Online education courses are a good way to learn new skills, expand your understanding of classroom technologies, and work toward increased responsibilities. In some cases, our chosen courses may also be appropriate for parents, administrators, and others for whom education is important. Whether you’re looking to advance your career or taking a class for personal enrichment, the ten best online education courses have something to offer you.
- edX — Professional Certificate in Online Teaching for Educators: Development and Delivery — Top Pick
- edX —Improvement Science in Education — Best for Administrators
- Alison — Diploma in Teaching Skills for Educators — Most Affordable
- Udemy — — Best Short Class
- Coursera — The Teacher and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Specialization — Best Multi-Track Course
- Coursera —Learning to Teach Online — Best Online Platform
- Coursera —Assessment in Higher Education: Professional Development for Teachers — Best Advanced Course
- SkillShare — Google Classroom for Teachers — Shortest Course
- Udemy —Be a Winner: Becoming a Winning Educator at a Demanding School — Best for New Teachers
- Udemy —The Art of Storytelling (Early Childhood Educators) — Best for Parents
Our Ranking Criteria
We started by reviewing the 25 most popular courses operating today, on a range of platforms including Coursera, Alison, and Udemy. Our goal was to find the courses offering the most value for the money for their intended audience.
Basic Ranking Criteria
We looked at basic elements such as how long each course took to complete and whether the classes were available on a flexible schedule. These four factors helped us judge the first round of courses.
Time to complete. All our chosen classes can be completed in six months or less. Your time is valuable, and although you want to learn everything the course has to teach, you don’t want to waste your time on fluff.
Prerequisites required. A few of our courses are targeted to a specific group, such as higher education instructors. Most are accessible to anyone with an interest in education, including parents and students studying to become teachers.
Flexible schedule. We gave preference to courses that allow you to start whenever it’s convenient or have regular starting dates. We reasoned potential students lead busy lives, and have personal and professional commitments that make a flexible schedule a necessity.
Certificate of completion. Those taking a class for personal enjoyment may not be interested in a certificate, but for those looking to advance their career, the ability to add a certificate or diploma to their resume or LinkedIn profile can be a plus.
Advanced Ranking Criteria
Next, we developed a series of advanced criteria and placed these against each class to see how they fared.
- The course covers the full spectrum of information related to its topic.
- Instructors are working educators with the appropriate credentials.
- Instructors are engaging, interesting, and able to keep the attention of students.
- The course doesn’t require any specialized software or hardware.
- The course makes use of the most up-to-date research and thinking on its topic.
- Whenever possible, the course provides exercises, quizzes, or other materials to allow students to assess their progress.
- If appropriate, there is the opportunity for group discussion, a chat room, or other peer-to-peer communications.
10 Best Online Education Courses
edX
Professional Certificate in Online Teaching for Educators: Development and Delivery
Intelligent Award: Top Pick
Understanding how to effectively deliver online courses is an important goal for today’s educators. Edx offers three skill-building courses that provide a comprehensive background in learning management tools and systems, creating engaging content, and more for those who want to keep their online students attentive and learning. Online learning has grown tremendously in the past decade, even aside from its use during the pandemic, yet many teachers don’t know how to maximize the opportunities this mode of teaching presents. This course, taught by University of British Columbia instructor Dr. Donata Bonassisa, can add a new and vital component to the online teacher’s toolkit.
- Price: $222.30
- Time to complete: 2 months (5-7 hours/week)
- Prerequisites required: None
- Flexible schedule: yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: yes
Who should take this course? Educators who have migrated to online learning with the pandemic will benefit from this course, as will anyone who is teaching online.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Includes three courses | A little pricey (though you get a lot for the money) |
| Covers development, planning, implementation, strategies, and more | |
| The instructor is a university-level teacher |
edX
Improvement Science in Education
Intelligent Award: Best for Administrators
This upper-level course explores improvement science, a disciplined approach to educational innovation that encourages teachers, leaders, and researchers to collaborate to solve specific problems. Developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the course is taught by the president of the Foundation, Anthony S. Bryk, and Donald J. Peurach, a professor of educational policy, leadership, and innovation at the University of Michigan. It involves six self paced lessons and the paid version includes unlimited access to course materials along with feedback and graded assignments. Thefree version includes access for just a short time..
