skillshare online course pc reviews2022

 Skillshare is the world’s largest online community for creativity. It has over 12 million registered users and offers 35,000+ classes in just about any topic you can think of.

If you’re reading this Skillshare review, you may be wondering:

Is Skillshare worth it? How much does Skillshare cost? Can I get a Skillshare free trial? What are the best courses on Skillshare?

In this Skillshare review, I’ll be covering that and more. But if you’re short on time, here’s the lowdown.\

Quick summary

Features

Over 12 million registered users 

35,000+ available courses in almost any topic you could wish for

Great quality lessons with transcripts and subtitles available for each class

Curated learning with Skillshare picks and suggestions to help guide your learning

Unlimited access to every single course with a Skillshare membership plan 

What is Skillshare?

Skillshare is an online learning community for students to take online video classes at their own pace. The Skillshare platform offers a broad variety of specific skills such as UX design, creative writing, business analytics, graphic design, photoshop, web development, and so much more.

Founded in 2010, the primary means of learning offered by Skillshare is the completion of project while viewing the online video content. 

Compared to other e-learning platforms, Skillshare is cost-effective and an excellent launching point for people to boost their career skills or discover new courses to perk new interests.

Skillshare divides its courses into the following categories:

• Advertising

• Business

• Design

• Entrepreneurship

• Fashion and style

• Film and video

• Food and drink

• Gaming

• Music

• Photography

• Social media

• Technology

• Writing and publishing

Skillshare courses are structured in a traditional online learning set up with cool extra functionality built in.

First, there are the video lessons. The video lessons are organized and displayed to the right of the video playback screen (on the web-browser version) which makes it easy to toggle between lessons or quickly see how the course is organized.

Beneath the video playback screen is five options to further your learning:

What Are Skillshare Classes Like?

Classes don't have a fixed format. Some contain a handful of videos that run about 10 minutes each. Other classes have 50 short videos of only one or two minutes each. Some classes have assignments. When that's the case, learners share their creations with other people who have taken the class, usually in a comments section for the course. Some teachers stick around to give feedback on student work or answer questions, while others clearly haven't logged onto the site in a long time.

How to access Skillshare

Skillshare is available online at skillshare.com or can easily be accessed on their mobile app. The Skillshare app can be found in both iOS and Android stores and offers users the ability to download courses for offline viewing.

However, to access the app you must first sign up for a 1-month free trial or sign in with an already existing account.

The Skillshare app is easy to navigate and search for new course content. If you want to stay up-to-date on new classes offered by Skillshare, you can turn on push notifications to receive alerts directly to your mobile device. 

How Much Do Other Learning Sites Cost?

The cost of online learning is all over the map, with prices changing all the time. Skillshare's current price is fair, though we would prefer if Skillshare offered a monthly subscription option, rather than just the annual one.

By comparison, MasterClass starts at $180 per year with no option for a monthly subscription either. LinkedIn Learning costs $29.99 per month or $239.88 per year. Khan Academy is totally free. It's a nonprofit organization, and you can donate to the site if you want to support it monetarily. 

Skillshare classes are worth it for…

Although they boast over 27,000 courses on a wide range of subjects, Skillshare is definitely geared for (and marketed toward) creative individuals. While you are likely to find courses on practically anything (like fridge organization tutorials), Skillshare is worth it for individuals looking to learn or grow their creative skills.

For proof, below are a few of the top viewed Skillshare courses in January 2022. Notice a trend?

Is Skillshare legit?

Tech companies pop up all the time promising the world, charging you and then never delivering. So what makes Skillshare a legit company?

It was founded in 2010 — that’s over a decade in the business

Skillshare has a global community with over 12 million users 

It has robust purchase and refund options

I’ve tried and tested it myself (signing up, learning and cancelling) and have found it to be entirely reliable

While it may not be the learning platform for everyone, Skillshare has established a history of being a reputable company.

That said, you don’t have to look far for people to complain that Skillshare stole their money. So where do these accusations come from?

While Skillshare isn’t in the business of stealing people’s money, it does strictly operate by its terms and conditions so make sure you read them carefully to avoid disappointment. 

