This article originally appeared on Despreneur.

Some of the benefits of online education are really focused on money, personal time management, pace and real fun projects and active communities.

Recently I have published an interview with Matt Loszak who learned iOS development himself and quit his day job to pursue entrepreneurial success.

Affordability

While most of the courses, studies, and special workshops cost hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars online education is the way to get demandable knowledge and skills and start working for any tech company or starting your own service-based business or creating products yourself.

Immersive communities

Learning with a community is much more fun and efficient. It is like sitting in a class and having classmates helping you. You keep progressing because you are motivated by like-minded people and shared goals to learn something.

Learn at your own pace

You have a family, full-time job and not much spare time. That is very understandable and that is why online learning is the way to your new career, you do not have to quit your job right now or attend classes where you’ll have spend your money and time commuting, paying for the classes and resources. Online learning gives you the freedom to allocate 1–2 hours every day after your work and family time to start pursuing your new career in design, development or business.

Build something real

While learning you shouldn’t learn just for the sake of learning, try to solve the problem and your learning project might evolve into a business. Building real stuff is more interesting because you can ask people how would they use it, get feedback and fire up your motivation level every day.

Let’s get started!

Topics: Web Development, Software Development, Design, Business. (From $25/month)

One of the leading platforms to learn development and design online. Beautiful website, nice and clean interface, strong branding and practical courses from the industry leaders.

Topics: Web Development, Software Development, Design, Business, Video, Audio, Photography. (From $19/month)

Definitely the biggest and very well-known network of tutorials in any tech subject starting from beginner to expert level.

Topics: Web Development, Software Development, Design, Business. (From $25/month)

Lynda has been around for almost two decades and has been developing its platform full of valuable courses ranging from productivity, accounting, development, design and game design.

Topics: JavaScript, HTML/CSS, PHP, Python, Ruby, API. (Free)

Codeacademy offers you a free and interactive game to actually learn to code. Learn to build websites, games and apps.

Topics: iOS, JavaScript, Ruby, jQuery, Git, Sass. ($29/month)

Unique courses on various programming languages. You’ll love the gamified and nicely designed courses.

Topics: Business, Productivity, Web & Software Development, Design. (Free — $199/course)

Many different courses on various topics for all levels. It is like a marketplace of courses so you’ll get different lessons by different people.

Topics: Programming, Computer Science, Math & Science. (Free)

Free online courses from “some” guys like Don Norman, Reddit co-founder Steve Huffman or an entrepreneur Steve Blank.

Topics: Ruby. (Free)

Free, interactive tutorials to help you discover Ruby idioms, in your browser. For every entry level, beginner, intermediate or advanced.

Topics: Web Development, Design, Photography, Video, Business. ($19/month)

Video tutorials on many fields including web development, design, photography, video, and business.

Topics: ASP.NET, Ruby, Python, PHP, CMSs, HTML/CSS, Databases. (Free)

One of the best blogs out there for web development, many various coding languages, and practical tutorials.

Topics: HTML, CSS. (Free)

Very stylish guide to front-end development for the artistic folks. Friendly approach for print designers, photographers, and artists.

Topics: WordPress, Web Development. (Free)

The whole website dedicated for WordPress development. Creating and implementing themes, custom plugins and smart workflow hacks.

Topics: Business, Management, Engineering, Technology Design. (Free)

Best online courses in the world from leading universities offered for free.

Topics: HTML, CSS, jQuery. (Free)

Industry leading HTML/CSS tutorials and tricks solving big problems in front-end development world.

Topics: Android Design and Development. (Free)

Your very first stop for Android development. Basics, best practices and in-depth tutorials on building Android apps.

Topics: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, Mobile, UX Design. (Free)

A one-stop-shop for everything web design and development. Large collection of practical tutorials and real-world cases.

Topics: Web Development, Web Design. (Free)

Unique experiments on web design and development pushing the limits and innovating the industry.

Topics: UX/UI Design, Web Design, Front-end Development, Typography, eCommerce. (Free)

Huge collection of practical tutorials building WordPress, Tumblr themes, building complete websites from scratch and loads of quick tips.

Topics: Everything Development. (Free)

Everything you need to know about web development. Huge collection for almost every programming language.

Topics: PHP, MySQL, Frameworks. (Free)

Free tutorials on object oriented PHP, databases, and frameworks specifically targeted for web designers.

Topics: Mobile Design, iOS, Android and Blackberry Development, PhoneGap. (Free)

Many various tutorials for different mobile platforms. Tutorials range from beginner to advanced level.

Topics: PHP, HTML5, JavaScript. (Free)

Free web development tutorials on creating fun stuff like a countdown, drawing app or a unique hit counter.

Topics: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery. (Free)

SnoopCode provides interactive code learning. High-quality programming tutorials and references.

Topics: HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, AJAX, Angular JS. (Free)

Dozens of useful tutorials building practical and reusable stuff like simple blog, sliders, web apps and much more.

Topics: Typography, Photography, Graphic Design, Illustration. (Free — $9/month)

Creative and specific tutorials ranging from typography to illustration for beginners, advanced designers, and digital artists.

Topics: Typography, Web Design, Graphic Design, Illustration. (Free)

Tons of innovative tutorials on experiments in web, graphic design, and illustration. Latest trends and most creative concepts.

Topics: Web Development, Web & UI Design, Illustration, WordPress. (Free)

Various tutorials ranging from simple tips and design basics to complete website development from scratch.

Topics: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, PHP, jQuery. (Free)

Learn the basics of most popular coding and programming languages. Very simple examples and live preview for a nice play around.

Topics: Web Design, Front-end Development, Illustrations, UI Design. (Free)

Lots of valuable tutorials on building practical stuff like login forms, widgets, drop-down menus and complete websites.

Topics: Designs Basics, Web Design, UI Design, Digital Art. (Free — $9/month)

Awesome tutorials on digital art, web design, user interface design and lots of design essentials as typography, wireframes, colors and more.