{"id":60299,"date":"2021-11-18T04:09:40","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T09:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=60299"},"modified":"2021-11-29T22:55:26","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T03:55:26","slug":"want-to-take-an-online-course-here-are-4-tips-to-make-sure-you-get-the-most-out-of-it-for-your-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/want-to-take-an-online-course-here-are-4-tips-to-make-sure-you-get-the-most-out-of-it-for-your-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to take an online course? Here are 4 tips to make sure you get the most out of it for your career"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nThe \u201cGreat Resignation<\/a>\u201d has left a lot of people with time on their hands. And while this time may be a welcome respite from the daily grind, most folks will need to get back to work eventually. For many, this period is a time of reflection and a chance to pursue a new career.<\/p>\n

But how do you make the switch? And even if you plan to return to the same field, how do you show that you have kept current with the\u00a0changes and trends<\/a>\u00a0that affected most industries during the pandemic?<\/p>\n

Traditionally, the answer to these questions has been to go back to school. But\u00a0rising tuition costs<\/a>\u00a0over the past few decades, and the time commitment of traditional degree programs, makes this route prohibitively expensive for a lot of people.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where short online courses in business, technology and other fields come in. Over the past 10 years, these courses from providers such as\u00a0Udemy<\/a>,\u00a0Coursera<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0edX<\/a>\u00a0have become more popular, and\u00a0approximately 75% of learners who take them<\/a>\u00a0report gaining\u00a0career benefits<\/a>\u00a0from completing them.<\/p>\n

As a\u00a0researcher and practicioner<\/a>\u00a0who develops these education technologies, I also study the\u00a0behaviors that make online learners successful<\/a>. Here are four key actions that studies have shown will help online learners make the most of a short online course to reap the career benefits they desire.<\/p>\n

1. Identify the goal<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Learners who begin a course with a clear idea of what they want to get out of it are\u00a0more likely to complete their course<\/a>\u00a0and earn a certificate. A goal may be, for example, to learn a new skill, gain more knowledge about a topic, improve job performance, get a new job or advance in a current one.<\/p>\n

In my study of over 4,000 learners who completed an online course in business topics, I found that learners who enrolled in their course with the intention of improving their job performance, starting their own business or getting a new role were\u00a0more likely to experience career benefits<\/a>\u00a0than those who enrolled only because they wanted to learn something new about the topic.<\/p>\n

2. Rewatch videos and retake tests<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Among the same sample of over 4,000 people taking online courses, I also found that\u00a0learning behaviors associated with persistence<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 such as watching more videos or retaking tests \u2013 were shown to be more strongly associated with perceived career benefits than social behaviors like forum posts, comments and views \u2013 or even grades.<\/p>\n

In fact, the same study showed that grades don\u2019t have any correlation to whether or not a person gains career benefits as long as they eventually pass the course. The lesson here is to try and try again. Taking a course that is challenging may prove to be more useful than one a learner can breeze through.<\/p>\n

3. Finish the course<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Many short courses are now only four or five weeks long, with fewer than three hours of time required per week. Learners who complete their online courses are\u00a0more likely<\/a>\u00a0to learn something new, improve performance, get a raise or new job or start a new business. They can also\u00a0receive a digital certificate or badge<\/a>\u00a0they can post on social media channels to inform potential employers that they have successfully passed the course.<\/p>\n

4. Choose the brand wisely<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Currently, I am working on a broader study to confirm that hiring managers feel that \u201cnondegree credentials\u201d like certificates from online courses improve a candidate\u2019s resume, particularly if the potential employee does not have work experience in the field.<\/p>\n

These same hiring managers value the reputation of the institution that offers the course over the specific credential that is earned from it \u2013 a badge vs. a certificate, for example. In my survey to hiring managers, the results of which have not yet been published, a majority responded that they prefer nondegree credentials from academically distinguished universities over credit-bearing certificates from for-profit institutions.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, many highly recognizable, academically selective universities and companies now offer these short courses for low or no cost. It\u2019s easy to learn\u00a0data analytics from IBM<\/a>,\u00a0business strategy from Darden<\/a>,\u00a0machine learning from Stanford<\/a>\u00a0and many more topics from top schools, such as Python, computer science, robotics, economics of health care and even the science of happiness from University of Michigan, Harvard, Penn and Yale. If a learner recognizes the name of the institution offering the course, chances are hiring managers will too.<\/p>\n

While short online courses have not lived up to the hype 10 years ago that they would\u00a0disrupt higher education<\/a>, they are helping\u00a0millions of learners<\/a>\u00a0around the globe try new fields and learn skills to advance their careers.<\/p>\n

Author Bio: <\/strong>Anne Trumbore is Executive Director of Digital and Open Enrollment at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The \u201cGreat Resignation\u201d has left a lot of people with time on their hands. And while this time may be a welcome respite from the daily grind, most folks will need to get back to work eventually. For many, this period is a time of reflection and a chance to pursue a new career. But […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[422078],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-60299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-short-online-courses"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWant to take an online course? 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