11 best online universities and schools
The Internet was created not only for cats and porn. The World Wide Web was conceived as a tool for sharing knowledge, so that people from the most distant places on the globe could get access to leading scientific and educational materials. And online universities embody this idea like nothing else.
For people eager for new knowledge and unable to stop their development, we have compiled a rating of the 11 best online universities and schools with the most recent and relevant knowledge.
Ranking of the best online universities and schools
| Nomination | a place | Name of product | price |
| Ranking of the best online universities and schools | 1 | Coursera | 5.0 |
| 2 | Skillbox | 4.9 | |
| 3 | Khanacademy.org | 4.8 | |
| 4 | Synergyonline | 4.8 | |
| 5 | Open university | 4.8 | |
| 6 | Uniweb | 4.7 | |
| 7 | Carnegie mellon university | 4.7 | |
| 8 | Edx | 4.6 | |
| 9 | Universarium | 4.5 | |
| 10 | Lectorium | 4.5 | |
| 11 | Intuit.ru | 4.4 |
Coursera
Rating: 5.0
Why he: The largest online platform with courses from leading universities in the world.
Coursera is the largest online platform on which courses are presented in various areas of knowledge. Leading world universities - Stanford University, John Hopkins University, Yale University, University of Manchester collaborate with her ... A total of 180 educational institutions from 27 countries. In addition, Google and Intel cooperate with it. The Russian segment is represented by both large universities (for example, MGIMO and MEPI), and Sberbank and Yandex companies.
The platform offers about 3200 courses, upon completion of which the student receives a listed diploma. The corresponding work or project is also required to complete. Directions - natural science, information technology, humanitarian, technical.
Programs can be run as free - but then some of the material will be unavailable - and for a fee. Grants and subsidies are provided.
Virtues
- Listed diplomas;
- Free courses;
- A huge number of training programs.
disadvantages
- There are few courses in Russian;
- There are few free courses with a diploma for a student;
- Courses are held online, so most of them need to be booked in advance.
Skillbox
Rating: 4.9
Why he: The largest platform in runet for online learning information specialties.
Skillbox specializes in the most relevant and widely applicable areas of knowledge. Students of this platform can study such areas as design (including web and UX), marketing of physical and digital products, programming (application and web), and project management. Thanks to cooperation with the largest employing companies, many students immediately after completing the course receive an offer of internship or full-time employment.
About 600 webinars per year are held on the platform. The presented courses, depending on the complexity, take from 2 months to a year. Leading specialists of Russian companies working in the field of digital act as lecturers, so that the knowledge gained by students is as relevant as possible.
The absolute majority of programs on this platform are paid. But for general development, you can study some webinars for free and read articles.
Virtues
- The most recent and relevant knowledge;
- High chance of internship or employment upon completion of the course;
- Teachers - experts in their field.
disadvantages
- Almost all courses are paid and relatively expensive;
- Some courses take a lot of time (up to a year);
- Small base of free materials.
Khanacademy.org
Rating: 4.8
Why he: All programs on this platform are free.
Khan Academy is a platform for free online courses in a variety of areas of human knowledge. Here are areas such as mathematics, science, engineering, computer computing, history, economics, art and many others. True, unlike previous online universities in the ranking, the courses published here are aimed more at getting general than special education.
On the other hand, such large educational and scientific institutions as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NASA, the Museum of Modern Art, the California Academy of Sciences and many others cooperate with the Khan Academy. This guarantees the credibility and reliability of the knowledge presented here.
About 50 online courses are presented on the platform, which are divided into separate areas of knowledge. Training takes place without teachers, but with different tests and exams.
Virtues
- All programs are free;
- Courses are designed by leading experts in their field;
- Education without teachers, you can start and finish at any time.
disadvantages
- Courses are mainly focused on secondary rather than vocational education;
- No lessons in Russian;
- Rare course updates.
Synergyonline
Rating: 4.8
Why he: Russian online university, issuing state diplomas.
The University "Synergy" has no departments or buildings. It is focused only on distance education, but issues state-recognized diplomas. “Synergy” differs from universities with correspondence education in that students do not need to travel to university for semesters - all exams and test work are also taken online.
At the same time, Synergy offers training in relevant and popular areas, such as Internet marketing, entrepreneurship, human resource management, banking, civil and criminal law, pedagogy, and much, much more. There are no highly specialized technical or natural science courses at the university. There are about 70 directions on the platform.
There is no budget or free education on the platform. Training takes up to 5 years, during which time students study various specialties, pass exams and defend a diploma.
Virtues
- Full higher education without a job;
- State diplomas;
- Actual and popular specialties.
disadvantages
- There are no highly specialized technical or natural sciences;
- No free or budget education;
- Not always the right organization of the educational process.
Open university
Rating: 4.8
Why he: Online university of distance education with the highest quality of education.
"Open University" - a British university that specializes in distance education. It is distinguished by the highest quality of courses, which is assessed by both external auditors and students themselves. In addition, it offers a large educational base.
A total of 180 areas are represented on the platform, both general educational and highly specialized. According to official information, about 86% of graduates find work in their specialty.
An interesting feature of the university is the faculty, called "School of Business". Its graduates receive an MBA degree. The School of Business of an open university itself has been accredited by many international regulatory organizations. According to third-party statistics, this department is more popular among students than the rest of the UK business schools.
Virtues
- The highest in the ranking of the quality of education;
- You can get an MBA diploma;
- Many courses available.
disadvantages
- Teaching is in English only;
- No free courses;
- Non-UK users will find it difficult to enroll.
Uniweb
Rating: 4.7
Why he: All courses are available in a partially-free scheme. Great knowledge base on management.
