Discover the Best Online Classes
With recent developments in online education, virtual classes are more robust and immersive than ever before. Students looking to learn new skills can learn virtually anything online, and anyone looking to pick up a new skill can find hundreds of options being live-streamed daily over computer applications like Zoom. While these classes are most commonly associated with professional development skills, there are a lot of fun, enjoyable classes that students can take to pick up practical skills, new hobbies or just spend an evening enjoying themselves or spending time with friends over the internet. Taking an online class is also very convenient since no commute is involved, and you can take the courses from anywhere, giving you many more opportunities to expand your horizons without needing to leave your home.
Cooking Classes
Of all the skills you can learn online, cooking is among the most practical and accessible. While hands-on, in-person cooking training can be incredibly helpful for students, learning how to cook in your own home can have significant practical benefits since you are learning how to navigate your own space while practicing a new skill. In addition, cooking classes are incredibly beneficial for students since they can help reduce grocery bills, improve health and reduce stress. As an added bonus, at the end of an online cooking class, you’ll have completed a home-cooked meal and taken care of your dinner for the evening (or made a delicious dessert or side to pair with your dinner). If you are interested in finding an online cooking class, CourseHorse has collected many of the best options available from various service providers, all in one place for your convenience.
One of the most common reasons people take cooking classes is to explore foods from around the world by learning how to prepare regional cuisines. The League of Kitchens aims to help students achieve this goal by offering cooking classes hosted by real-world American immigrants who hope to bring their traditional cooking experiences to students all across the country. Each class is hosted by an instructor who brings their own traditional upbringing and experience to the table as they guide students through classic local recipes. For example, students might enroll in Lebanese Cooking Online with Jeanette and learn to make mujaddara (a savory vegan lentil dish topped with crispy fried onions) and salatet malfoof (a refreshing cabbage salad). Or you might enroll in the Japanese Online Class #2 with Aiko and learn how to prepare Temaki Zushi (fresh and delicious hand rolls filled with sushi rice and vegetables and paired with a flavorful sesame dipping sauce) and Miso Soup.
The Chopping Block, located in Chicago’s Lincoln Square, is another culinary school that regularly hosts online cook-along classes for students looking to learn new recipes and master important culinary techniques. These classes will see students guided through the individual steps of completing various recipes and learning about the science behind cooking. Students looking to learn key culinary skills and master new recipes will be right at home in any of these courses. For example, in the two-hour, intensive Virtual Cook Along: Tropical Fruit Dessert Workshop, students will learn how to bake delicious passion fruit cupcakes and caramelized pineapple sundaes with a spiced rum sauce. Or, you might want to enroll in the Virtual Greek Picnic course, where you will learn how to prepare a complete meal composed of Tzatziki Dip with homemade pita chips, lemony Greek shrimp skewers as a main entree, and a Greek Orzo summer salad with cucumbers, basil and Feta to complement the dish.
Food Craft is an online training program that aims to help students of all skill and experience levels learn the art of home cooking. Their classes are an accessible and approachable introduction to the world of cooking, and they provide students with all of the necessary ingredients (that are shippable) shipped directly to their homes, cutting out the hassle of needing to ensure that you have the proper ingredients before the class starts. In the Virtual Vegetarian Sushi Rolling class, students will learn how to prepare sushi rice for rolling, how to cut and season the vegetables (including mushrooms, avocados and cucumbers) and how to roll the sushi. This course is a great introduction to the world of sushi making because the skills you learn here are easily transferable if you hope to learn how to make more complex rolls. Another option is the Virtual Hot Sauce Making course, where students will turn smoked jalapenos and Costeño chili peppers into savory sauces that they can use as a dip or marinade for various meals. Like the other classes offered by Food Craft, all of the materials are shipped directly to participants, and the skills you learn in this course can be easily applied to other kinds of hot sauce making, allowing students to find the exact level of heat they want to add to their sauce.
