Lynda.com Online Training Review
If your job or life demand that you learn software applications quickly or if you’re interested in general topics like photography or social media, then you’ll probably be interested in lynda.com. I’ve been a subscriber to the lynda.com training library for years and often find this site to be a life saver when working under tight deadlines with little time to learn something new.
There’s nothing like sitting in a coffee shop with your laptop, sipping java and eating pastries (only the healthy ones) and learning how to use Captivate or Illustrator with lynda’s excellent online software tutorials.
For a reasonable monthly fee and no long-term commitment required, lynda.com gives you access to a long list of well-designed courses that teach how to use a wide variety of software programs as well as courses on web development, business, photography, audio and video topics.
The Best Features
There’s a lot to like about lynda.com. Here are some of my favorite features:
- The courses are organized into many short segments.
Even though many courses are several hours long, they are organized into very short lesson segments. A particular lesson might only last five minutes. That means you can use the courses for both just-in-time and comprehensive full-course training. I often go there just to get the answer to one problem. - The courses are instructionally sound.
The courses incorporate high-quality instructional strategies. They progress in a systematic fashion, use realistic examples, are organized logically, and assume the intelligence of the audience. I have rarely come across a course that I thought was sub-par. But it did happen once or twice. - The selection is broad.
The last time I looked, lynda.com was offering 715 courses with quite a broad selection. The tutorials include presentation tools and eLearning applications, graphic design software, social media tools, video and audio editing packages, web design and development, iPhone apps, business applications (Office, Google docs), content management systems and many other categories. - The instructors are knowledgeable.
Most of the instructors appear to know their topics well. They teach in an informal and casual style and give you the sense that they can help you become competent in whatever you’re trying to learn. - You only need to pay for one month at a time.
You don’t have to make a long-term commitment to lynda.com. You can pay for one month, take all the courses you need and end your relationship right there. Most likely, though, you’ll find yourself coming back for more. You can save money by paying for a full year, which is what I do. - There are a variety of subscription options.
You can become a Regular monthly subscriber or a Premium subscriber. There is also special pricing for mult-user corporate and educational options. Many of the courses are also available on DVD. - The courses work on a variety of devices.
The lynda.com courses work on the PC, Mac and a variety of mobile devices.
A screen from a course teaching Captivate
A Few Things You Should Know
Lynda.com continues to expand its options for tutorials needed by the eLearning industry and as our field expands into social media, information design, usability and other areas, an increasing number of the tutorials become relevant.
In terms of the eLearning-specific courses, you’ll find Captivate, Adobe Connect, Flash (many hours), Moodle, Camtasia, Blackboard and PowerPoint. There are numerous tutorials on nearly all the peripheral products and topics that eLearning designers and developers might want to learn, like Facebook, Twitter, Dreamweaver, HTML/CSS, Photoshop, Illustrator, Final Cut, podcasting apps, animation software, information architecture, usability, Gmail and so on.
Note that as a Regular member, you are not provided with the exercise files that go along with each course. These files are reserved for Premium members. Although the exercise files are not required for using the tutorials, they do provide a way to continue learning and exploring after completing the course. And for some of the programming courses, you may find that the exercise files make it easier to follow along. Still, I’ve been a Regular member from the start and have not found this to be a hardship.
Is lynda.com right for you?
You will benefit from lynda.com if you find yourself frustrated because you can’t keep up with all the software and new versions you need to know, if you find that you only use a few features of the software you own and if you frequently need a quick tutorial on how to use a software feature any time of the day or night. People who have a passion for learning new applications and technologies will also benefit.
Check out the free tutorials to start. Look for the underlined topics in the tutorial of your choice, as they are open to the public.
[Note: Lynda.com is a site sponsor because I think their products are high-quality and helpful.]
I love lynda.com!!! Actually, my school offers all the tutorials for free, so I just need to find time to learn it all.
Thank you for a great review.
[Reply]
Be careful. If you sign up for a one month account thinking to use it for the month only, think again. your credit card will keep getting billed each month and if you don’t notice the charge you could end up paying 25 dollars a month forever.
Make sure you cancel the contract after one month if that’s all you intend to use it for.
Lynda.com requires you to opt out..otherwise they’ll keep sending you a bill
[Reply]
sarah Reply:
September 13th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
When subscribing it actually says you will be charged a 25 dollar fee each month until you unsubscribe.. Thats why terms & conditions are meant to be read.. I hope you like the site though!
[Reply]
Connie Malamed Reply:
September 14th, 2011 at 6:25 am
Hi Sarah,
Right. We often skip the terms & conditions. I’ve added this to the article so hopefully, everyone will be aware of it. Thanks for the comment.
Connie
[Reply]
Thanks for the tip, Norris! I sign up in yearly increments so I didn’t know that.
Connie
[Reply]
Be careful when using the account. I was paging though the movies and loading then too fast. So my account got flagged. If I do this one more time I lose my account.The CS Rep told me to find content using the transcripts and not by looking through the movies to find what I wanted to know. It is a good resource but I should be able to page through the videos without losing my account.
I paid for a year and won’t do it again. Just my humble opinion….your mileage may vary.
[Reply]
Connie Malamed Reply:
August 4th, 2011 at 10:10 am
Hi Ken,
Thanks for letting us know about this strange situation. This does not sound like the spirit of the lynda.com I know and I will contact them about it since I recommend them highly. Of course you should be allowed to load movies quickly.
Connie
[Reply]
Connie Malamed Reply:
August 8th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
UPDATE AUGUST 2011:
I did hear back from Lynda.com and they seem to have a decent reason for how they handled the issue. They are working on a better solution. Here’s what they said:
Dear Connie,
Thank you for contacting lynda.com. We understand your frustration and we do sincerely apologize.
Due to people violating our terms and conditions, downloading tutorials and pirating our material, we had to install a new security system.
This system is set to detect unusual viewing patterns.
The “quick clicks of high volume in a very short amount of time” is a type of viewing pattern is consistent with downloading or sharing of our videos. Downloading of our material is strictly prohibited and against our Terms and Conditions.
Also, sharing the username and password is prohibited, as our subscriptions are single-user subscriptions, opening up our services in multiple windows; these are all scenarios that flag our system.
If you are unsure of what you are looking for, there is a search option in the title box of each tutorial (on the right hand side) and each chapter is broken down into video headings.
Please review these as well as the description tab to find what you are looking for. This is a time saver versus clicking through the movies as well, and if you click to the left of the transcripts/wording, there are time stamps. If you click on the time stamp, it brings you to that exact part of the video and you can start watching the training from that point.
Again, I do understand your frustrations and can relate. We are working on fine-tuning the way our system reviews accounts to see if there is a better way to find those abusing our services.
If there is anything further I may assist you with, please do not hesitate to contact me or one of our Customer Service Representatives at 888-335-9632.
Thank you again and enjoy your day.
Best regards,
Heather
lynda.com
Customer Service Team
[Reply]
Connie Malamed Reply:
September 6th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
I heard from Lynda again! The customer service team lead offered Ken a free month of tutorials. Ken, if you are out there, please send me your email address through the contact form and I’ll put you in touch with the right person. Here’s what she said,
“Hello Connie,
Thank you for contacting us.
We appreciate that you reached out to us and made us aware of this member’s concern. Can you please provide me with their name and email address? I will be happy to contact them directly to reassure them that they will be able to click through our tutorials as their needs require. I would also like to offer them a 30 day extension, at no charge, for any inconvenience they have experienced due to the email notification they received. We want to make sure that they feel comfortable using our site without worry.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.”