Klaxos has written 5,000+ resumes and Linkedin profiles for professionals in every function, industry, and geography. Therefore we know a bit about increasing professional career skills via continuing education and careers. We tell our clients not to invest much money in formal, accredited education until they are sure they want to go down that career path. If you are interested in a career, learn more about it by reviewing free resources first (watch YouTube videos or read online articles). If still interested, complete low-cost or free training or certificates to build momentum before spending money on formal, accredited education. You don’t want to spend a lot of time and money skill-building via a traditional degree or certification only to realize that it is not a good fit for you.
The list below contains the best, largest online education websites providing tens of thousands of online classes for students and professional development within the same career of people wanting to switch careers. Most courses are free, but some require a fee. Even paid online education websites provide academic lessons for a tiny fraction of the expense of conventional university degrees, which is perfect for ongoing career development.
Top 12 Online Business & Technology Education Websites
1. LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning provides access to 16,000+ business, design, and technology online courses in an easy-to-understand, fun format. Popular courses include Project Management, Programming Foundations, JavaScript essentials, Python, HTML, Excel, Body Language for Leaders, Strategy, and Online Marketing. See the LinkedIn Learning business course list. See the LinkedIn Learning technology course list. The first month is free, then a LinkedIn premium subscription of $20 monthly is required.
2. Khan Academy
Khan Academy’s goal is to provide a free, world-class education for anyone. It is free for both learners and teachers and offers lessons for students from kindergarten through the university level for math, grammar, science, history, technology, and many others.
3. edX
Founded by Harvard and MIT, the edX platform is a global non-profit that seeks to eliminate cost, location, and access obstructions to learning. It has over 20 million users and 3,000 free and fee-based classes from many top-ranked universities. Educators can use the platform to develop new distance-learning tools. If you want to earn a certificate for a course and completed assignments, a fee will vary between $50 and $300, depending on the curriculum.
4. Coursera
Coursera has more than 35 million learners, 150 university partners, 2,700 courses, 250 specializations, and four degrees. In addition to free classes, lessons can range from $39 to $99. Certifications, certificates, and degrees are priced higher. Some instructors are experts from leading colleges and universities, and courses include recorded video lectures, community discussion forums, and graded and peer-reviewed modules.
5. Udemy
Udemy, a global education marketplace, has 30 million students, 100,000 courses in 50 languages, 42,000 instructors, and 22 million minutes of video instruction. Unlike other online education platforms driven by content from colleges and universities, Udemy allows content creators to curate their courses and teach them online.
6. Udacity
Udacity online education strongly focuses on technology, with a small but well-crafted selection of courses. If you’re considering a career in data science, artificial intelligence, data science, or cloud computing this si an excellent place to start. Their prices allow you to pay monthly for your courses as part of what it calls a “nano degree” or a fixed fee that costs $500 to $1500.
7. TED-Ed
TED-Ed is TED’s education division whose mission is to share and spread ideas from teachers and students. TED-Ed has a global network of more than 250,000 teachers that serves millions of teachers and students worldwide with thought-provoking lessons. It includes innovative content such as original animated videos and a platform for teachers to create interactive lessons.
8. Codeacademy
Codeacademy is an interactive platform that teaches you how to code, for free, in multiple programming languages such as Python, Java, Go, JavaScript, Ruby, SQL, C++, C#, Swift, and Sass, and markup languages HTML and CSS. Most free courses can be completed in less than 11 hours. Code Academy has helped train 50+ million students in website development, programming, computer science, and data science. It has a premium plan for a monthly fee.
9. Saylor Academy
Build new skills or work toward a degree at your own pace with free Saylor Academy education courses. They offer alternative accreditation using badges. Saylor Academy is growing in popularity and is highly rated on review websites. The course catalog includes Art History, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Communication, Computer Science, Economics, English, Geography, History, Learning Skills, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Professional Development, Psychology, and Sociology.
10. General Assembly
General Assembly offers classes in 30+ cities and extensive digital education experience focusing on education in design, business, and technology. It provides a mix of full-time and part-time courses, workshops, training, boot camps, and coding events to individuals and companies. Many of its programs are in-person or mix online and in-person options. Costs vary from free to a fee, depending on if your choices are one-off online lectures or multi-part workshops.
11. MasterClass
Masterclass platform on which students can access tutorials and lectures pre-recorded by well-known celebrity experts in Arts & Entertainment, Home & Lifestyle, Business, Writing, Food, Music, Design & Style, Sports & Gaming, Wellness, Community, Government, Science, and Technology for a $15 monthly fee. Many classes require students to have intermediate competence before starting.
12. Stanford Online
Stanford Online, an education initiative at Stanford University, offers free online courses, professional certificates, advanced degrees, and executive education. Stanford Online offers courses from its undergraduate and graduate schools, including Standford Law School, Business School, and Medical School, among others.
13. Harvard Extension School
Harvard Extension School provides continuing education to build next-level knowledge wherever you are in your career and life. It includes coursework on Harvard’s campus or online.
While the above list includes the most popular classes, this list lists all massive open online courses (MOOC).