It always pays never to stop learning. Education, they say, is a noble pursuit that can never be taken away from you. Most companies nowadays focus on your level of experience as they prioritize those who can contribute more to their businesses’ growth. Learning more skills can eventually make you more effective in your chosen career path. For those looking for ways to improve their roster of marketable skills, this Skillshare review is an in-depth look into the program. Included in this article are the different benefits of the said trending program online.
Here is Robots.net’s Skillshare review!
What is Skillshare?
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Screenshot from Skillshare
Launched by Malcolm Ong and Michael Karnjanaprakorn in November 2010, Skillshare was originally made into an online platform in New York City, New York. Its mission is to provide a dedicated space where students can discover entrepreneurs, coaches, experts, and other professionals who can teach them added lessons—also known as skills—that may eventually help them in life. In short, Skillshare aims to help anyone interested in learning.
The learning platform contains a myriad of courses. Nevertheless, Skillshare prioritizes the capacity to teach and learn entrepreneurial and creative skills that may enhance one’s capability of executing excellent work. Using its search button, you can quickly discover classes for watercolor paintings or WordPress. You will learn valuable skills that you cannot easily find in real-world setups. The best part is that you can learn these lessons whenever and wherever you want.
If you’re looking for more online learning platform reviews, you can also check out our MasterClass review.
How To Sign Up For Skillshare?
To start enjoying the benefits of Skillshare, you must be able to set up your account. Signing up at the Skillshare site will permit you to discover and enjoy the different skills training classes available in its vast database.
Signing Up
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Screenshot from Skillshare
The first thing you should do is create an account at Skillshare. You can avail of their 14-day free trial by clicking on the green “Get 14 Days Free” button that you can find as soon as you visit the Skillshare site.
- Click the “Get 14 Days Free” green button.
- On the next window that appears, locate the green Sign Up button on the upper right corner of the screen.
- A tab opens for you, asking you to sign up using your Facebook, Apple, or Google account. You can also sign up by providing another email account. Provide your details, including your full name, email address, and desired password.
- Follow the succeeding steps provided.
Payment Methods and Subscription Plans
Of course, this Skillshare review won’t be adequate without discussing the different payment methods and subscription plans offered. Depending on your desired level of membership, you can either choose to access the platform for free or for a minimal fee. New members get a 14-day free trial of Skillshare, and you can opt to cancel or continue the subscription after the trial expires.
Free Skillshare Access
If, for instance, you do not wish to continue with your unlimited access to the 27,000+ classes offered by Skillshare, you can still use the platform to learn dispensable skills that are provided there for free. Use your Skillshare account to log into the platform. You will still be able to discover free classes for categories like Business, Creative, Lifestyle, and Technology.
Premium Skillshare Access
Nevertheless, there are particular topics and full courses that can only be accessed by a premium subscription. Paying a minimal fee is required if you desire to have complete learning modules and unlimited opportunity to all the 27,000+ classes offered at the Skillshare site. Premium subscription permits you to obtain these courses even without an internet connection as well and the unnecessary interruptions of ads. You can take your learning offline—a perfect solution for those who have intermittent connections and busy schedules.
How Much Does it Cost?
Skillshare premium subscription costs $US16 per month. You can opt for a yearly subscription that will take $US96 out of your pocket. You must take note that paying yearly may eventually help you obtain a 42% discount. It’s an excellent investment if you get to make the most out of your subscription.
How To Use Skillshare
After signing up, your next step is to locate the course that you may want to prioritize learning. Since Skillshare has more than 27,000 courses in its database, focusing on essential courses can be a problem. Nevertheless, Skillshare makes this easy for you since it provides you with course suggestions that may match your goals.
Enrolling to a Class
Once you get to pinpoint a priority course, you should be able to enroll in classes. Course descriptions are given, and you may view reviews, project summaries, or outlines that will help you along the way.
To enroll for a specific Skillshare course, these are the things you should consider:
- You are provided with three options: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.
- You also get to choose courses created for that specific day, week, month, and year.
