be careful using udemy: important info for online learners.
There’s a website with a HUGE variety of online courses. It is called Udemy.com. Be careful using this site.. for reasons I will soon get into.
Unlike curious.com, which is a subscription-based service (you will be billed monthly.. I checked out this website, and didn’t find it to be worth the money, considering how many free classes there are on youtube), with Udemy, you pay for each course (unless the course is free).
So far, the Udemy classes I’ve checked out seem better, and better organized, than the classes on curious.com. Also, I like not having to deal with all the ads and searching for videos on youtube. I paid either $12 or $14.99 for most of the courses I ordered. Also, I found some for free. The prices for the courses are very good.
Once you’ve enrolled in a course, you have lifetime access.. as long as the site is up. It’s a good idea to download the content. I have already downloaded one class onto my ipad, and plan to download content to one or both of my computers, if I can.
In some ways, Udemy is truly great.
However.. Here’s where things get weird..
If you access the site with your computer, the price for a particular course might be DRASTICALLY different from the price you’ll find if you access the site via the mobile device. Also, what the price costs might not be what you are charged.
Example: I checked out the course Pianoforall using my computer, and saw that the price was $247. I then checked the price with my ipad. The price was $14.99. (!!!) I bought the course for this price.. so I thought. I was then charged $25.99 for either this course, or another $14.99 course I ordered tonight.
Very strange.
Lastly, I was able to find a free music theory course when using my computer to search Udemy, but could not find it when using my ipad. Once I enrolled in the free course using my computer, it showed up with the rest of my courses on my ipad, via the Udemy app.
Very very strange. I am not sure how to resolve the billing issue. $25.99 is more than fair for either class. Especially the piano class, which has 361 lectures stretched over 30 hours of video. But, since the site said $14.99, that’s how much I wish I’d been billed, assuming it was the Pianoforall course I was overcharged for and not the Circle of 5th’s #1 Class, which is the same price, and currently the best selling music course on the site.
Udemy has some amazing values, and course content is downloadable, but the pricing and billing structure is unpredictable. I’ve only been overcharged for one class so far though. The others I’ve bought, including those on sale, were billed accurately.
If you use a mobile device, billing might go through another app or online store. My Udemy billing goes through iTunes, and the account I have connected with it. I don’t know why.
Anyway.. check out the site if you want, and if you see a course you like, make sure to check the price using your computer, AND check the price using your mobile device.
Good luck.
Wandering Spirit 