9 reasons why self-paced training outperforms traditional platforms!

There are 3 major methods for learning programming: i- In-person classes, ii- Live instructor classes, and iii- Self-paced training. Most of students usually start with one method and end up using a combination of said methods. For instance, a student takes free online classes and then enrolls in a community college or in-person coding classes. Or student graduates from a computer science college, yet it uses online self-paced videos to sharpen its skills as technology changes very fast.
Motivated by our years of experiences as coding and technology training provider for students and adults, we have identified the following 9 benefits of self-paced training versus other methods.

  1. Affordability
    Most of self-paced courses or contents are either free or come at a minimum fee.
  2. Flexible Schedule
    Busy professionals, students or folks that have a normal non-IT job for paying the bills, rely on flexibility that comes with self-paced training to make the most of their time and training. For instance, it is difficult for an office manager to register for a class that is scheduled during 9-5.
  3. Hands-on Projects
    Many instructors in in-person or live instructor classes just follow normal course curricula without in-depth focus on course-related projects. Few online self-paced programs like the one offered by High School Technology Services are only developed around project-based training.
  4. Global Reach
    The major hurdles for organizing in-person and live instructor classes are geographical and time-zone differences. Thus, they prevent many students from registering for such classes. Thus, self-paced training is a winner here. Also, unlike in-person classes, online self-paced classes do not require traveling to the classroom.
  5. Active Community for Q/A
    Few online self-paced training programs have an active community tied into their current students and alumni. That allows students and alumni reciprocate ideas or troubleshoot problems as a part of vibrant community.
  6. Adoption to Change
    If a new topic or framework is added to a course, students (who know old topics) would be better off just watching few videos rather than re-taking the whole class. Therefore, self-paced training has more resilient to changes in technology and topics.
  7. Tailored Learning
    Like the previous advantage, self-paced training come with numerous customizations and specialized course outlines for the rare or unpopular topics that are not covered in normal community colleges, universities or even local private schools.
  8. Speedy Learning
    Unlike in-person or live instructor classes, you can enroll in as many self-paced classes as you wish. Indeed, due to their low course fees and flexibility, you can easily learn different coding topics simultaneously.
  9. Removal of Learning Curve
    Most of traditional classes or even live instructor classes are occupied with many students in which instructors tend to adjust course pace with top 20% or smart students in the class. As a result, many students are left behind. Conversely, self-paced training allows students to watch videos as many times as they wish; therefore, self-learning courses shall fit students with all learning curves.

As we mentioned at the outset of this article, there are many advantages of taking self-paced training classes. However, it is advisable to use them in conjunction with either in-person or live instructor classes. For example, live classes allow you to bring up your questions while instructor covers the course topics. Indeed, sometimes if you do not understand or wrongly understand a technical concept, it may negatively affect the rest of your training as most technical topics and concepts are interrelated. Long story short, use self-paced training wherever and whenever needed to reinforce your learning and technical knowledge yet do not reply on it as your sole source of training.

Whether you want to start your journey on becoming a developer or you like to improve your existing knowledge, we have developed self-paced learning programs to suite your needs. Specifically, we have the following two self-paced training programs:

 

Also, we offer online live instructor and in person classes in Virginia, Falls Church. Call us or email us for details.