- Also, you get to opt for a desired Class Length: Less Than 15 Minutes, 15 to 30 minutes, 30 to 60 minutes, and More Than 60 minutes.
Depending on your available schedule for the day, you get to choose specific courses that allow you to learn something without sacrificing other things in your life.
Can You Take Multiple Classes at Once?
You can take multiple classes at Skillshare. The prerogative of doing several classes at one time depends on you. Nevertheless, it would help for you to remember that learning specific skills takes time. Many Skillshare students assert that a single course may take several chapters to complete. Thus, it may be best for you to master each course before learning more courses effectively. Also, teachers at Skillshare see to it that you get the most out of your payments. Each course outline will show you that you are required to seriously spend time learning each chapter—or class—before going to the next one.
How to Leave a Class
However, there are instances when you may want to forfeit your attendance to a particular Skillshare class or course. Learning is a serious choice, and you need to spend time on each chapter before you get access to the next one. If you want to leave a particular class, you can contact help@skillshare.com directly. They will assist you with this specific predicament.
Features and How to Use Them
Skillshare is a platform that aims to provide students, teachers, entrepreneurs, and other like-minded creators with the opportunity to share their skills and talents in a dedicated, online convention. Hence, students and professionals get to convene at the site, sharing and attending various courses to enhance members’ capacities which permits them to be more effective in their designated careers.
Shared Learning Experience
Experiences are shared. A need to appreciate the best practices pinpointed in each specific field gets to be possible because everyone is encouraged to openly share their particular experiences, allowing others to understand how various skills, techniques, and strategies get to work.
Class Creation
Since Skillshare is a sort of open learning platform, anyone can create classes there. Thus, influencers get to attract students and followers depending on the effectiveness of their teaching—and advertising—techniques since students are allowed to provide their own Skillshare review.
Teacher Compensation
Since anyone is allowed to create classes at Skillshare, compensation depends on the number of students that enroll in your courses. However, it would be best if you remember that you get to earn Skillshare royalties for your content. You also get compensation for succeeding referrals.
Free Classes
You also get to benefit from free classes, even if you prefer not to subscribe to Skillshare’s premium membership. You get to choose from 27,000+ courses available and opt to become a premium member when you desire to delve deeper into your chosen Skillshare course.
Feedback
As with any Skillshare course, student feedback is essential. It provides would-be students with an appreciation of what each course contains, allowing them to opt for those that may enhance their portfolios. Teachers get to benefit as well, since each Skillshare review can act as an indirect promotion of their courses, allowing students to know what they are capable of teaching. It also permits Skillshare teachers to improve their course materials based on their students’ accumulated feedback.
High-Quality Course Materials
Skillshare stresses the significance of providing learners with high-quality courses and learning tools via their site. Each Skillshare class is a pre-recorded video that can run for any time from 15 to more than 60 minutes long. Other learning materials are also provided for each course. You can learn at your own pace since offline watching is allowed when you subscribe to a premium membership. All courses are project-based and enable students to practice each skill set learned and discover their capacities.
Publishing, Promoting, and Channel Building
You are allowed to publish and promote your course at Skillshare. You may even develop your channel at the platform, creating several courses to let you earn more royalties and referrals.
Premium Class Catalog
If you opt to subscribe to a premium Skillshare membership, you get to access its complete catalog of premium classes. These premium classes allow you a better appreciation of the different subjects that you want to learn. As a student, the minimal fee that you get to pay each month or each year permits you to enjoy the different courses available from various professionals and experts in the field.
Networking Capacity
A considerable benefit of subscribing to a Skillshare membership is the networking capability it provides you with. Since the platform is a convening space for various professionals online, you can widen your network and open yourself to more career opportunities.
Offline Learning
Not everyone can attend classes—or watch lengthy videos—all the time. Nonetheless, a premium Skillshare membership permits you to complete your learning whenever you want. Not only do you get access to the full contents of your chosen course, but you also get to pinpoint when to watch each chapter and do your projects. This is a remarkable feature for those who have busy schedules.
