E-Learning is here to stay. With a learn anytime, anywhere model, individuals and businesses from around the world are increasingly drawn to the capabilities of an effective E-Learning platform. Not only do managers find them cost-effective for their companies, they can be highly personalised to student needs.

As a DEV contributor, I tasked myself with finding the best e-learning platform, so you don't have to.

TL;DR - After assessing each provider against 4 metrics, the AWARE Series eLearning Academy is our clear winner. Their drive to create the most curated content for each individual and company depending on their needs, far supersedes the regular alternatives out there.

LinkedIn Learning

Student Experience

LinkedIn Learning is a great platform for learning individual skills. It offers features like transcripts, variable playback speed, and offline viewing. However, the post-course experience is lacking. There's no dedicated account manager to call you up to discover how you found it, and that recommend you specific follow-up courses and recruitment support that can actually progress your career.

Hence, I’ve given LinkedIn Learning a student experience score of 2.

Team Experience

LinkedIn does offer a business programme. But there are some pitfalls in this.

Firstly, businesses are just given a bundle of courses that they can learn from. Mediocre thought is given to whether every single module and line of content is applicable to the business being trained, and whether it is branded to the business.

Hence, I’ve given LinkedIn Learning, a business compatibility score of 1.

Quality & Feedback

The courses are great, but are ready-made, rather than customisable. With so many instructors, courses vary in quality, and sometimes you’re unsure whether the instructor is the best for that course, because the course is only moderated once.

Also, it is not the easiest to give feedback to LinkedIn. If only you could just call/WhatsApp the company if you’re finding a module difficult, but being such a big company, you’ll feel lost in the wind.

Hence, I’ve given LinkedIn Learning, a quality & feedback score of 1.

Affordability

Credit where credit is due - LinkedIn Learning is affordable, but not free. You do have to pay a monthly subscription if you don’t want to get ripped off.

Hence, I’ve given LinkedIn Learning an affordability score of 2.

Coursera

Student Experience

Sometimes, a company can get too big for their own good. This is what's happening to Coursera.

At the time of research, their Trustpilot score is 1.5/5, which is a major blow to what is one of the biggest players in the market. Their courses are amazing, mind-blowingly interesting and insightful.

However, students complain that the platform is not reliable, with some individuals losing all their learnings more than once. And because there is no dedicated client team just one call away if calamities like this happen, it can cause real frustration to the users.

I’ve had to give Coursera a user experience of 1.

Team Experience

Coursera does offer a custom employment development programme. However, the B2B courses rely on academic instructors from universities and instructors, when sometimes the best instructors can come from within the company and industry themselves. This is where the business offering limits itself.

With this limitation, I’ve given Coursera a business compatibility score of 2.

Quality & Feedback

Quality control is no doubt stringent, as not every instructor is eligible to work with Coursera. Coursera hand-picks universities to work with.

However, although it takes time for Coursera to create the right course with their time in selecting instructors, it equally takes time for the course to adjust content and features to fit student needs.

Because of this, clients have faced issues with payments on Coursera when the site goes down, and refuse to help customers with human interaction.

Hence, Coursera receives a feedback score of 1.

Affordability

This is where we give full marks to Coursera. They do offer free courses as well.

FutureLearn

Student Experience

Overall, FutureLearn has a strong presence in student minds. Students commend FutureLearn on the enjoyable learning experience and well-presented quality material.

However, challenges in the user experience do remain. Once on the platform, you can’t directly WhatsApp/call an advisor on how you’re finding the course, or whether you’d like specific modules that interest you added on, as part of your certification.

This is why we’ve had to give FutureLearn a client experience score of 2.

Team Experience

FutureLearn does have a business support team, and offers a dedicated team to cater to business L&D needs. However, the immersiveness of business courses is where FutureLearn business platform limits itself.

For example, FutureLearn does not offer team courses which exclusively follow a company’s brand, case studies from within the businesses, which can also be updated to follow company updates, within a week’s turnaround.

Due to this, we’ve had to give FutureLearn a team experience score of 2.

Quality & Feedback

For us to give a top score for FutureLearn, they’d need to have instant dedicated support to every single one of their students, with a phone or on-demand video support if need be, to diagnose any issues. They encourage individuals to look at articles first, which makes resolving problems more stressful than it needs to be.

