Best site to gift online classes?
June 13, 2018 11:09 AM Subscribe
I want to gift an online class/learning experience for Father's Day. Dad is 65, very computer literate, and a lifelong learner. Where do I find a class he can pick for himself?
Ideally, I'd like to purchase a class credit and allow dad to choose his own adventure, but I'm mostly finding situations where I have to purchase a subscription or choose a specific course. I'm not interested in sites that don't provide a gifting option--telling him "pick a class and I'll pay for it" won't work for reasons. I need to provide something that is already paid for and he just has to log in and use on his own timeline.
Budget is ideally around $50 but will consider up to $100.
If I have to pick for him, his interests include: US and world history, mystery stories, classical music ONLY (he doesn't like pop or rock music, even from his own generation), secret societies/conspiracies, genealogy, HAM radio operation. He's already active on ancestry.com and has taken a couple creative writing courses through Coursera and some history classes on Great Courses.
Please share
A) Sites where I can gift a general amount and he can pick his own class or
B) Your fave specific course that you'd recommend for him
Ideally, I'd like to purchase a class credit and allow dad to choose his own adventure, but I'm mostly finding situations where I have to purchase a subscription or choose a specific course. I'm not interested in sites that don't provide a gifting option--telling him "pick a class and I'll pay for it" won't work for reasons. I need to provide something that is already paid for and he just has to log in and use on his own timeline.
Budget is ideally around $50 but will consider up to $100.
If I have to pick for him, his interests include: US and world history, mystery stories, classical music ONLY (he doesn't like pop or rock music, even from his own generation), secret societies/conspiracies, genealogy, HAM radio operation. He's already active on ancestry.com and has taken a couple creative writing courses through Coursera and some history classes on Great Courses.
Please share
A) Sites where I can gift a general amount and he can pick his own class or
B) Your fave specific course that you'd recommend for him
Best answer: Great Courses gift certificate! I think they've been pushing the subscription model, but my dad still buys individual courses, caerfully following sales cycles. They have a sale section with a bunch of stuff under $50.
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/all-types/on-sale-courses
posted by momus_window at 12:18 PM on June 13, 2018 [3 favorites]
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/all-types/on-sale-courses
posted by momus_window at 12:18 PM on June 13, 2018 [3 favorites]
I love online classes.
So far i've purchased and enjoyed 1 year memberships to
Skillshare
and Lynda.com ( now called Linkedin learning i believe?)
Both have a million different topics, perfect for multi passionate people, at all skill levels. I like that lessons are organized in chapters so you can easily skip ahead of stuff you might already know.
I use it mostly for creative software learning, and photography, but they really have all kinds of topics.
posted by PardonMyFrench at 12:19 PM on June 13, 2018
So far i've purchased and enjoyed 1 year memberships to
Skillshare
and Lynda.com ( now called Linkedin learning i believe?)
Both have a million different topics, perfect for multi passionate people, at all skill levels. I like that lessons are organized in chapters so you can easily skip ahead of stuff you might already know.
I use it mostly for creative software learning, and photography, but they really have all kinds of topics.
posted by PardonMyFrench at 12:19 PM on June 13, 2018
Masterclass! The instructors are, well, masters in their crafts. Aaron Sorkin, Annie Leibovitz, Helen Mirren, Gordon Ramsay! Bob Woodward! Shonda Rimes! And some sporty people I could not name teaching sportsball sporting.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:33 PM on June 13, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by DarlingBri at 12:33 PM on June 13, 2018 [6 favorites]
Udemy.com is another place to try. It skews heavily towards software development and design, but has a large selection of other topics.
More often than not they have a sale with courses priced around 12-15$ (Canadian).
On the negative side, as far as I can tell you can only gift specific classes. Also be sure to check the previews for courses, as the skill and quality of the instructors varies wildly.
posted by kmkrebs at 3:57 PM on June 13, 2018
More often than not they have a sale with courses priced around 12-15$ (Canadian).
On the negative side, as far as I can tell you can only gift specific classes. Also be sure to check the previews for courses, as the skill and quality of the instructors varies wildly.
posted by kmkrebs at 3:57 PM on June 13, 2018
Best answer: Great Courses for sure. I find their quality to be more reliable than any other purveyor and when there's a sale you can get lots of great stuff for under $100, some even below $50. They're set up for online gift cards.
posted by fingersandtoes at 5:34 PM on June 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by fingersandtoes at 5:34 PM on June 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Great Courses has a lot of choices for history and classical music. Their classes are very much aimed at people who want to take classes for fun.
posted by yohko at 12:03 AM on June 14, 2018
posted by yohko at 12:03 AM on June 14, 2018
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