effort into creating a course once and attract thousands of students, all of whom pay a fee. The instructor needs to put in minimal future effort, apart from ensuring the course remains up to date and answering student questions.
Instructors can also use Udemy as a way to gain additional experience teaching. This is particularly true given the high level of guidance Udemy provides when creating courses.
Advantages of Online Learning with Udemy
Choosing to learn online with Udemy provides students with the ability to choose a course and when the learning will occur, among other benefits.
Range of Topics
With more than 150,000 courses, there are options on Udemy for all interests. Even within a given category, such as the programming language Python, there are dozens of options for all skill levels. Beginners and advanced users alike can easily find courses to fit certain goals and needs.
Learn from Anywhere
One of the biggest appeals of Udemy for students is the ability to learn anywhere. Students can learn from the comfort of home or on a break at work. Thanks to the Udemy application, there is not even a need to have a laptop on hand to learn. This makes it possible to continue a course during any free time a student has.
Students Choose the Pace
Many instructors on Udemy design the courses so that students can go at their own pace. This allows students to study or continue the course whenever there is time without any pressure to meet deadlines. There is no need to slow down or speed up a student’s pace to match those of other students, which is an issue in traditional educational settings.
Reviews from Other Students
To help students choose which course on a given topic to take, Udemy features reviews written by other students. These reviews can give new students confidence in a chosen course.
Do Udemy Certificates Improve My CV?
Upon completion of a Udemy course, students receive a certificate of completion. These are not part of formal accreditation. Despite this, a Udemy certificate is a strong addition to any CV.
A certificate of completion from Udemy indicates that the student made a conscious effort to improve certain skills. Additionally, the certificates indicate mastery of the relevant skills, providing proof to a potential employer that the student is knowledgeable about the relevant course topics.
The simple presence of Udemy credits on a CV also shows that the former student has some of the characteristics employers want. These include a desire for self-improvement and a capacity to learn new skills.
Udemy certificates can make up for a lack of recent work experience on the CV of recent grads. Alternatively, for those with a great deal of work experience but no recent formal education, the certificates indicate that the applicant has continuing education and is familiar with the most recent developments.
What Categories Can I Find on Udemy?
To keep all of the courses organized, Udemy divides the offerings into 13 categories:
- Development
- Business
- Finance & Accounting
- IT & Software
- Office Productivity
- Persona Development
- Design
- Marketing
- Lifestyle
- Photography
- Health & Fitness
- Music
- Teaching & Academics
Each category also features subcategories to make it easier to find courses that meet the students’ interests. For example, the category of development includes the following subcategories:
- Web Development
- Data Science
- Mobile Apps
- Programming Languages
- Game Development
- Databases
- Software Testing
- Software Engineering
- Development Tools
- E-Commerce
Every category on Udemy has dozens of courses for potential students to select from, offering something that will appeal to all students, regardless of goals.
Is It a Scam? NO
Udemy is NOT a scam. The platform has overwhelmingly positive reviews from both students and instructors.
Even better, Udemy adds value to all purchases by providing students with lifetime access to the courses.
Is Udemy Accredited?
Udemy does not have accreditation. As such, courses completed by students will not count for college credits or toward a degree.
Even so, many employers and organizations view the certificates from Udemy as a positive. Students can also use the knowledge gained from an Udemy course to pass a placement test and skip introductory-level classes, speeding up the process of earning a degree. Alternatively, this can allow Udemy students to take more challenging classes as part of a degree program, honing even more marketable skills.
What Kinds of Features and Functionality Does Udemy Have?
Udemy clearly lays out all of its courses, and each course has an organized system, as well. Instructors divide courses into modules and lessons. They can include a combination of text notes, videos, and assessment tests.
The video player on Udemy features everything students expect and need, including volume controls and closed captioning. One very nice feature is the ability to take notes within Udemy throughout the course.