Hence, FutureLearn gets a Quality & Feedback Score of 1.

Affordability

Full marks given to FutureLearn, they do offer a couple of free options as well.

Udemy

Student Experience

Being one of the biggest eLearning providers out there, Udemy does have a reputation to be diverse and affordable. However, the platform faces a few challenges which make it difficult for paying students.

The occasional student has complained about paying for a course, only to find out processing has not gone through. With emails lost in the junk, Udemy needs to be more prompt with these issues to give them a higher score.

Overall, the student experience score is 2.

Quality & Feedback

Quality control has been an issue here. Udemy has an incentive to get as many instructors as possible, as instructors get commission, but courses are not continually reviewed, and updated.

We gave Udemy a quality and feedback score of 2.

Affordability

Can’t complain here, courses are very cheap, so full marks on affordability.

The AWARE Series e-Learning Academy

This was a tough decision giving it to one of the most recent e-Learning platforms in the market. They don’t have the volume of courses that the major players, and they’re not free, but when it comes to the complete quality that they offer in going above and beyond to both individuals and teams, it was clear we had to give them #1.

"AWARE Series eLearning Academy offers the best client experience from the start. From before enrolling, all the way to completing the course, a dedicated eLearning Manager is by your side, taking care of every aspect of your learning experience"

Student Experience

AWARE Series offers personalised eLearning solutions for individual career growth, across 3 stages.

Pre-Course

Dedicated project managers help students find the right course. Courses can be customized to meet specific needs.

During the Course

Courses can be adjusted for individual needs, such as visual impairment or language barriers. Dedicated chat support is available throughout the course, if students have any questions.

Post-Course Care

Students receive ongoing support and guidance, in terms of career pathways available to them. Each student is offered the chance to have a Q&A about the course, and a potential blog/video about their work so far, to give them the best chance of success within their sector.

Because of these unique features, we’ve had to give them a 3.

AWARE Series eLearning Academy offers the best client experience from the start. From before enrolling, all the way to completing the course, a dedicated eLearning Manager is by your side, taking care of every aspect of your learning experience

Team Experience

What makes AWARE Series different from every single other platform we’ve compared, is that AWARE Series eLearning Academy offers the following options to make their courses more relevant to the business, than ever before.

Here's a breakdown of the key differentiators:

Personalized Consultation

A dedicated eLearning manager works with leadership teams to identify individual needs of employees, and customise modules accordingly. Some may require an e-learning nano-degree in cybersecurity, others may only need an awareness course.

Branded Content

Courses can be branded with the company's logo and style to create a cohesive learning experience.

Real-World Case Studies

Case studies are drawn from situations that have actually happened within their company, making learning more relevant and engaging.

Rapid customisation

Courses can be quickly updated to reflect the latest legislation and company priorities. No endless meetings needed.
These features set AWARE Series apart from other eLearning platforms, providing a more effective and tailored learning experience for teams, hence a 3.

Quality & Feedback

AWARE Series continually reviews its e-learning courses, to ensure legislation is up-to-date. Some courses on other platforms are so out-of-date, but courses on AWARE Series are recent.

AWARE Series courses follow a triple-vetting process. The e-learning manager checks content, followed by the Managing Director, and then can also be reviewed by the L&D teams of the company, to ensure the courses are as relevant to the company as possible.

Individuals who book onto AWARE Series eLearning Academy are only a message away from the eLearning Manager, as feedback is taken seriously.

We gave AWARE Series a quality and feedback score of 3.

Affordability

AWARE Series eLearning Academy may not offer free courses. However, with the outstanding quality and care the platform provides, it’s clear to see that, whether you’re an individual or a business, learning with this platform is a wise investment.

And the winner is...🎉

Overall, we’ll have to give the number 1 platform to the AWARE Series e-Learning Academy. Yes, they may not have the biggest volume of courses, but their dedication to knowing what the individual truly wants to learn about at a modular-level, and the ability to design courses to suit their needs and interests, makes it a far better alternative than the major players in the market.

If you would like to book a course from the AWARE Series eLearning Academy, click here.