Group Classes
You can opt to do classes individually. However, Skillshare courses are, most of the time, project-based. Learning each new skill is much more effective when you get to practice each learned skill with others. Group efforts are essential, and Skillshare courses provide you with that.
Skillshare vs Competitors
A Skillshare review won’t be complete without providing a brief discussion of its main competitors. This section is dedicated to other learning and educational platforms online similar to Skillshare.
vs MasterClass
Like Skillshare, MasterClass is an educational platform that can be easily accessed online. Based in San Francisco, MasterClass offers many courses taught by personalities like James Patterson, Steve Martin, Aaron Sorkin, and David Mamet. Owned by David Rogier and Aaron Rasmussen, the learning site was launched in 2015. Premium annual subscription to Masterclass costs US$180.
Unlike Skillshare, you get a free MasterClass trial for only one day. You also do not get any discounts for MasterClass enrolment. MasterClass membership is way too expensive, mainly because you must pay for a premium membership to access its courses. You can take the risk, though, if you want to take classes under top-notch masters who are considered experts in their field.
vs Udemy
Another popular learning platform choice is Udemy. Featuring more than 130,000 courses, Udemy has a far more extensive database than Skillshare. It is the biggest online learning platform to date, allowing you to learn various courses, including Dog Training, Video Editing, and Makeup Application or Cosmetology.
Launched in 2010, Udemy boasts of 35 million students. You can opt for Udemy Pro, which gives you a seven-day access trial. After your free trial lapses, full access to its premium courses requires you to pay a monthly fee of US$19.99. Free membership is allowed, but it does not give you access to premium courses. This is a huge disappointment for learners who seriously need to obtain certifications for essential subjects available on the platform.
That concludes the comparison part of our Skillshare review. Continue reading for the pros and cons of a Skillshare subscription.
Pros and Cons of Using Skillshare
To fully complete this Skillshare review, it is crucial to isolate the said learning and the educational platform’s different pros and cons.
Pros
Below are the benefits of opting for a Skillshare membership:
New and Updated Content
You should always bear in mind that learning is a constant process. Skillshare gets our vote when it comes to its capability of providing students with new and updated content. You can easily choose to receive new content that was merely created the same day. Skillshare creators and teachers alike pride themselves on publishing content daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. Students get to access relevant content since all courses are guaranteed fresh each time.
Varied Courses
Skillshare has over 27,000 courses published within its platform. As a student, you won’t have to search long before you get to isolate the courses that will eventually help you with your opted career path. You even get to choose teachers based on the Skillshare review provided for each specific course.
Multiple Communities of Like-Minded Peers
Skillshare is a convening platform for various experts, professionals, and entrepreneurs. The need to interact with like-minded people is of prime importance when learning each new skill. Because group projects are prioritized and encouraged, you get to build your network of peers who can help you with real-world career issues. The practicality and sustainability of each chosen course are achieved through this community.
User-Friendly Interface
It can be irritating to encounter a learning site that is too difficult and confusing to navigate. Skillshare is user-friendly when it comes to its interface. It is pretty straightforward, and you can easily search for the courses you might like to enroll in.
Skillshare Access Via Your Devices
You can also access your Skillshare account via any of your devices. What’s best is that you can sync your work across your gadgets, as well.
Cons
Skillshare has its faults, as well. Any fair Skillshare review must bring these issues to light.
Not Completely Accessible
While Skillshare provides learners with varied and updated content, some of its videos are difficult to grasp. Captions are not provided, and this could be a massive disappointment for those who are deaf or suffering from hearing impairments.
Not All Teachers are Great
Some of its teachers are not that great. Since anyone can teach and build their teaching channel on the site, it is crucial to find an instructor who can provide you with a complete and satisfying course. Thus, it is essential to read reviews for each course located on the platform.
Annoying Ads
Subscribing to a free membership can get irritating because the Skillshare platform is filled with ads. You get distracted by the streamers that keep appearing while using the site. Fortunately, you can eradicate these irritations by subscribing to their premium membership.
