4 Online Data Science Training Options for Your Team

By Jake Moody, DataCamp.

Today, many organizations and departments are facing the challenge to create a data driven culture within departments that don’t necessarily have a history of being data literate. In addition, the data science departments themselves are challenged by the fast pace of technology advancements. (Continuous) Education plays a critical in both situations, but where do you start?

In this article we highlight 4 great online data science training providers that can help you foster a data-driven organization. Why online? The advantage is that these are more cost effective than in-person training (you do not want to pay a live instructor to train +200 people), they provide flexibility (self-paced), and the depth of topics and quality of instructors is often unmatched in an offline setting. In this post, I’ll outline 4 great online data science training providers that will help you accomplish your goal of creating a data-driven organization, without the cost and hassle of in-person training.

DataCamp

Learn by doing. That’s DataCamp’s motto and they’ve built the platform to make it possible. DataCamp combines high-quality video, in-browser coding, and gamification to make learning data science fun. All of DataCamp’s courses require some type of R or Python coding making it a great platform for learning how to apply data science skills in a practical setting, not just learning concepts and theories.

Their DataCamp for Business offering includes access to their entire course library covering different technologies and concepts like R programming, Python for Data Science, Machine Learning, Data Visualization, Statistics, and more. All courses are taught by top instructors in the R and Python community, including Hadley Wickham (creator of ggplot2, dplyr, and much more), Bryan Van de Ven (Bokeh), Max Kuhn (Caret) and more. In total, they have over 150 hours of interactive R and Python course content available today and the course curriculum grows weekly.

DataCamp for Business also gives you access to your own corporate portal which includes a team dashboard for detailed progress tracking, to ability to set assignments and manage deadlines for team learning, integrations with Learning Management Systems and the option to export your team’s learning performance data. DataCamp group plans begin at 5 seats.

Want to learn more? You can get started with their free business plan that offers access to all group features and 20 hours of free course material.

Lynda

Lynda.com is the go-to source for a wide variety of online educational tutorials. Their content library covers a wide variety of fields including 3D printing, design, and even songwriting. Lynda produces video courses that feature detailed screencasts and lectures on various topics. Lynda helps users curate this content by offering learning paths so users know which courses to take and when they should take them.

Lynda offers a variety of data science related courses under their Big Data and Business Intelligence curriculum. These courses cover tools like Excel, Tableau and Amazon Web Services. Under their Big Data curriculum, they also have 4 courses, or about 10.5 hours of content, related to R programming. Courses are taught by industry experts like Conrad Carlberg (R for Excel Users), Barton Poulson (R Stats for Essential Training, Up and Running with R), and more. They also offer an Introduction to Data Analysis with Python course taught by Michele Vallisneri for those interested in learning Python for data science. Lynda’s gigantic content library is perfect for organizations that are looking for a total online learning solution and it will certainly match you needs if you just want to give your team a basic introduction to data science concepts and tools.

Group accounts for Lynda start at 5 users. Members get unlimited access to to Lynda’s entire subscription library as well as access to learning tools like certificates, transcripts and more. Group leaders can assign learning “playlists” and integrate them directly with directly with their organization’s Learning Management System (LMS). Lynda Group memberships also allow users to download courses and additional practice material to learn on the go.

Interested in a Lynda.com group account? You can get in touch here.

Pluralsight

Pluralsight.com offers courses in software development, IT operations, and creative training. Similar to Lynda, they produce video courses that are often screencasts made by instructors or recordings of workshop demos. Pluralsight also offers a test assessment features that you can take to see what level you are in a particular topic so you know where to start. On top of that, they have developed learning paths to help you hone in on specific courses that will help you master a particular specialty. Pluralsight also has mentors on call 24/7 that you can speak with for an additional cost per minute. These mentors can help you with career advice, overcome project roadblocks, and work through project challenges.

Pluralsight does have a Data Professional track that covers topics like SQL, MySQL, and Business Intelligence. You can choose from a wide variety of different video courses based on your goals as a team. These courses are taught by experts in the field like Stacia Misner Varga (Getting Started With Power BI), Matthew Renze (Multivariate Data Visualization with R), and more. They also offer an Apache Spark fundamentals course with Python (Justin Pihony) as well as an Understanding Machine Learning with Python course (Jerry Kurata). Like Lynda, Pluralsight is great for organizations that want to provide their team with an introduction to data science concepts and tools.Their mentor features are also great for companies that want to give their employees even more guidance in their training.

Pluralsight has built their platform with groups in mind by building reporting tools that help manage the learning process by tracking usage and course completions. Their test assessments help you identify skill gaps on your team and assign appropriate material to address them.  Pluralsight group plans begin at 2 users.

Interested in setting up a group plan with Pluralsight? You can start here.

Coursera

Coursera is an educational platform that partners with top universities and organizations worldwide, to offer online courses for anyone to take. They offer courses in a wide range of fields - including data science. The course are a mix of lectures and projects that help students understand concepts and apply their knowledge in a practical assignment.

Coursera offers a variety of data science specializations covering data analysis, machine learning, and probability/statistics. One of these specializations is their Data Science Specialization created with John Hopkins University. Coursera’s Data Specialization takes about 3-6 months to complete and prepares students with a foundational knowledge of data science. The specialization walks each step of the data science workflow and concludes with a capstone project to apply the skills they’ve learned. They also have specializations in Machine Learning (University of Washington), Statistics with R (Duke University), and more.

Like the others on this list, Coursera offers an option for enterprise clients. They create custom course roadmaps that align to your organization’s needs. They also have analytical tools that allow you to track and monitor employee progress.

Interested in setting up an enterprise account with Coursera? Reach out here.

So, now you know 4 different providers of online, scalable data science training. Choose a provider and begin your team’s journey to becoming a data driven organization today!

* This post was written by DataCamp, a provider of data science education focused on R and Python training.