Is it worth enrolling in these software classes I see? I'd like to learn some stuff like Photoshop for example but would it be that much better than watching online videos and learning by myself?
I never liked software classes because they can be kind of slow placed so I prefer learning things like Photoshop on my own. In a class you'll probably end up learning how to do things the more proper and thorough way though. If you're quick and self-motivated a class might bore and frustrate you.
Most of the stuff you could pay for can be easily found online for free. For example, for anyone interested in learning photoshop there are virtually thousands of free videos and numerous sites dedicated to teaching people how to use photoshop. Before enrolling for any sort of class that requires me to pay cash for it, I'll take a look around the net and see if I'll find a free way to learn how to use that software.
That was my first thought as well, but I thought there might be some advantage to taking an actual physical course instead of a free online one, maybe if you get some certification?
I would say that one of the best ways i learn how to use software is by watching tutorials on youtube. I think that there is a lot of good help out there and you just really need to get on there and you will find what you are looking for.
It depends. If you learn well on your own, then an online class might be enough for you. Some of them do offer individual "certificates" but there's no official one, so each of them are going to be pretty standard. If you're the type who is going to learn better in a physical class, though, I would say it's worth it! You'll learn and retain a lot more of the information. Then you can supplement the basics with additional online content later instead.
Paying money to take a class that simply teaches you how to use a certain software is actually a very big waste of money unless you're in a job that requires you to know pretty much all the ins and outs of the software. You can easily learn how to use software simply from the online tutorials that are available or even from a cheap book. You can even just download these book for free as pdf files and read them too.
There are pros and cons of both. I've taken several day courses in person for Filemaker and Excel and learned a lot at those, but they were small groups (albiet, expensive, but my employer paid for it). But I also went to a week long training convention in Vegas for Tableau, and barely learned anything. The conference was enormous and the rooms literally had hundreds of people in them so you could hardly ask a question. In person training is also very fast paced so if you fall behind you're kind of screwed. Online video training is much easier in terms of learning at your own pace. You just need to make sure you find a comprehensive set of courses. Some of them only skim the surface of what the programs can do and only cover very basic stuff and waste a lot of time rambling on. The Lynda.com tutorials are generally good for Photoshop, and probably much cheaper than in person training. Honestly though, there are tons of free Photoshop tutorials on Youtube and Adobe's site that I would check out first before paying for training.
I depends... If they are free, they are surely worth it. If you're in a rush to learn and you're really into it, they are worth it as long as you put what you learn into practice immediately or else you will forget it. If you're not in a rush and don't have money just learn online, everything is online these days.
Personally. I do not think that software classes are worth my time. Simply because all software comes with a manual that provides instructions in full detail. Why would i pay somebody money for something that was already provided free of charge. That would be like throwing money away. Not to mention that you can find tutorials for basically any program on YouTube, and that is also free of charge. People are always uploading tutorials online. Specifically for issues like this. There are simply to many free alternatives online for me to pay someone for it. Software classes should be obsolete now.