The inclusion of the Udemy application is incredibly convenient for those who want to learn on the go. It includes podcast-style mode, so students can listen to lectures. It also includes the ability to study offline. In addition, Udemy supports sending the videos to Google Chromecast and Apple TV.
Recommended Udemy Courses
With so many courses on Udemy available, students may feel overwhelmed by the options. If so, students can begin with a highly rated or recommended course on the desired topic. The following courses offer a great value, provide useful information, and have strong reviews. This selection of recommended courses includes those designed for varying skill levels, so everyone should see something of interest.
A Rookie’s Guide to Python has nearly 2,500 students enrolled and a rating of more than four stars. It covers all aspects of Python that beginners need to know, including object-oriented programming, applications in Python, and good programming practices. The course culminates in creating programs and games.
Python Programming for Beginners is another strong option for beginners who want to learn Python. This course has a rating of more than 4.5 stars with nearly 13,000 students enrolled. It teaches students about Python, including the basics and advanced topics, and teaches how to write Python code.
Design Patterns in Python Made Simple appeals to those who already have a base knowledge of Python. This course features more than 350 students and exposes students to 23 design patterns. There are Python implementation understanding and Python source codes for each. The course also teaches skills to visualize problems and solutions.
Advanced Scalable Python Web Development Using Flask is another advanced Python course from Udemy. It has nearly 2,700 students enrolled and a rating of around 4 stars. This course teaches students advanced concepts, such as Blueprints related to Flask web development. It also teaches MongoDB, NoSQL databases, scaling application strategies, and using Amazon Web Services with the Boto library.
Deep Learning: Recurrent Neural Networks in Python is another advanced course on Udemy. It has nearly 19,000 students enrolled and maintains a rating of 4.6 stars. This course introduces students to Elman units, gated recurrent units, long short-term memory units, writing recurrent networks with Theano, backpropagation, solving parity problems with recurrent neural networks, and using RNNs for text and language modeling.
Create a web application with python + Django + PostgreSQL is a course where students learn to create a web based application using Python and Django and create and store objects inside a PostgreSQL database that will interact with their web application’s front end.
Step by Step Rest API Testing using Python + Pytest + Allure is course where students learn to automate and validate APIs using Python Scripting, covering well known HTTP methods that are commonly used in REST based architecture.
How to Pick the Best Udemy Courses
With more than 150,000 courses on Udemy, students may feel overwhelmed when trying to choose a course to take. Begin by determining the category of class to take, such as courses related to Python. Udemy features search filters to help potential students choose what to take.
From there, students should be sure to read reviews on the course. Read multiple reviews and pay attention to both positive and negative ones. It is possible for some reviews to be fake, so read enough to get an accurate assessment of the course.
Students will also want to research the instructor. It is wise to specifically look into the credentials of the instructor as a way to confirm that they have the experience necessary to teach a subject. Additionally, researching the instructor can provide students with an idea of any past teaching experience, which could indicate how easy the course will be to follow.
Many of the courses allow students to preview at least some of the content. Students should always take advantage of this option before buying a course. It allows students to confirm the content and teaching style of the course.
Students should also pay attention to some specific figures while looking at courses, including reading or checking:
- The last update date
- The review score
- The number of students
- The “What You’ll Learn” and “Description” areas
Students can also look for recommendations on which courses to try first. Even when selecting a recommended course, however, it is wise to confirm all of the above information before buying the course.
Using Elektev to Find Courses on Udemy and Other Similar Websites
Students can use Elektev to find courses on Udemy and other similar websites, such as Udacity. Searching for courses on Elektev prevents the need to search on multiple individual educational sites by showing the top results from all the platforms. This allows students to save time and find the right courses for their needs.
All of the relevant information about a course is readily available on Elektev, including its description, summary, topics covered, who should take it, reviews, number of students, instructor name, and what it includes.
Visit Elektev to find the full range of Udemy courses that can enhance a resume.