Many people still hesitate to take the step of paying a fee to subscribe to a good online training service; and today I wanted to advocate for it because I believe it is more cost-effective compared to other formal training alternatives. In my case, I decided to bet on CodeSchool in June of last year, for me the best platform that exists to stay updated and improve programming skills.
Personally, when it comes to educational platforms, I prefer those that require me to submit exercises to obtain certification, as they involve putting what I've learned into practice and therefore, I believe, provide some validity. Here are a few other platforms with MOOCs that follow this line where you can find free courses (with paid certifications): Coursera, Miriadax, CodeAcademy, and EDX (thanks Pino for this last one!).
Well, in my case I pay a $25 per month subscription on Codeschool, which over these months (including discounts) has amounted to about €125, and although this may seem like a considerable amount, I think if we analyze what I've gained in return it offers a different perspective.
For example, during this time I have completed 9 of the 36 courses they have available:
– Javascript Road Trip Part 1 (Free)
– Javascript Road Trip Part 2
– Javascript Road Trip Part 3
– Coffeescript
– Real-Time-Web with Node.js
– Discover DevTools (Free)
– Fundamentals of Design
– Try Git (Free)
– Try Ruby
Doing the math, each paid course has cost me about €20 and I have invested ... I would say between 4 and 8 hours in each. If we do the math, I think it comes at a very reasonable price since the courses are of tremendous quality and include a lot of practical exercises that I believe are making me a better professional.
What do you think about this, in comparison to other training options: workshops, training sessions, master's programs, etc. Don't you think it's a good price?