- Price: free (certificate available for $199)
- Time to complete: 8 weeks (2-4 hours/week)
- Prerequisites required: working knowledge of schools and education systems as well as the political, policy, and public pressures to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for all students
- Flexible schedule: yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: yes
Who should take this course? This course is a good fit for administrators and other educator-leaders who want to bring about change and innovation in their schools and districts.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| High-level instructors | Certificate/paid version is pricey |
| In-depth exploration of the topic | The free version includes limited access |
| Instructor support with the paid version |
Learn more
Alison
Diploma in Teaching Skills for Educators
Intelligent Award: Most Affordable
With 20 million learners, 3.5 million graduates, and 3,000 courses, Alison is easily one of the most popular online learning platforms. Their teaching skills course is a cost-effective way for educators to refresh their training and learn new skills. In 18 modules, you’ll study verbal and non-verbal classroom communication, formulating educational objectives, motivating students, and more. The course is highly rated at Alison, with five out of five stars, and more than 80,000 students have taken or are enrolled in the class. The Alison interface is a little chunky though and lacking in details, so it’s hard to assess the quality or status of the course’s instructors. For a free course with minimal time commitment, it’s worth a try.
- Price: free
- Time to complete: 10-15 hours
- Prerequisites required: best for certified educators and trainers
- Flexible schedule: yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: yes
Who should take this course? An excellent course for educators who want to brush up on their skills without making a financial investment.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| CPD accreditation | Diploma available for a fee |
| 79 individual lectures in 18 modules | Not U.S.-based |
Udemy
Quality Curriculum & Pedagogy for Educators of 21st Century
Intelligent Award: Best Short Class
This brief course is an overview of what constitutes a quality curriculum, and what factors are important for students to learn in our current day and time. The course is taught by Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra, an author, and educator who has had an award-winning career as a teacher in India. Dr. Mehrotra touches on topics such as teaching creativity as a priority, innovation in action, and the importance of ensuring students are healthy and well-nourished to achieve the most positive results in the classroom. Although the course is too short to go into great detail, the emphasis on quality in the classroom is worth hearing.
- Price: $19.99
- Time to complete: 1 hour
- Prerequisites required: none
- Flexible schedule: yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: yes
Who should take this course? A good choice for engaged parents and school administrators who want to understand how a good curriculum benefits children.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Minimal time commitment | Information not as in-depth as other options |
| Award-winning instructor |
Coursera
The Teacher and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Specialization
Intelligent Award: Best Multi-Track Course
Social and emotional learning, or SEL, is relatively new but is becoming a popular way to understand education and human development. It looks at how people acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and how they use them to develop healthy identities, achieve goals, and manage their emotions. SEL programs focus on five student competencies, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. This five-course specialization looks at SEL programs at a higher-education level. The four instructors are from the University of Colorado at Boulder and Harvard Graduate School of Education. They examine K to 12 SEL programs and conclude the series with a capstone project that allows students to put into practice what they’ve learned.
- Price: $49/month
- Time to complete: 6 months (3 hours of work a week)
- tes required: none
- Flexible schedule: yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: yes
Who should take this course? Educators who are interested in incorporating SEL qualities into their classroom lessons would benefit the most from this series.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Instructors at the top of their field | Topic is limited |
| Practice quizzes and graded assignments | |
| Two capstone project options |
Coursera
Learning to Teach Online — Best Online Platform
Intelligent Award: Best Online Platform
Offered by the University of New South Wales in Australia, this course helps educators develop a working knowledge of how to structure their courses for online delivery, using strategies that are practical and easily adapted for each teacher’s situation. The course is taught by Dr. Simon McIntyre, an associate professor and associate dean at the University, along with Dr. Negin Mirriahi, a lecturer in the school of education. With the rise of online education, many teachers find themselves hampered by a lack of understanding of the technology involved and how to use it to benefit the students. This course promises to help you find an approach that provides the best support for your students.
- Price: Free ($49 with certificate)
- Time to complete: 18 hours
- Prerequisites required: none; best for practicing teachers
- Flexible schedule: yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: yes
Who should take this course? Another excellent course for educators who find themselves conducting classes on Zoom rather than in person in the classroom.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Based on an award-winning educational resource developed by the instructor | Certificate only available at a cost |
| Flexible deadlines |
Coursera
Assessment in Higher Education: Professional Development for Teachers
Intelligent Award: Best Advanced Course
If you teach in higher education, you already know assessments play a big role in your work. This course will teach you to design an assessment that is aligned with course objectives, analyze assessment results, and formulate future improvements to your assessments. It was developed by a group of professors and advisors at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Lectures are spread out over a suggested five-week period and include video lectures, readings, and quizzes. Each week tackles one topic like the role of assessment, the assessment plan, feedback and grading design, assessment construction, and assessment analysis and evaluation.