The most common ways people have been caught out are:

Forgetting to cancel their subscription before the free trial ends

Assuming that free trials can roll over to monthly subscriptions (They can’t. If you use the trial you’re opting for an annual subscription)

Hoping that you can get a partial refund on any unused time

TLDR: Skillshare won’t steal your money but you must read the T&Cs so that you don’t lose out by accident. 

Skillshare popular courses

If holding a pencil is about as creative as you get, no worries, there are enough courses in a Skillshare premium membership to keep you busy. With easily-digestible video lessons, students can watch on their lunch breaks, on public transit, or late at night in lieu of Netflix. 

If you are a more hands-on learning kind of person, Skillshare is definitely worth it with most courses complemented with a project to complete. By the way, I am this type of person which is why I signed up for Skillshare in the first place.

And if you don’t like a course, did I already mention there are plenty of other options from which to choose? Sure, you might not find a Margaret Atwood-level class on writing, but you will find hundreds of writing classes from trending and established writers.

As I keep mentioning, you can always try a Skillshare free trial and find out if Skillshare is worth it for you.

Community Features and Interaction

When courses call for learner participation, you can usually join by looking at the discussion area below the video. Often you see instructions for what to share, such as pictures from a room you redesigned or a personal essay. Other learners can then comment on your work. People seem to follow an unspoken rule on Skillshare: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. All the comments we saw were positive and seemed to show students in good spirits. That type of feedback is less effective than deep, critical analysis, but it's something.

If you want more interaction and community engagement, you can try Skillshare Workshops. Workshops are classes that involve more structure and community involvement. They run between set dates and generally have a timeline and deadlines that students should follow. There isn't anything magical separating Workshops from other classes, unless having deadlines and a community of other students motivates you to follow through and do the work.

Some of Skillshare's non-workshop classes come with projects anyway, which are developed by the instructor. They're entirely optional. Other students who take the class can't see that you watched the class videos but didn't participate; that's true of Workshops as well.

Discussion

The discussion section is a place for students to post questions and request feedback among themselves. The best part is that sometimes the Skillshare instructor will jump in and reply to comments. The group learning aspect is beneficial for learners who need feedback and to gauge other students’ progress.

Projects and Resources

As I’ve mentioned, every Skillshare course comes with a project to complete. In this section you will find a detailed description of the project along with other helpful resources shared by the instructor. Students are encouraged to share pictures (and an optional write-up) of their project where they can receive feedback from peers and the instructor themselves.

Transcripts

I personally learn better when I read along to what I’m listening to. That’s where the transcript section comes in handy. Not only that but going back to reference sections where the instructor is detailed or listing out specifics makes the transcript section a very helpful tool.

Bonus: Scheduling functionality

I thought this last feature was so cool. Next to the menu options is a button to “Schedule” your learning time. The button will send an invite to whichever calendar app you use (Google, Outlook, etc.) so that you can send personal reminders to take your classes! This is helpful for those who are a bit forgetful at times (like me).

Meet the Skillshare instructors

The nearly 30,000 courses offered to Skillshare members are taught by thousands of teachers across a broad array of talent and experience. Some notable Skillshare teachers include Seth Godin, Susan Orlean, Young Guru, Marc Ecko, Gary Vaynerchuk, Guy Kawasaki, and Paula Scher.

However, unlike other high-quality online learning platforms, Skillshare accepts anyone as teachers. 

“There’s no application or approval process, and you don’t need to have teaching experience. Our teachers are creatives, entrepreneurs, and professionals who are great at what they do and passionate about sharing their skills with others. Each has a unique background, perspective, and teaching style.”

To offset any worries around the quality of learning content, Skillshare recently launched Skillshare Originals which are courses created by their in-house content team. Skillshare Originals along with their Staff Picks helps students easily discover courses worth taking.

Final review of Skillshare: Does Skillshare work?

The short answer is yes, Skillshare works.

The long answer is still yes, but only if you make it work. Like anything in education, learning takes time, patience, effort, and a willingness to put yourself in a place of curiosity. Luckily Skillshare offers students all of these options in a convenient and practical space.

If you are willing to find the right courses, watch the video lectures, complete the projects, and ask for feedback, then yes, Skillshare will work for you.

The good news is that you can try all this for yourself and make your own decision with a one-month free trial.