Located in NYC but offering courses online, Home Cooking NYC is another provider of immersive, hands-on cooking classes that students can enroll in to learn how to cook in their home kitchens. These classes offer students the opportunity to learn elaborate culinary skills in courses that will see them making complete meals that they can share with family and friends and recreate on special occasions. Students will be provided with a list of ingredients before the course begins, and there are many opportunities to make substitutions to fit your tastes and dietary needs. If you are looking for a meal that can feed a family or an entire dinner party, you can enroll in the How to Make a Great Paella virtual course. Here, you’ll learn how to prepare vegetarian and seafood versions of the dish, making this a versatile course for anyone looking to learn how to make Paella. Students will learn how to prepare the rice, season the dish, cut and prepare the vegetables, and, if interested, how to incorporate the seafood. If you are interested in a different cultural cuisine, you can enroll in the Persian Dinner course. Here, you’ll prepare a complete meal of Chicken Fessenjan (which can be made vegetarian with a few easy substitutions), a crispy steamed rice and Mast-o Khiar, an herby cucumber dip.
Art Classes
If cooking isn’t up your alley, you can always enroll in an art class to get your creative juices flowing. Art classes are great ways to reduce stress and meet new people and since they tend to be fairly low-stakes and beginner-friendly, they are a good place to start down the path to a new hobby. Whether you are interested in learning to paint, draw or engage with a plastic art like pottery or jewelry making, there are an abundance of options available for participants of all skill levels. If you are interested in enrolling in an online art class, read on to learn more about some of the largest providers on CourseHorse.
The 92nd Street Y, located in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, is one of the largest and most beloved community centers in the country. While they offer a huge variety of in-person art and culture classes, they are also expanding their online catalog to help students from all over the country take advantage of the Y’s course offerings. They have classes for students of all ages and experience levels, and the courses offered include training in traditional and plastic arts, as well as skills like dance and singing. Students who are looking to learn how to draw can enroll in the Y’s Drawing for Beginners course, where they will learn the basics of artistic drawing, including concepts like line, shape, shadow, tone and perspective. This course is built with complete novices in mind, so even if you haven’t tried your hand at drawing in years, you’ll be able to navigate and get something out of this course. If you want to take your skills to the next level, you can enroll in a more specialized course, like the Cartooning for Beginners class. This course will teach students the art of cartoon drawing, the long traditions it exists within and skills like foreshortening, environmental design and composition. This course is a great experience for anyone looking to learn a mode of creative storytelling.
Aspiring painters can also find options at the Chicago Botanic Gardens and their wide range of online art courses. These classes emphasize taking advantage of the lush, natural beauty of the botanical gardens, and since they are offered online, students from all over the country can experience the majesty of these gardens. In the Beginner Watercolors course, students will be introduced to the world of watercolor painting and the specific techniques employed within this style. Students will work on brushstroke techniques, color blending and subtle techniques that are used to create and control fine lines and washes. All the necessary supplies will be sent directly to participants. Once you’ve mastered the basics of watercolor painting, you can apply that knowledge to landscape design and painting in the Painting the Natural World course. This course will teach students important watercolor techniques involving brush strokes and color blending and will see students applying those skills to painting vibrant natural landscapes like forests, ponds or even sunsets.
RESOBOX is a Long Island-based art school and gallery that aims to highlight the work of Japanese artists working in traditional Japanese artistic mediums. They also teach numerous classes that give students the opportunity to work in these styles and forms, giving them a chance to expand their artistic and cultural horizons. In the Virtual Interactive Japanese Ink Painting (Sumi-e) class, students will have an opportunity to create vibrant and evocative ink paintings using a washing technique that has been employed in Asian artistic traditions for over a thousand years. The style aims for simplicity, creating a visualization of the essence of a subject in as few strokes as possible, highlighting the personality and style of the artist in the work they create. If you are interested in exploring a more embodied, natural art form, you can enroll in the Virtual Japanese Flower Arrangement—Misho Ikebana class. In this course, students will use the techniques most commonly associated with Ikebana, and they will have the chance to design and create their own floral arrangement to put on display at their home. Students will need to supply their own flowers and vase, but they will receive direct, guided instruction on the process and practices of Ikebana.
Tasting Classes
Tasting classes are a good alternative to cooking classes for students who are looking to introduce themselves to new kinds of foods and beverages. This is particularly the case if they are wanting to learn more about the history and production of complex food and drink products like wine, cheese and spirits. These tasting classes are also good ways to pick up practical hosting skills, since once you learn how to pair wine and cheese, you’ll be able to do so at the next event that you host. These virtual tasting classes are a great way to spend an evening in a social online setting and, at the very least, you’ll get the opportunity to discover some new foods and beverages that you may come to love.
