What online courses should I take?

With huge advances in technology revolutionising and reshaping the way we learn, online courses are becoming an ever increasingly vital resource. This CPD article will provide a brief overview of the general nature of online courses, which online courses are best for your career, where to find online CPD courses and how to have your online course CPD certified.

What is an Online Course?

Online courses are a more modern way of learning than traditional methods, and provides the ability to share learning content in an effective and organised way digitally, without the participants necessarily being in a physical classroom environment. An online course will often consist of a curriculum or study plan, which is then organised into modules or units. Because of the use of technology, online courses can include videos, images, text, hyperlinks and others forms of digital multimedia to help embed the learning. Online courses are easy to share via a link, and the majority of eLearning software will provide an invitation email to the users.

Online courses are a flexible way to learn, where individuals can often study in their own time and pace, or to fit around their existing work schedules. However with this, an online course will often require a high level of self-regulation and discipline from participants. You can find an online course on just about every skill, topic, or hobby you can possibly imagine. They can also be a faster and more efficient way to learn, taking less time than a traditional college or academic environment.

Distance learners who want to experience learning both online and on campus can sometimes enrol in hybrid courses, which are a blend of both classroom instruction and online learning.

What are the best courses to learn online?

The market for online courses continues to grow and thrive. With so many options available, it can be difficult to know what are the best courses to learn online. When looking for the best courses to learn online, it is important to look for a training provider that you can trust, and that will provide the best value for money and suit your timescales.

A great way to benchmark online courses is to look for learning that has been CPD Certified. CPD certification helps ensure that training and other forms of structured learning are assessed and approved to meet the expected requirements for Continuing Professional Development.

Which online courses are best for your career?

To decide which online courses are best for your career will depend on what your career goals are, including whether you want to change careers in the future, or advance into another role or promotion opportunity. 

Showing existing and potentially new employers that you are actively improving yourself by highlighting the various additional professional training you have completed throughout the year on your CV or resume can only help to make you a more appealing candidate for career opportunities.

Where to find online CPD courses?

The CPD Courses Catalogue currently has over 30,000 courses listed, and now more than half of these are online courses, on different subjects from across the industries. Ranging from healthcare, medicine and nursing, through to digital marketing, communication skills, website development, computer programming AI and data sciences, there are thousands of online CPD courses to help you develop your professional skills and capabilities.

How to have your online course CPD certified

We hope this article was helpful. Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured.

If you are interested in offering training courses, seminars, workshops, eLearning, or educational events suitable for Continuing Professional Development, please visit the Become a CPD Provider page or contact our team to discuss in more detail. Alternatively, if you are looking for a free online CPD record tool to help manage, track and log your ongoing learning, as well as store your professional training records and attendance certificates in one simple place, go to the myCPD Portal page.