Teaching is a rewarding profession. You continually impart knowledge and skills to your students, shaping their future.
However, the field of education is dynamic, and you must keep up with the latest developments, trends, and research in your subject areas and pedagogy.
Investing in your skills improves your teaching practice and professional development while increasing your career opportunities.
Online teaching courses for teachers have made continuous learning more accessible and affordable for educators. You can choose when and where to study according to your schedule and preferences.
Because online courses are typically cheaper than traditional study modes, you can save on money you’d have used for travel, accommodation, and tuition. You’ll also get high-quality, up-to-date content and topics from essential to advanced levels.
In this guide, we’ll share the best online teaching courses for educators. Let’s get started:
Benefits of Online Courses for Teachers
In the field of education, you never stop growing and learning. Online courses provide a convenient way to continue your education. Here are some benefits of taking online courses:
- You can stay informed about your field’s latest research, innovations, and best practices and develop new competencies that better your teaching performance and career prospects.
- You learn at your own pace and on your schedule without having to travel, commute, or disrupt your work and personal life.
- Availability of various online courses for teachers, covering different subjects, levels, and formats, from short and practical workshops to comprehensive and accredited programs.
- The convenience of selecting a course that suits your learning style, preferences, and goals, whether to refresh your knowledge, acquire new skills, or earn a certificate or degree.
- Significantly cheaper than traditional in-person courses.
Although online teaching courses have many advantages, not all are equal in quality and price, so it’s best to research well before spending money and time.
Look for courses from reputable and accredited institutions– especially the ones with clear and relevant learning objectives, and provide engaging and interactive content.
Determining Factors when Choosing an Online Teaching Course
With so many online teaching courses available, it can be confusing to select the right one. But, there are certain determining factors you can look out for when selecting an online course. These include:
- Content quality: You want to learn from a course with high-quality and up-to-date content that covers the topics and skills you need and matches your level and goals. Look for a course that clearly outlines the learning objectives, provides engaging and interactive content and activities, and uses effective methods and strategies.
- Instructor quality: Qualified and experienced instructors can guide and support you throughout your learning journey. Consider courses whose instructors have relevant credentials and qualifications, positive and honest feedback and reviews, and are available to respond to your questions and concerns.
- Pricing: The course you choose should be reasonable and affordable, fit your budget and expectations, and offer value for money. You want to select a course with transparent and fair pricing, clear and detailed information about what is included and what is not and offers discounts, scholarships, or financial aid.
- Participant reviews: Honest reviews from previous and current participants who share their experiences and opinions about a course can help you decide if it is right. Consider a course with positive, verified, trustworthy, relevant, recent, balanced, and constructive reviews.
10 Best Online Courses for Teachers
As we’ve seen, you can take different courses to improve your teaching skills. However, not all of them may suit your needs, goals, and preferences.
Let’s look at the 10 best online courses you can take to enhance your teaching career:
1. Manage Your Classroom and Your Students with 21st Century Web Tools (SimpleK12)
This self-paced online course teaches you how to use various web tools to manage your classroom and your students effectively and efficiently.
You learn how to create and share digital resources, communicate and collaborate with your students and colleagues, assess and monitor your students’ progress, and provide feedback and support.
Through SimpleK12 webinars, you learn to manage tasks, check them off your electronic “to-do” list, and find out how to keep track of time and stay on task.
This course is suitable for teachers of all grade levels and subject areas, and a certificate of completion is given after finishing the course.
SimpleK12 courses are designed specifically for teachers. They are practical, easy to implement, and offer a supportive and active community of learners.
The course is free for SimpleK12 members.
2. Managing Emotions in Times of Uncertainty & Stress (Coursera)
This 9-hour online course teaches you how to manage your emotions and cope with stress in times of uncertainty and change.
You learn how to identify, build, and apply social and emotional skills, learn strategies for helping students identify and manage their emotions, and educate school staff on the science and impact of stress.
This course is suitable for educators and staff members in pre-K-12 who want to improve their emotional well-being and mental health.
The course is free to audit. If you take a course in audit mode, you will see most course materials for free.
To access graded assignments and earn a certificate, you’ll need to purchase the certificate during or after your audit or free trial.
The course is developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. It is rigorous and comprehensive and offers flexible and personalized learning options.
3. Motivating Students to Learn (Alison)
This 6-module online course teaches you how to motivate your students to learn and achieve their academic goals.
You learn how to understand and apply the theories and principles of motivation and create a motivating learning environment using various strategies and techniques.
During your study, you will describe the theory of behaviorism and how it relates to motivation and the theory of self-efficacy, define and describe self-determination, and much more.
This course is suitable for teachers of all grade levels and subject areas. You will receive a certificate of completion after finishing the course. The course is free to enroll, but you will pay a fee to access the certificate.
Alison’s courses are short, focused, interactive, and engaging and offer a wide range of topics and disciplines to choose from.
These courses are published by the Global Text Project, which aims to eliminate the cost of textbooks and make education accessible to all.
4. Classroom Strategies for Inquiry-Based Learning (edX)
This four-week online course teaches you how to implement inquiry-based learning in your classroom.
You learn the elements of the 5E instructional model, understand the philosophy behind inquiry-based instruction, and obtain strategies and tools for implementing inquiry-based instruction.
You will also discover the benefits of inquiry-based instruction for students and create a learning guide to use when implementing inquiry-based instruction in the classroom.
This course is suitable for teachers of all grade levels and subject areas. You will receive a certificate of completion after finishing the course.