At the classes offered by The San Francisco Wine School students are offered an accessible and affordable way to learn about wine without having to leave their homes. In these courses, students will have curated bottles of wine sourced for them, so that they can experience a variety of different flavors, bodies and styles, with things like color and national origin varying depending on the class in which you enroll. For example, in the Tuscan Wines course, students will sample a collection of different wines from the Toscana region of Italy (commonly known as Tuscany among English speakers). This course aims to provide students with an understanding of the ways in which the growing culture, climate and soil of Tuscany produces a unique kind of grape that impacts the flavor and body of the wine. More generally, students will learn how different regions of the world produce wine and why a Tuscan Italian wine is going to be distinct from a similar French or Californian wine. Another option to taste and learn about wines are courses blind testing classes, like the Varietal Profiling: Blind Tasting Red Wines event. In this course, students will sample a series of similar wines and create their own tasting notes, learning how professional sommeliers sample and taste wine. This course is a good way for new wine aficionados to start sampling the subtle differences between similar wines and there are versions of this course for almost every kind of wine you can consider.
If spirits are more up your alley, you may want to consider sampling some of the fine whiskeys and bourbons offered in a Whiskey Gourmet tasting class. These courses offer students a chance to learn about various kinds of whiskeys (and adjacent spirits) and the processes by which they are aged and fermented (focusing on how these processes impact the body and flavor of the whiskey). In the Online Whiskey Tasting at Home course, students will work with experienced whiskey experts and participate in an interactive tasting of an American, Irish, and Scottish whiskey as well as two additional rotating samples, ideally giving participants an understanding of the global whiskey making tradition and how different countries produce different mashes. Students can also enroll in the Exceptional Bourbon Online Tasting class where they will get an opportunity to sample five limited edition, single barrel bourbons, including an award winning Blanton’s original and a 10-year aged, Bottled in Bond Henry McKenna. Not only are these bourbons a treat to taste, but students enrolled in the course will learn how limited edition whiskeys are crafted to become exceptional.
Technology Classes
Given that technological developments are responsible for the rapid shifts in the quality of online learning, it makes sense that tech education companies would be among the first to move their courses online. If you are looking to learn how to code, use graphic design software or use analysis and marketing platforms like AWS or Microsoft Azure, there are numerous different service providers offering expert instruction tech online. An advantage of learning tech skills online (in addition to the normal advantages of improving your job prospects without having to leave your home) is that you will have the opportunity to learn the application or skill on your personal device, which can greatly improve the pace at which you learn. Tech courses come in a wide variety of forms, including career-focused certificate programs (aiming to help students start new careers) and more focused skills bootcamps (aiming to teach students specific, vital tech skills).
Noble Desktop is a NYC-based tech training school that aims to provide students with practical, career-focused education in a wide range of different tech disciplines. All of their courses are available online, and even in a live online setting, students will still be in direct contact with a live instructor who can support them and provide them with assistance and feedback. In the Web Design Certificate program, students will learn how to create, plan and code their web pages using computer programming and digital design skills. Students will get hands-on experience working with Figma to design the layout and appearance of a webpage, and they will be trained in using HTML and CSS and JavaScript to program functionality into the webpages. In a class like the Data Science Certificate program, students will receive career-focused training that aims to help them break into a new career as a Data Scientist or Data Analyst. In this course, students will learn how to use programming languages like Python and SQL to build and query databases and tools like Tableau to visualize and translate the data with which they work. All career-focused Noble training courses provide students with career support services in the form of one-on-one career mentoring sessions.
NYC Career Centers is another NYC-based tech firm that provides online versions of all of its tech training courses for students across the country. They offer expert instruction in a wide variety of tech skills, and all of their courses aim to provide students with applicable, practical, career-ready training that will help them see immediate results in their business or professional life. For instance, in the FinTech Bootcamp, students will learn how financial professionals like Investment Banks and Business Analysts use technology to gather and interpret large amounts of data in an effort to make more informed decisions about how they manage their and their client’s money. In the Graphic Design Certificate program, students will learn how to turn their creative passions into a career as they learn how to produce digital art, assets and content using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. This course is beginner-friendly, so students will also receive training in theories of design and composition.