- Price: free ($59 with certificate)
- Time to complete: 18 hours
- Prerequisites required: higher education teacher
- Flexible schedule: yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: yes
Who should take this course? This course is targeted at those currently teaching in a college or university who would like to sharpen their skills at assessment.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Financial aid available | Certificate available for a fee |
| Flexible deadlines | Exams can be challenging |
| Chance to create your assessment plan |
SkillShare
Google Classroom for Teachers
Intelligent Award: Shortest Course
Google Classroom became a much-used resource for teachers during the pandemic, allowing them to connect with students, manage classes and workloads, keep students on track with assignment deadlines, and more. Compatible with other Google products and a host of affiliated apps, it was the go-to source for many schools, but there was a learning curve. This short course aims to help you get to the top of that learning curve, and if you take advantage of Skillshare’s 7-day free trial, it comes at no cost to you. The instructor is Alex Nussbaumer, an educator who works as a technical instructor for Google Classroom. He’s a knowledgeable guide for those looking for a short introduction to the platform that packs maximum information in minimum time.
- Price: $8.25/month if billed annually ($99/year); $19/month if billed monthly; pay today, $5.77 per month
- Time to complete: 29 minute
- Prerequisites required: none
- Flexible schedule: yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: no
Who should take this course? Any teacher who anticipates the need to move online soon or who has already moved to a Google Classroom platform and wishes to learn more about how it works.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Free 7-day trial | The course is too short to go into detail |
| The app allows offline learning | |
| Supportive community |
Udemy
Be a Winner: Becoming a Winning Educator at a Demanding School
Intelligent Award: Best for New Teachers
This course serves as a cheerleading squad for teachers who need to be reminded of why they went into education in the first place. It emphasizes the need to have a winning attitude and helps you discern why you went into teaching, and what you can get out of it. The teachers, Nikki and Wesley Ace are both experienced teachers who co-founded the “Be a Winner” movement, which helps educators develop a positive mindset, as well as to learn strategies for responding to the myriad situations that may crop up in the classroom.
- Price: $94.99
- Time to complete: 2 hours
- Prerequisites required: none
- Flexible schedule: yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: yes
Who should take this course? This class would be useful for new teachers who are struggling to find their place in the academic world or educators who have gotten discouraged by the day-to-day challenges of teaching.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Lifetime access to course | High cost for a two-hour class |
| Enthusiastic and informed instructors |
Udemy
The Art of Storytelling (Early Childhood Educators)
Intelligent Award: Best for Parents
Everyone loves a good story, but children, in particular, resonate with and learn from stories told to them. This one-hour course discusses the importance of storytelling in enhancing listening, literacy, and creative skills, shares techniques to tell engaging stories, reviews how to make props for stories, and more. Your instructor is Veenu Gupta, an educator who has taught at the early childhood level in both India and the U.S. In addition to appealing to educators or student-teachers, parents and caregivers may find this an appealing class to enhance their storytelling abilities, which can help strengthen their relationship with their child.