UNIWEB online school specializes primarily in management training. Here are webinars and full-fledged courses on the management of various areas of business and production. However, thanks to this school, it is possible to improve personal effectiveness and get acquainted with new technologies. There are also highly specialized IT courses, such as the use of supercomputer computing.
About 70 programs are presented on the site. Each of them is designed for a limited number of academic hours (usually around 20, but there are more) and includes both training videos and practical cases. Education is relatively inexpensive, and their first lectures are available free of charge for review.
Training is conducted not only by UNIWEB specialists, but also by invited teachers from leading offline universities in the country. Upon completion, an electronic certificate is issued.
Virtues
- Lots of free stuff;
- Many courses for managers or future managers;
- Training from teachers from leading universities in the country.
disadvantages
- Few highly specialized courses;
- Only electronic certificates of own type are issued.
Carnegie mellon university
Rating: 4.7
Why he: Many free online courses of a very high level of quality.
Carnegie Mellon University is one of the largest US universities. Despite the fact that it focuses primarily on offline training, distance learning courses are also available here. And, what is especially nice, they are almost all free!
Is that education is conducted without a teacher. However, the free distance learning courses were developed by leading experts of the university, due to which the level of their quality is very high, one of the best in the ranking. Training is conducted at a convenient rate for the student. After completing the course, the trainee may receive certification.
Submitted programs - both general education and highly specialized. In addition to the humanities, the natural sciences and financial disciplines, the university has engineering and technical as well as informational ones. For example, in collaboration with Siemens, the “mechatronics” direction was developed. There are also language courses.
Training is conducted only in English.
Virtues
- Almost all classes are free;
- Professional level of education;
- Paid courses - for a symbolic cost (for example, $ 10);
- Training in highly specialized areas.
disadvantages
- Learning is only in English.
Edx
Rating: 4.6
Why he: Provider of online courses from leading universities of the world.
Unlike other online universities in the ranking, EdX does not offer its own educational programs. This is a course provider from the world's leading universities. Here are both paid and free directions.
The main advantage of the platform is quick access to programs from the largest universities. For example, partners include MIT, Harvard, Berkeley University, Sorbonne University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Dartmouth College, Princeton University and many others. In total on the platform about 2000 courses are presented in the most different directions.
According to official information, thanks to EdX, more than 14 million students from all over the world are currently receiving higher education at the professional level. In total, over 42 million people have completed training during the platform’s existence.
Virtues
- Professional level courses;
- Cooperation with the largest universities in the world;
- Many free programs.
disadvantages
- Teaching is in English only;
- If you want to get a certificate, you will have to pay for the course.
Universarium
Rating: 4.5
Why he: Online courses from leading universities in Russia.
Like the previous platform, Universarium is a provider of online distance education courses from major universities. Only he specializes in the Russian segment of vocational training. Here are directions from such universities as HSE, Moscow State University, VGIK, BFU, REU and many others. Courses are conducted and companies - for example, Google, "Anti-theft", Key Solutions, Mail.ru and dozens of other large corporations.
The directions presented are more than diverse - from humanitarian to technical, from natural science to management theory, from self-improvement to professional skills. For example, there is training in drawing, robotics, nanotechnology, and job search. Only about 200 destinations.
Training is conducted online with the participation of teachers. The vast majority of areas are free, but some universities and companies set a small reward for discipline.
Virtues
- There are really interesting training programs;
- The vast majority of courses are free;
- Training is conducted by experienced scientists and specialists.
disadvantages
- No certificates;
- About half of the courses are poorly applicable in everyday life and career growth;
- Free classes - without teachers and inspections.
Lectorium
Rating: 4.5
Why he: A large base of teaching lectures from leading teachers from the largest universities.
The “Lectorium” project, unlike other online universities in the ranking, specializes not so much in training courses, as in the free lectures. There are really a lot of them here. At the time of this writing, the media library of lectures has more than 5,000 materials in a variety of disciplines.
The lecturers are the leading teachers and specialists in various fields of knowledge, so that the information they provide is reliable and relevant. The base of courses is not so impressive - at the time of this writing, it has about 100 programs that are presented in most cases for free.
Training programs can be conducted both online, with the constant presence of the teacher and assignments, and in the year-round accessibility mode. In the latter case, the direction of the curator is not. There are both general education and highly specialized courses (such as "Modeling in AutoCAD").
Virtues
- A huge base of lectures;
- The vast majority of programs are free;
- There are useful and practical courses for specialists;
- Upon completion of training a digital certificate is issued (also free).
disadvantages
- A very small base of courses, and at the time of writing, only a few disciplines were available - the rest will be held in the future.
Intuit.ru
Rating: 4.4
Why is it: The main Russian distance education platform, collaborating with Intel and Microsoft.
INTUIT is one of the best sites for postgraduate distance education for IT specialists. This open university collaborates with such large companies as Intel and Microsoft. However, the presented “range” of courses is not limited to this.
The site presents training programs from various areas of professional knowledge. There are also programs for professional retraining, advanced training, and managers will be able to gain knowledge from the mini-IBA platform. Unless the overwhelming majority of these courses are not certified, however, they provide an adequate level of knowledge for career growth and development.
The vast majority of programs are available for free. You will have to pay only for some programs from the mini-IBA platform and the like. And the lectures of them are still presented in the public domain, and payment is for tests and certification.
Virtues
- Unique in the ranking of the site, collaborating with Intel and Microsoft;
- Many special courses of university and postgraduate education;
- The bulk of the content is available for free.
disadvantages
- Many outdated courses;
- Inconvenient design and interface.
Attention! This rating is subjective, is not advertising and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you should consult with a specialist.
