Investing in yourself is one of the best ways to stay ahead in the game no matter what industry you work in. From creative professionals like artists, designers, and corporate personnel, ask anyone and they’ll tell you that the best way to invest in yourself is to learn new skills. But for most working adults finding time to attend a full-time class to learn a new skill is unrealistic these days.
Most people don’t have the time or energy to follow through with a rigid course structure while juggling several other commitments. And that’s where platforms like Skillshare come in. In this article, you’ll learn how to use Skillshare to acquire new skills.
Skillshare
Skillshare is the ultimate website for learning just about anything imaginable. You can explore 30,000+ online classes across countless categories, from business to hobbies and more.
What is Skillshare?
Skillshare is an online learning platform where professionals from various industries share their skills. The platform has thousands of courses on a variety of different topics ranging from high-demand sectors to extremely niche ones.
Skillshare has a course-based structure, where instructors from various industries come to share their perspectives on things. There are classes for beginners in any given topic to advance and even expert-level classes taught by skilled individuals.
Skillshare is a very community-oriented platform. You can interact with other students through community posts, assignments, and other such activities. There’s no pressure of any deadline, attendance, or anything remotely restrictive. Most students utilize this feature to boost their motivation. The Skillshare community is quite vibrant and positive in that regard.
● Skillshare is highly accessible.
● It offers a flexible learning environment where you can learn at your own pace.
● You get access to courses created by highly skilled individuals
● You can try out different courses on entirely different topics whenever you want
Class Structure of Skillshare
Skillshare covers a lot of tops. There are 16 different categories of disciplines listed in Skillshare, each divided into 5 or more subcategories. You can find very informative courses on virtually any topic you can think of provided there’s a niche for that.
It’s hard to pin down the most popular category. Every topic has a fairly decent number of students interested in it. Skillshare courses range from just under an hour to four or five hours. Sometimes there are longer, more comprehensive courses as well. That’s the thing, you get to pick and choose whichever format suits your needs best.
Skillshare classes are structured into multiple sections, making it easy for learners to engage with the material in manageable segments. This approach allows instructors to deliver focused lessons while ensuring the content remains easy to grasp.
Also, as it is an e-learning platform, you can access the same classes as many times as you want. The ability to hop between different courses makes it easier to plan a personalized roadmap. So, goal-setting with Skillshare is quite easy.
How is the Quality of Skillshare Courses?
One of the most important things about a learning platform is the quality of the material. On that front, Skillshare is somewhat of a mixed bag. That isn’t to say Skillshare courses are inferior to other platforms, but there’s a bit of nuance here that needs a bit of explanation.
Skillshare doesn’t require any formal qualification from its instructors. That means anyone can be an instructor and post their tutorials there. No one needs to get a university degree or any official certification from somewhere to acquire the authority to take a course.
This means the courses aren’t all taught by top-tier masters in their respective fields. But most course instructors are at least professionally competent in their field, so it’s way better than a random novice trying to explain things.
Users generally feel that this model is actually helpful for community growth. It’s easier to explain this with an analogy. Think of it this way, all the cooking courses may not be taught by people of Gordon Ramsey’s calibre, but there are courses by many lesser-known professional chefs. Each of them has its own twists and unique insights.
Popular Skillshare Courses
There are many great courses on Skillshare that have been extremely helpful for a lot of people. While not all instructors hold master-level qualifications, the platform does feature a significant number of courses taught by genuine industry experts.
Graphic Design Masterclass by Lindsay Marsh is an extremely comprehensive graphics design course for beginners, and a lot of people started their professional careers with this course or other similar courses from Skillshare. You also have masters like Brent Eviston teaching the basics of visual art. Such courses are of tremendous help to novices.
There are coding, music, photography, filmmaking, animation, and even marketing classes by various industry professionals on Skillshare. Many people take targeted Skillshare classes for career advancement or professional development.
Skillshare Subscription Quality
Skillshare is a subscription-based platform. This means you can view and browse through all the courses it has to offer once you buy the subscription. This is one of the biggest selling points for Skillshare as an online learning platform.
Skillshare doesn’t have strict requirements on who can become instructors, but they do maintain a certain level of quality control. So, you won’t see completely amateurish courses here like you would on platforms like YouTube, for example.
Unlike other paid learning platforms like Class101 or Coloso, you don’t just buy a single course in Skillshare. You get to browse through their entire catalog whenever you want. That level of freedom allows for a level of learning flexibility not found in many other platforms. So, many people check out Skillshare on New Year’s to learn new skills online.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this might inspire you to start a learning journey in 2025. The biggest hurdle in self-improvement is often the excuse that we don’t have the necessary material on hand. Platforms like Skillshare are great because they remove such excuses for you. Skillshare also offers a one-month free trial so you can check it out without having to pay a dime.
