Online Course Buyer's Guide


© Audrey Choden
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Apr 24, 2000


Do you want to take an online course to improve your skills but don't know how and where to find one? When you do find one, how do you know that it's the best one to meet your needs?

Finding good online courses can be a daunting task. Wouldn't it be nice if a single site had a catalog of courses as well as free, unbiased reviews of each one?

That's what Lguide.com offers to buyers of online learning. The Lguide.com site provides a storehouse of courses AND independent ratings and reviews of each one. You can choose courses from several different categories: Technology Skills, Business, Professional, Personal Development and Self-Help.

On a recent visit to Lguide.com, I looked for online courses in the Business category to see what I would find. Under Management topics, I clicked on Strategic Planning. The link took me to a page that listed several course offerings from major publishers including Ziff-Davis Education and Skillsoft.

Each course listing included:

  • Rating
  • Author
  • Course Objectives
  • Skill Level (basic, intermediate, advanced)
  • Audience
  • Costs and Fees
  • Course Duration

    • Courses were evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • How are the objectives met
  • How interactive and engaging is the user experience
  • Value

    • The listing provides details about content along with technology requirements.

    I also found links to free demos and to the publishers' web sites. In addition, a comparative analysis shows how courses stacked up against each other in terms of cost, duration and rating. The analysis includes a brief evaluation of the course and its pros (+) and cons (-). The information is presented so you can easily compare course offerings from different publishers.

    This site has a lot going for it. The content is well organized. The independent reviews are objective, balanced and sound. The Bottom Line section offers guidelines to help you decide which course to select and buy.

    But there is one more thing you should know: Lguide.com is a commercial site. Its mission is to bring together customers and course publishers who pay to use Lguide.com's reviews and ratings. While there doesn't seem to be any banner ads, publishers' web sites are featured in a 'Check Out This Site' section at the top and bottom of each page.

    Overall, Lguide.com provides useful information for buyers of online courses.

    http://reviews.lguide.com/

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    Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: View all related messages
    2.   Jun 14, 2000 5:42 AM
    Thanks for posting the lists of other sites that offer online learning, Jack. I'm always interested in learning about new web sites to review.

    I plan to add more links to my list of great web site ...

    -- posted by achoden
    1.   May 31, 2000 2:43 PM
    Hello to Audrey and to my suitemates, the people she strives to serve;

    While surfing the technology news today, I noticed that Barnes & Noble is getting into the online university business with not ...

    -- posted by jmcc4tx



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