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The way we learn has changed. Over the course of the last year, circumstances have driven more and more people to turn to online learning. Whether it be taking academic courses or diving into a new creative skill, everyone is slowly adjusting to using their computer to fulfill their needs. This opens up a huge opportunity for those who want to share their knowledge. Luckily, teaching online is easier than ever thanks to the numerous online learning platforms now available.
Learning management systems (LMS) used to be reserved for big corporations or universities, but that's no longer the case. As an increasing number of people are creating online courses, more learning platforms have cropped up at lower prices. But this doesn't mean they skimp on functionality. The best online learning platforms make it easy for you to create a text or video course, get subscriptions right from your website, and interact with your students.
Whether you're a photographer who wants to put your in-person workshops online or a painter looking to help others elevate their skills, there's a place for everyone. Developing and selling online courses is a great way to use your time while working from home, and it ensures that you'll keep getting paid for your knowledge even when you might not be able to go about your old routine.
There are many online learning platforms to choose from, but we've selected five top performers to help you get started. Each makes a great entry into the e-learning world and will allow you to get up and running in no time, so you can start collecting from your new revenue stream.
Want to create an online course? Here are the 5 best online learning platforms to help you.
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Thinkific
It doesn't get easier—or more affordable—to create a professional-looking course online than Thinkific. Thanks to its easy drag-and-drop interface, there's no need to know coding in order to create your class. Thinkific not only helps you build a class, but it also assists with a custom website tailored to your brand so that selling is a breeze. And, if you want to use your own domain, they'll help you seamlessly integrate your course.
In terms of creating a class, this online learning platform will host all of your video content free of charge. Thinkific also supports text, quizzes, surveys, discussions, Google docs, and downloads so that you can vary your course offerings. You can even offer live webinars via Zoom. And, if you work with others, it's not a problem to have multiple instructors. If that weren't enough, Thinkific also provides a full suite of business tools to help you market and sell your course.
Get started by watching their free webinar on how to make an online class. Once you're done, take advantage of this special offer and get one free month of their Pro + Growth Plan.
Learn Worlds
Learn Worlds also has a drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to create a customized website to promote your online course. With different templates to choose from, you can be sure that you'll always end up with a sleek design.
Their course interface is just as easy to work with and is set up to engage learners. With self-assessments, ebooks, certificates, and interactive videos all supported, you have a number of ways to keep their students motivated. They also make it easy to add questions, titles, pointers, and other interactions over your video without involving time-consuming post-production.
Learn Worlds integrates with commonly used tools like Zoom, MailChimp, Convertkit, Google, Shopify, Paypal, and much more. Additionally, users of this e-learning platform will have access to the Learn Worlds support team, who can provide assistance on how to market and develop courses.
Get started with Learn Worlds from just $24 a month, which is risk-free thanks to their 30-day satisfaction guarantee.
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Podia
“Turn your passion into income,” is Podia‘s motto, and they help creators do that by giving them all the tools they need to sell online courses, webinars, downloads, and memberships. Every plan gives you your own website—either on Podia's domain or your own—unlimited online courses, downloads, and YouTube live webinars. Upgrading to different plans allows for Zoom integration, membership subscriptions, and an affiliate marketing plan for your classes.
For international creators—or those who want to sell their courses internationally—Podia supports 11 languages and 22 currencies. Some other exciting features include the ability to pre-sell courses, offering payment plans to students, and collect emails of interested students pupils to launching a class.
Podia offers a 14-day free trial so that you can experiment and see which of its two paid plans works best for you.
LearnDash
LearnDash is a premium WordPress plugin that will transform your new or existing website into an LMS. Using their drag-and-drop interface, you can break-up courses into sections, lessons, topics, and quizzes. For extra interaction with your students, LearnDash also has dynamic forums.
To monetize your classes, LearnDash allows for one-time and recurring payments. It also integrates with popular WordPress plugins like WooCommerce for a shopping cart experience. And, to maximize selling, it's set up to include memberships, course bundles, and course licenses for bulk sales.
LearnDash has three annual plans to choose from and offers a 30-day moneyback guarantee.
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LearnPress
This free WordPress plugin is a great way to get started with creating an online class. LearnPress offers unlimited courses and lessons with its free option, but the power of the plugin is really unlocked when you opt-in to one of the two paid plans they offer.
Once you upgrade, you can not only sell individual courses but also give membership and course bundle options. There's also the ability to make some classes available for preview in order to hook new students. On paid plans, co-instructors are available and you can also drip-content so that lessons are released at regular intervals.
Since LearnPress is free to start, why not give it a whirl? If you like what you see and need even more features, you can always upgrade.
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