The age of digital transformation makes it necessary for IT specialists to keep educating themselves. There are very few fields of human activity that develop as fast as IT and technology. What is new and current today may be a thing of the past in just a few weeks. Which e-learning platforms are the best? Draw inspiration from our guide: we’ve compiled a list of nine favourites focused on key technology areas: the cloud, development and data. With the support of experienced professionals from around the world, it’s much easier to become an IT superhero and pave your way to working on the most interesting and best-paying IT projects.
The cloud
Cloud technologies play a key role in the development and management of modern IT systems. IT specialists that want to develop their skills in cloud computing have a number of quality online learning platforms at their disposal. These platforms offer a wide range of courses, from basic principles to advanced techniques and strategies for managing cloud services, which makes them the perfect place for anyone who wants to take their skills to the next level.
The top platforms that provide a good theoretical framework as well as practical instructions and strategies for the effective use of cloud technologies include:
Coursera is the right place to start! With almost anything, from anywhere and at any time. It opens the door to an endless sea of knowledge from the best universities and institutions around the world such as Harvard, Stanford and the University of Tokyo. With more than 5,000 courses and specialisations on offer, you can develop your skills in any IT area you can think of and connect with a community of fellow students from around the world, share knowledge and build a network of contacts. Coursera has over 87 million registered users and 4,300+ free courses.
With 155,000 courses and 70 language versions, Udemy is one of the biggest players in global online education. It will undoubtedly win you over with its scale and the easy accessibility of its vast know-how in just a few clicks. Anyone can teach anything of interest here. This has its pros and cons. Instead of top professors from Harvard, you are more likely to encounter people who work in the field and enthusiasts sharing their experiences. You will find courses from independent experts and companies here, which gives you access to real technology experience directly from those working in the field, including Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. You may like the platform so much that you move on to other areas, such as personal development or your hobbies.
Pluralsight is most interesting for its focus on practical skills and real-world application. It will help you improve your skills in cloud computing, cloud platforms, cloud security, or other fields that are even marginally related to the cloud. Users praise Pluralsight in reviews for its effective and well-structured content that gets straight to the point without unnecessary fluff. And one more thing – this platform offers the possibility to study both online and offline, which is especially appreciated by globetrotters. There are few better excuses to travel than education.
Development
New programming languages and tools are appearing at lightning speed. E-learning platforms are the perfect way for IT developers to keep up with the latest trends and development technologies. They are designed to provide up-to-date, practical education that is directly applicable in real projects.
The following e-learning platforms are the most popular among developers:
Udacity is known for its ‘Nanodegree’ programmes that focus on specific skills such as programming, application development, artificial intelligence and other technology fields. They are valued by many companies in the hiring process. The courses are developed in cooperation with leading technology companies – Google, AWS, IBM and Microsoft. There is probably no better way to access the latest IT trends than with them…
Freecodecamp is completely free. It mostly focuses on web development, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript and libraries like React. You will love their community-based approach and culture of free knowledge sharing. Simply put: I’m happy to share my knowledge, and tomorrow it will be the other way around. You can work with people from all over the world on smart projects as a beginner or senior. And once you get used to it, you can also tackle other IT topics – data security, API development or the use of database systems.
LinkedIn Learning, formerly known as Lynda.com, is like an extensive library connected to the LinkedIn professional network. This means the courses are taught by those working in the field and they cover various technologies and programming languages, from basic to advanced levels. It provides materials that will really help you in your projects and career. As an IT developer, you can move forward in coding or software engineering, web development and mobile application development.
Data
In a world where data dominate decision-making processes in all industries, having the ability to analyse and use them effectively is crucial. Data science and analytics e-learning platforms offer comprehensive resources for those who want to master data processing, from basic analytics to advanced machine learning techniques.
DataCamp is a virtual training and sharing centre for data, database and scientific programming enthusiasts. This specialised platform offers interactive courses, projects and tests focused on specific skills such as statistics, machine learning, R, Python, SQL… When you ask users about their impressions, they often mention their satisfaction with the structure and quick applicability to real data. You can choose from 350 course modules for beginners and advanced.
Kaggle provides a wide variety of datasets and competitions in areas such as machine learning, prediction, classification, segmentation, and data visualisation. It also offers tutorials, exercises, and community forums, allowing you to quickly find lots of resources on the topic you’re interested in. Interactive micro courses are very popular. You learn quickly and can apply your knew knowledge to your own project in the same day. This platform is close to the hearts of many users – they get to share their passion for data with people from all over the world, have fun and make new contacts.
Coursera – we’ve already mentioned this platform in connection with the cloud, but it’s also one of the globally most popular and prestigious ‘data’ platforms. It brings together the greatest professionals from world universities, institutions and companies. Experts in data science, analytics, machine learning, deep learning… You can ask them questions, learn from their experience and grow quickly. It’s also very well-arranged and intuitively leads the user to other topics.
The Internet offers an abundant amount of platforms that offer development in various IT areas, from cloud computing to software development and data analysis. You just need to choose one and keep learning.
Thank God for reviews
All e-learning platforms have their pros and cons. Thankfully, the Internet is full of reviews and the experiences of users from all over the world. They will help you find exactly what you are looking for and reach your goal as efficiently as possible.
