There has been an upward trend in people working from home or studying remotely. This has resulted in a significant growth in online learning platforms and the courses they offer.

Some enjoy brushing up their skills, while others prefer learning new technology. Online learning platforms cater to individuals from different professional backgrounds and interests.

Coursera, Udemy, Khan Academy are well-known for offering diverse courses. For those who are still exploring their interests, YouTube has a lot of free content. But if you don't mind investing in an online portal, LinkedIn Learning is a great tool.

What Is LinkedIn Learning?

LinkedIn is a popular platform professionals use for job search, creating a professional brand, or networking. It also has a learning hub, LinkedIn Learning, which features a comprehensive collection of online courses.

These are created by the LinkedIn academy or a third party and are led by professionals with extensive experience. Like traditional education, you get access to exercise files, notes, and on passing the course, a certificate of completion.

If you are on a paid plan of LinkedIn Premium, you can access LinkedIn Learning for free. But don't worry if you aren't. You can start a one-month trial of LinkedIn Learning and upgrade it to the paid version.

Let's understand the features and benefits for paying members of this portal.

Understanding the Home Page of LinkedIn Learning

The home screen shows your goals and shows courses' progress, trending courses, and course recommendations. The header of the home screen shows popular and recently added courses.

home-screen of LinkedIn Learning

On the Home screen, you can perform the following tasks:

  • Set or delete goals by clicking Edit your goal.
  • Find courses by entering keywords in the search bar.
  • Click the Browse button to view all the courses on your topics.
  • View course suggestions based on your preferences.

Viewing Your Learning Journey

On the My Learning page, you will find your learning history, a list of courses you have saved or are currently pursuing, as well as a skill list.

my-learning- on linkedin learning
  1. You can click the ellipsis next to the course and remove it, save it, or move to history.
  2. You can search for skills and curate them by clicking the plus icon next to the specific skill. LinkedIn Learning recommends courses based on this list.

If your company sponsors your LinkedIn Learning account, the courses recommended by the company are shown in the From your organization section.

adding preferred skills to a list

Viewing Notifications and Configuring Notification Settings

You can get notified about updates to your courses, learn about trending courses, or receive course suggestions by clicking the bell icon.

  1. To mark the notification as read or to delete it, you can click the ellipsis next to it.
    notifications on Linked In Learning
  2. To configure notification settings for the LinkedIn Learning portal, click the gear icon displayed inside the notification panel.
    settings on linkedin learning

Managing Your LinkedIn Learning Account

By tapping the profile icon, you can access the help center, view your learning history, set up your account, and make other changes.

account-management settings

The Settings option enables you to configure the notifications on LinkedIn Learning, modify your email subscriptions and change the language preference.

Searching Courses on LinkedIn Learning

browse-courses on linkedin learning

When you click Browse, categories of courses are displayed in the left panel, and their related topics are shown on the main screen.

narrow down topics
  1. You can click the topic's name to view the collection with different learning paths and individual courses.
  2. You can select the relevant filters to narrow the collection based on duration, level, or type.
  3. If you want to curate a few topics for your collection, click the ellipsis next to the course and select Add to collection. Alternatively, you can click the Save button.

Starting a New Course on LinkedIn Learning

There are two ways to begin your learning journey. You can either take up a learning path, a collection of courses organized logically, or complete a single course. To complete the path, you must finish all the courses and pass the final exam.

watch-course on linkedin
  1. To start a course, click the thumbnail of the video. The table of contents of the course is on the left panel and is collapsible.
  2. You can view the chapters and bookmark them. On the top right panel, you can view the sharing options.
  3. You can change the playback speed on the main screen, watch the video in full-screen mode, and set up closed captions.
  4. If you enjoy reading the transcript along with the video, click Transcript.
  5. Scroll down the video to learn about the course's objectives and the profile of the trainer.
  6. Click Show All to access and download the resources related to the course.

Some courses require candidates to pass an exam, while others require you to finish the course to receive the certificate of completion. But don't worry, after every chapter, there is an optional quiz that helps you prepare for the exam. These courses are self-paced, and you can re-watch the video any number of times before taking the exam.

Understand Pricing Plans for LinkedIn Learning

pricing plans -  linkedin learning

LinkedIn Learning is offered at 19.99 USD/month with an annual subscription. Alternatively, you can pay 29.99 USD per month and cancel at any time. The former plan is cheaper, with 33% savings on the total cost.

You can access customized courses, exercise files, certificates and enjoy other benefits. When you pay for LinkedIn Learning, you can also access all the benefits of LinkedIn Premium and vice-versa.

Online portals like Coursera, Udacity, Skillshare provide discounts on courses and memberships regularly. In comparison, such offers are a rarity on LinkedIn Learning.

Unless your employer offers free access to the portal, you will have to pay the full membership cost. The collection of courses is similar across all the learning platforms. So, signing up for LinkedIn Learning comes down to your preference of LinkedIn brand.

Adding Value to Your Online Learning Experience

LinkedIn Learning is an all-inclusive platform ideal for anyone who enjoys developing new skills regularly. If you rather learn a skill once in a while and want to pay only for a specific course, it is better to explore alternatives.

With many online learning platforms to learn from, it's easy to pick one that aligns with your needs. Considering that organizations, recruiters, employees trust LinkedIn, trying LinkedIn Learning might be a good idea.