The course is free to enroll in, with optional upgrades available, but you will pay a fee of $149 to access the certificate.
This edx course is offered by The University of Texas. You will learn by watching videos of classroom teachers as they use the 5E instructional model.
You will also have the chance to discuss your ideas and consider applications to your classroom settings.
5. The Art of Storytelling: Early Childhood Educators (Udemy)
This one-hour on-demand online video course teaches you how to use storytelling to enhance your teaching and learning in early childhood education.
This course also comes with three articles, six downloadable resources, access on mobile and TV, full lifetime access, and a certificate of completion.
You learn the importance of storytelling and engaging classroom activities, which help enhance children’s listening, literacy, and creative skills.
Also, you learn a story’s basic and essential elements, effective storytelling techniques, and methods to make a story engaging for the audience in class and at home.
You will create classroom setups for storytelling based on themes, make creative and colorful props, and narrate a story using imaginative, attractive Kathpotlis puppets.
This course suits early childhood educators and anyone working with young children.
The course is paid, and you can access it for a lifetime for $ 34.99.You receive a certificate of completion after finishing the course. Udemy courses are affordable and accessible–they are practical and hands-on and offer a large and diverse selection of courses.
6. Quality Curriculum & Pedagogy for Educators of the 21st Century (Udemy)
This online course teaches you how to design and deliver quality curriculum and pedagogy for 21st-century learners.
The course has a 1-hour on-demand video, full lifetime access, and a certificate of completion, and it can be accessed on mobile and TV. It costs $19.99.
You learn to align your curriculum and pedagogy with 21st-century skills and competencies, integrate technology and digital tools into your teaching and learning, and differentiate and personalize your instruction and assessment.
This course is suitable for educators of all grade levels and subjects, heads of schools, and students of education.
7. Learning Differences (Friday Institute)
Learning Differences is an on-demand five-unit online course that teaches you to understand and address the learning differences among your students.
You learn how to recognize and appreciate the diversity and uniqueness of your students and adapt and modify your curriculum and instruction to meet their needs.
The course teaches how to use universal design for learning and differentiated instruction to create inclusive and equitable learning opportunities and to collaborate and communicate with your students, colleagues, and parents to support your students’ learning.
The course is suitable for teachers of all grade levels and subject areas, instructional coaches, instructional support teams, and administrators.
You receive a certificate of completion after finishing the course. The course is free to enroll in, but you can pay a fee to access the certificate.
Friday Institute courses are developed and delivered by experts. They are relevant and applicable to the current educational context and challenges and offer a supportive and collaborative learning community.
8. Learning to Teach Online (Coursera)
This is an 18-hour online course that teaches you how to plan and implement effective online teaching and learning.
You learn how to design and develop online courses and materials, facilitate and manage online learning activities and interactions, and how to assess and evaluate online learning outcomes and processes.
This course suits teachers and educators who want to teach online or enhance their online teaching skills.
You will receive a certificate of completion after finishing the course. The course is free to audit, and you pay a fee of $49 to access the graded assignments and the certificate.
This course is provided by the University of New South Wales in Australia. It is comprehensive and offers flexible and personalized learning options.
9. Google Classroom for Teachers (Skillshare)
Google Classroom for Teachers is a short online course that teaches you how to use Google Classroom as a platform to organize and manage your online teaching and learning.
You learn how to set up and customize your Google Classroom, create and distribute assignments and quizzes, grade and provide feedback and communicate and collaborate with your students and colleagues.
This course is suitable for teachers and educators who want to use Google Classroom or improve their Google Classroom skills.
You receive a certificate of completion after completion. The course is free for Skillshare members while joining Skillshare is free for a limited time.
Skillshare courses are short and straightforward, they are creative and fun, offering a variety of topics and skills. Whether you’re just beginning or want to take your abilities to the next level, you’ll find tutorials for every skill level.
10. Digital Marketing course for Educators (upEducators)
This is a 4-week online course that teaches you how to use digital marketing strategies and tools to promote and grow your online teaching business.
You learn how to create and optimize your online teaching website and social media profiles to generate and convert leads and prospects.
You can create and deliver engaging, valuable content and offers and measure and analyze your digital marketing performance and results.
This course is suitable for educators, coaching owners, administrators, principals, and private tutors who want to start or expand their online teaching business,
You receive a certificate of completion after finishing the course. The course is paid, and you can access it for a lifetime.
UpEducators courses are tailored and targeted for online teachers and educators. They are practical and actionable and offer a mentorship and coaching program.
Choose the Right Online Teaching Course
Online teaching courses can help you improve your relevant teaching skills. They cover different topics, such as classroom management, emotional management, student motivation, storytelling, and many more.
Various platforms offer the courses, such as SimpleK12, Coursera, Alison, edX, Udemy, Friday Institute, Skillshare, and upEducators. They have different durations, formats, prices, and certification options.
When choosing a teaching course online, pay attention to content quality, instructor quality, pricing, and participant reviews.
You should look for a course with high-quality, up-to-date content that covers the topics and skills you need and matches your level and goals.
Consider a course with qualified and experienced instructors who can guide and support you throughout your learning journey. Also, get a reasonable and affordable course that fits your budget and expectations and offers value for money.
At Teachers of Tomorrow, we can help you find the right online teaching course that complements your teacher certification.
Teachers of Tomorrow is a leading alternative teacher certification provider. We provide personalized guidance, support, and access to high-quality and relevant online courses and resources.
Join us today and be part of a vibrant and diverse community of online learners who will share their insights and experiences with the world.
