What is an upskilling platform?
An upskilling platform is a digital space offering courses, skills paths, and training for professionals looking to upgrade their current skills to match the demands of the industry. Online upskilling platforms allow professionals to further enhance their skills from anywhere in the world at the convenience of their schedules. Upskilling platforms offer interactive features such as videos, quizzes, and practical assessments to make upskilling a fun and engaging experience. For many individuals, upskilling can be an isolated event. When L&D teams are looking to upskill their dev teams, they are faced with the challenge of collectively taking the team through the process instead of just a single developer on his own. To address this, many upskilling platforms provide community forums which serve as a great opportunity to connect with peers and experts in the industry. Moreover, some of them even offer features that allow engineering leadership to be a part of the upskilling process along with their dev teams.
Best upskilling platforms for dev teams
The internet is flooded with digital platforms offering courses and skills paths for upskilling. While the options may seem limitless, the pool becomes significantly smaller when it comes to deciding on an online upskilling platform that is specifically designed to cater to the needs of dev teams. L&D teams have to work tremendously hard to develop a proper upskilling journey for dev teams. We have made the job easy for the L&D teams and selected the best online upskilling platforms as follows:
DevPath
Pluralsight
Udemy for business
Coursera for business
DevPath
DevPath is a digital platform that offers over 802 educational courses, 34 skills assessments, and 184 project pathways- each tailored specifically for software developers. From courses in Data Analytics in Python to Prompt Engineering, there is something for everyone. These courses and skill paths are designed considering the special requirements of professional needs in the software development field. The course content is laden with elements that mirror the technological advancements happening in the tech world. DevPath emphasizes its hands-on approach to upskilling where the focus is on imparting theoretical knowledge and offering assessments so that the skills they have gained during the course, developers can apply them in practical scenarios. Once they are done with the courses, the developers are equipped with skills that align with the dynamic needs of the tech industry. Moreover, these courses are powered by AI feedback, offering personalized insights that help tech teams track their progress and stay motivated as they make their way through the course. The unique standpoint of DevPath is its central dashboard. This is a vital tool for engineering managerswho can tailor learning paths based on the insights gathered from the gap analysis of their dev teams. Managers can see their teams make progress and address any challenges that may arise during the course. They can do this by either offering extra support or even altering the course to match the level of the team member. For teams, DevPath offers a $300 per-user plan whereas there is also an enterprise plan at $396 per-user plan.
All You Need to Know About Prompt Engineering
Prompt engineering means designing high-quality prompts that guide machine learning models to produce accurate outputs. It involves selecting the correct type of prompts, optimizing their length and structure, and determining their order and relevance to the task. In this course, you’ll be introduced to prompt engineering, a form of generative AI. You’ll look at an overview of prompts and their types, best practices, and role prompting. Additionally, you’ll gain a detailed understanding of different prompting techniques. The course will also explore productivity prompts for different roles. Finally, you will learn to utilize prompts for personal use, such as preparing for interviews, etc. By the end of the course, you will have developed a solid understanding of prompt engineering principles and techniques and will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to apply them in their respective fields. This course will help to stay ahead of the curve and take advantage of new opportunities as they arise.
Pluralsight
Pluralsight is another online upskilling platform that focuses on specialized content for professionals in the domains of technology and software development sectors. Reflecting the tech industry’s evolving demands, Pluralsight offers an extensive library of courses and numerous learning paths to further enhance the technical knowledge and skills of dev teams. The courses are carefully crafted with the latest content in technological advancements, with each course featuring detailed instructional video lectures that offer the option of screen recording which helps dev teams to schedule their learning conveniently. Similarly, learning paths offer meticulously structured roadmaps of specific technological skills that move from basic theoretical concepts to advanced applications. Moreover, there are supplementary resources such as reading material and project files that aim to further enhance developers’ understanding of the course content. There are also slide presentations and hands-on coding exercises that focus on making the upskilling experience both practical and immersive. Dev teams can benefit from courses and learning paths, with the packages starting at $33.25 for 2–50 members, whereas the professional pack is priced at $48.25.
Udemy for Business
One of the top online upskilling platforms that has taken the throne in the last few years is Udemy for Business. With its comprehensive library of 24,000 courses ranging from software development, IT, leadership, and UX/UI, Udemy for Business offers high-quality content that dev teams require to stay at the forefront of innovation. The platform emphasizes structured learning paths so that dev teams can develop their technical skills and also have an immersive upskilling experience. Among the numerous features offered at Udemy for Business, the top features that attract tech teams are AI-powered coding exercises, practice tests, and flexibility in the customization of learning paths to better cater to the specific goals, preferences, and needs of the tech teams. There are different plans for teams of all sizes. Udemy for Business offers team plans for teams of 5–20 members priced at $30, along with enterprise plans for teams larger than 20 members.
Coursera for Business
Coursera for Business is another online upskilling platform that collaborates with top universities and institutions from around the globe to offer courses as well as full-fledged degrees. Coursera for Business promises to provide high-quality and accessible upskilling opportunities for dev teams with unique professional needs. There has been an addition of new courses such as “Generative AI for everyone” and degrees such as “Masters in Data Science” from the University of Pittsburgh that align with the changing trends in the software industry and also offer insights into domains that lead to blooming career prospects in software development. Moreover, the platform also offers entry-level professional certificates in various fields, such as data analytics, cybersecurity, and project management. Additionally, Coursera for Business collaborates with tech companies to incorporate courses focusing on corporate training and development. This initiative allows dev teams to gain real-life practical skills that they can demonstrate when applying for jobs. Coursera for Business has an expensive subscription model. For 5–125 members, there is the team plan priced at $399 yearly.
Final word
When considering the right option of an online upskilling platform for your tech teams, it’s important to take into consideration all the major factors, such as the flexibility of learning paths, the content aligns with the SMART goals of the dev teams as well as the industry trends, and the courses must be of a fine balance between theoretical concepts and practical assessments. By prioritizing these factors, L&D teams can ensure the upskilling platform effectively meets the needs of the dev teams.
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