We’re making the case for voluntarily taking an online courses or two, because it can help us in plenty of ways.
Related: 7 Platforms That Offer Free Online Classes and Courses
If you were a student during the pandemic, we can understand if you’re turned off from taking an online course because of one reason or another. But hear us out—taking a course from online platforms on your own volition helps you a lot—and not just because it’s (mostly) free and convenient learning! From helping your brain functions to broadening your horizons, online courses help in more ways than just helping you get a lesson down.
Whether you’re down to pay to get a certification or you found an available free course you can take, there’s several benefits to online learning (and not the kind that many of us were forced into a couple years back). Let us lay a few of them down below.
GETS THE GEARS TURNING
Learning doesn’t stop when you finish higher education, y’all! Get those gears in your brain turning even when you’re working or pursuing your passions by enrolling in an online class where you can learn about something you’ve always wanted to—whether it’s theoretical or practical like a skill. Stimulating your brain and learning new things helps your cognitive ability!
MAKING YOU MORE CONSCIOUS AND AWARE
Don’t we all want to be more well-read, worldly persons who have a lot to offer in conversation or in service? Well, whether you’re supplementing your college degree or taking something completely different from it, if you take an online course, you’re exposing yourself to different people and perspectives, as well as issues and developments in the field you’re studying.
Especially if you’re taking courses that involve humanities, ethics, history, advocacy, literature, or the like, it helps you to be more socially-aware and expose you to realities of the world, a privilege that not everyone is granted even if they studied a degree.
LEARNING AT YOUR OWN PACE
A lot of these online courses are self-paced, meaning you can watch, read, and study the material whenever you’re free to. They have limits to how long you have access, such as for a few weeks or months, but for most of them you can just restart for free if you ever take too long to continue but are still interested in finishing the course.
Self-paced learning means you don’t have to feel pressured to finish a certain lesson within a short time, you can study in ways that you know work for you, and you have time to do other things in your life, like work, actual school, errands, or just going out for fun.
DEVELOPS YOUR DISCIPLINE
Taking an online course voluntarily, a self-paced one at that, also helps develop your self-discipline. No professor or tutor is going to hold you accountable for the most part—you got your own back. Be responsible for your time, for the lessons you have to learn, and the activities the course asks you to do, like quizzes. Hone your self-discipline and it’ll help you even beyond the online learning.
BREAKS MONOTONY
Sometimes, the days just run long and we just want to do something to break the usual humdrum of life and take a break from the work we do on the daily. Some people would read or have a hobby, but you can also explore a course you’re interested in learning about! If you’re looking for something simple to give some spice to your life, maybe an online course is the way to go. Maybe you’ll even find a new path to pursue if you enjoy the course enough.
BROADENS YOUR HORIZONS
There’s a myriad of online courses you can take online. From Coursera to Harvard, plenty of platforms offer all kinds of programs for all kinds of learners. There’s variety in fields, in specifications, in lessons, in skill level requirements, and in course length and pacing, as well as all kinds of niches you can explore. No one will judge you if you take a course on plagues, witches, and wars in literature instead of a coding course, or game theory instead of economics.
If you want to broaden your horizons and study something completely out of your expertise out of wanting to have a side hustle or simply out of curiosity or sheer thirst for knowledge, taking an online course may just give you exactly what you want.
Continue Reading: Sharpen Your Skills With These Free Courses From Harvard University