- Price: $29.99
- Time to complete: 1 hour
- Prerequisites required: none
- Flexible schedule: yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: yes
Who should take this course? This course is geared toward early childhood and primary educators, parents and caregivers of young children, and students of early childhood education
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Lifetime access to course | The one-hour lecture doesn’t give the instructor time to go into detail |
| Includes article downloads |
Online Course Comparison Chart
| Course | Price | Features |
| Edx — Professional Certificate in Online Teaching for Educators: Development and Delivery — Top Pick | $222.30 | ✓ No prerequisites required ✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Includes verified certificate of participation |
| Edx — Improvement Science in Education — Best for Administrators | Free ($199 with certificate) | X No prerequisites required ✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Includes verified certificate of participation |
| Alison — Diploma in Teaching Skills for Educators — Most Affordable | Free | X No prerequisites required ✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Includes verified certificate of participation |
| Udemy — Quality Curriculum & Pedagogy for Educators of 21st Century — Best Short Class | $119.99 | ✓ No prerequisites required ✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Includes verified certificate of participation |
| Coursera — The Teacher and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Specialization — Best Multi-Course Track | $49/month | ✓ No prerequisites required ✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Includes verified certificate of participation |
| Coursera — Learning to Teach Online — Best Online Platform | Free ($49 with certificate) | ✓ No prerequisites required ✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Includes verified certificate of participation |
| Coursera — Assessment in Higher Education: Professional Development for Teachers — Best Advanced Course | Free ($59 with certificate) | X No prerequisites required ✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Includes verified certificate of participation |
| SkillShare — Google Classroom for Teachers— Shortest Course | Annual: $8.25 per month $99 billed annually Monthly: $19 per month billed monthly Pay today: $5.77 per month $69.30 billed today | ✓ No prerequisites required ✓ Flexible schedule X Includes verified certificate of participation |
| Udemy — Be a Winner: Becoming a Winning Educator at a Demanding School — Best for New Teachers | $94.99 | ✓ No prerequisites required ✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Includes verified certificate of participation |
| Udemy — The Art of Storytelling (Early Childhood Educators) — Best for Parents | $29.99 | ✓ No prerequisites required ✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Includes verified certificate of participation |
Tips for Succeeding in an Online Education Course
1. Consider the cost
How much do online education classes cost?
Costs vary for online education classes. Our ten top picks range from free to $222.30. Free courses, in general, don’t offer a certificate or any interaction with the instructors. You may also have limited access to downloads and other course materials.
Will my employer pay for me to take the course?
It’s definitely worth a discussion with your supervisor or HR director. If your course gives you additional skills you can use on the job, you may be able to make a case that it benefits your employer for you to take it.
2. Get your tech squared away
None of our chosen courses require specialized equipment. You’ll need a computer with a fairly up-to-date system, such as Windows 7 or higher for PCs and Mac OS X 10 or higher for Apple computers. You should have a good internet connection with a download speed of at least 1 Mbps, and an upload speed of 0.5 Mbps. If you are using Chrome, consider downloading the Video Speed Controller app, which allows you to speed up or slow down video lectures as well as rewind or fast forward.
3. Use the right study resources
There are thousands of excellent resources for teachers, and a Google search for “teacher resources” will give you a wealth of information. Here are a few we particularly like.
- www.edutopia.org: the website of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, Edutopia focuses on innovative educational solutions for K to 12 classrooms, it offers excellent articles on the most cutting-edge strategies and best practices for teachers and administrators.
- www.teacher.org: created by a group of teachers for teachers, this website is packed with information on how to become a teacher, careers in education, and resources such as lesson plans and a list of scholarships for teachers.
- www.pinterest.com: Pinterest offers far more than recipes and interior design ideas. Resources for teachers abound on the site, from virtual field trips to sample slides that can be used for online teaching.
Frequently Asked Questions About Online Education Courses
What jobs can you get after completing an online education course?
In the U.S., teachers are required to have a bachelor’s degree, and some states require a master’s degree. You may be able to earn these degrees online, depending on the college you’re working with. You may also be able to work as a teacher’s assistant after taking one or more of our recommended classes, since this job doesn’t always require a college degree. The median pay for a teacher’s assistant is $28,900 a year.
Are there free online education courses?
Several of our chosen courses feature a free option. If you are taking a course for professional development purposes, you should be aware free courses do not usually offer a certificate of completion. This is true, for example, with many courses on the Coursera platform.
How long is the average online education course?
Online education courses offer a wide range of time commitments. They may be a single, stand-alone lecture, such as the Google Classroom for Teachers on SkillShare, or they may extend for several months.
Can I earn a teaching degree online?
Some colleges and universities offer both bachelor’s and master’s degree programs online and may have education programs at the primary or secondary level. In some cases, you will still need to do an in-person student teaching experience. You can find out more by talking to an admissions counselor at the college of your choice.
What are the best online courses for teachers?
That depends on what kind of teacher you are, and what you hope to learn. For example, if you are a preschool teacher looking to expand your classroom skills, you might learn the most from a class like The Art of Storytelling on Udemy. If, on the other hand, you’re a school principal or district superintendent, you might benefit most from Improvement Science in Education on Edx.
Interested in a degree instead?
Learn more about online degrees, their start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