Professional Development Classes
Online classes are also available for professionals looking to develop soft skills that are important parts of working in an interpersonal environment. This can include things like management techniques and theories of leadership or it can include communication skills and conflict resolution techniques. Learning these skills can make you qualified for a promotion at work, a new position at a start-up, or simply make you better at your present job. If you have long-term aspirations of working in management, you can’t afford to ignore all of the online professional development classes available on the CourseHorse platform.
At the American Management Association, students can receive practical training in the art and science of leadership and project management. As a major accrediting body, the AMA seeks to ensure that all professional managers are well-versed in the major theories of productive management and the application of their knowledge. In their Certified Professional in Management Exam Prep Course, students will receive all of the training and guidance they need to pass the AMA’s Certified Professional in Management Exam and become a fully certified management professional. This course covers theoretical knowledge, including different approaches to management dilemmas and the practical application of this knowledge in a real-world environment where other human beings are involved. They also offer courses in specific management skills and contexts such as their Coaching from a Distance course which teaches managers how to remain involved and present even in a work-from-home or distance employment situation. As more and more jobs involve the labor of people outside the space of the office, learning these skills can be a vital tool for keeping your teams running effectively.
If you are looking for shorter classes that aim to teach important business and interpersonal skills, consider enrolling in a class from Improving Communications. In these classes, students will learn small but effective skills for creating more efficient, safer working environments where all employees can reach their full potential. In the Running Effective Meetings course, students will learn tips and tricks for ensuring that regularly scheduled meetings are fast and effective. This will not only improve workflow, but it will also improve team morale, as meetings feel less like drudgery. Improving Communications also offers important DEI training seminars aimed at creating safer working environments and ensuring that you are doing everything you are legally required to do for your employees. For example, they offer classes like the Workplace Professionalism: Harassment Learning Program. This course will ensure that your employees understand what constitutes harassment (sexual or otherwise), what rights they have as employees and what responsibilities you have as their employer.
Performing Arts Classes
The performing arts is a broad category of skills that covers everything from acting and singing to improv and dance, meaning that there are a lot of different paths you can take when it comes to a performing arts education. More and more schools have begun offering online training sessions, particularly as high-quality cameras and microphones have become more affordable. In the past, it was difficult to learn from a significant acting or singing coach if you didn’t live in a major city, but today, no matter what kind of online performing arts class you are looking for, you’ll be able to find the course that suits your needs.
If you are an aspiring actor, Actors Connection New York offers online intensive training courses for students of all levels. These classes aim to give students direct advice and training for experienced actors, agents and artists, they are all unique explorations of acting as a craft, often overseen by a guest instructor. For example, if you want to become a film actor, you could enroll in the Film Intensive with Donna McKenna course. In this class, students will learn the art of film acting, with an emphasis on how film acting differs from other modes of acting. The course will open with a Q&A session with Donna McKenna (award-winning casting director with more than two decades of experience), followed by a series of cold scene readings in which McKenna assists actors from the perspective of a casting director. If you are interested in doing VO work, you can enroll in the Advanced Animation Voiceover Intensive with Portia Scott. Portia Scott is one of the most experienced voice-over agents and producers in the country, and she has worked for major studios on projects like Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchioand Sony Picture’s Into the Spider-Verse. In this course, you will get live experience reading for Scott, and you’ll get her feedback and advice on how to best prepare for both characters and auditions.
If you are interested in making people laugh, you should consider enrolling in a workshop taught at The American Comedy Institute. Taught by one of the most successful stand-up comedy instructors in the nation, Stephen Rosenfield, alumni of the program include Lena Dunham, Jim Gaffigan, Esther Ku and Hannah Gadsby. In their online Stand-up Comedy Workshop, students will have the chance to workshop their material, receive lessons and feedback on their stage presence, learn how to prepare a set, and they’ll get an opportunity to deliver their set in a live performance hosted online. Most notably, students will get one-on-one time working with Stephen to tighten their material, go over performance concerns and workshop bits and jokes, which is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to break into comedy. They also offer shorter, more focused training sessions such as their two-hour Crowd Work Workshop. This course teaches students how to treat the crowd as an extension of the stage and how they can interact with their audience to produce new jokes, materials or moments. This will help you seem more personable and will help maintain the illusion of stand-up comedy as a kind of unpracticed, improvisational act.
