Read the Most Trustworthy and Comprehensive Datacamp Review!!
Introduction to DataCamp
The interactive e-learning platform DataCamp offers a large array of courses on topics related to Data Science.
The short duration and engaging design of DataCamp courses are attractive for the learners interested in active content. Its track programs and courses help you to gain new career paths and skills. The DataCamp works on basis of yearly and monthly subscription plans which you can cancel any time.
| Pros • Large variety of courses on Data Science and Analytics, • Primarily focus on interactive learning with engaging exercises to complete and a large number of videos, • 270+ data science experts teach the data science and analytics to the students, • Free plan provides access to the beginning chapters of courses and assessments. |
| Cons • DataCamp is not suitable for learners with extensive prior knowledge about Data science and analytics, • Too lengthy written content about the course,Course Videos are too short that they even lack important details, • No accredited certification after successful completion of the course. |
Background
DataCamp is a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) provider platform which was founded in 2013.
DataCamp intends to provide you with an easy access to data skills development and high-quality education for a more prosperous future. As part of DataCamp’s mission to make data skills available for anyone, the company also offers free, unlimited access to the instructors teaching to 350,000 learners all across the world. With the support of 20 nonprofit organizations, DataCamp has managed to offer 25,000 free subscription to the deserving students.
Today, DataCamp claims that 1,600+ companies and 3,000 academic organizations have employed this e-learning platform as their preferred e-learning provider. There are 7 million DataCamp learners residing in 180+ countries of the world.
After telling you about the background and other details about the DataCamp, next I’ll tell you about the courses you can learn via this e-learning platform.
DataCamp Courses
DataCamp offers 350+ courses related to a number of data science technologies including Python, R language, Excel, Spreadsheets and many more. The courses are comprising of short duration expert videos with interactive exercises to be completed immediately.
If you are totally new to the field or if you already are familiar with these subjects; in both cases you can use DataCamp for your data science learning.
Datacamp Tracks: Track learning programs are offered by the DataCamp. There are 51 programs in Skill Track such as Python Fundamentals, and R Programming. There are 14 programs offered in Career Track in total.
Datacamp Skill Track: It enables you to choose a mix of courses aimed at providing you with the complete details of a specific skill. It will help you to gain the maximum learning and eventually you will only learn about those courses that are relevant to your field. For instance, if you wish to learn the Basics of Skill track Finance with R, the track combines 4 courses taught by the different online instructors with learning of 18 hours.
Datacamp Career Track: You can get access to a number of courses picked by the experts to increase your knowledge about a prosperous career in a specific path. Like, if your target is Career track Python Programmer, there is is collection of 15 courses (58 hours long) taught by different expert instructors of the field.
After successful completion of course you will get Statement of Accomplishment. But, DataCamp’s certification is not accredited. For formal accreditation, you must check other platforms like Coursera or edX.
Datacamp for Corporate: Datacamp works with corporate sector. 80% fortune 1000 companies and other 1,600+ organizations have used DataCamp’s e-learning platform to train their workforce.
The primary focus of DataCamp is to upskill employees and to allow them to make effective data-driven decisions.
Datacamp’s Flexible Online Training for Businesses: DataCamp provides flexible e-learning for employees working in different companies. DataCamp’s 270+ instructors are always busy to assure that employees are learning the best.
The Classroom of DataCamp
Datacamp provides free access for the instructors, all they have to do is to apply for an access to 1200+ hours of data science courses for free.
Datacamp’s main objective is to empower students with data skills for their bright future. Instructors can develop assignments for their learners and can track their progress and growth. The application for the free access takes a few days to approve.
If you are a teacher of data concepts and data science, you can apply for a free access and help your learners to take advantage from the Datacamp’s interactive courses.
I’m sure that you have found the above discussion about courses taught at the DataCamp very useful, next I’ll tell you about the pricing for learning at DataCamp.
Pricing
DataCamp has a subscription model with multiple plans. You can select any one out of three personal plans.
- The Free subscription,
- The Standard subscription priced $25/ month and
- The Premium subscription priced $33.25/ month.
The Standard account is the most preferred subscription model amongst users. The Premium and the Standard accounts are billed yearly. There is a currency converter at the top right corner making it convenient for the users to pay. Both monthly and yearly subscriptions can be cancelled at any time and you will still be able to access the channel until the end of same month/year.
So, now you know how much you have to pay to get the monthly or yearly subscription of DataCamp. In the next two sections I’ll tell you about ease of access and content quality at the DataCamp.
Easy Access
The DataCamp’s home page is very well-organized for your learning, practice and participation in projects. After selecting a course for learning, DataCamp creates a dashboard for you; half screen has the instruction box and the rest of the screen has the coding box. The instructions will guide you about a language’s syntax then shows an exercise and sample code. From here you will see practice coding. In the coding box you will type code and run the code and assess the outcomes and upon satisfaction with the code, you enter your code. If it was right you gain XP points, or else you will be told that you did not enter code in correct manner.
The good thing is, the instructions are both video driven and text-based. This pattern is quite similar to traditional classrooms, in which students use both videos and reading material for new learning.
One more positive aspect about DataCamp is that it will assess your learning along the way. Rather than giving you a coding exercise, it gives multiple choice questions to which you need to highlight the correct answer and enter.
If you’re still wondering if it’s worth e-learning at DataCamp or not, let me tell you about the quality of content at DataCamp.
Quality of Content
After completing three data science courses at DataCamp, I feel confident to say that the quality of content at DataCamp is inconsistent.
You can also check other students’ reviews; although, most of the students seem to really like the site, but nearly all of them found something that they didn’t like about DataCamp.
1. One common problem, faced by a large number of DataCamp’s students is that; although most of the DataCamp courses have short videos; but they are also full of long texts which can be very discouraging, specially if you are a beginner.
2. The second problem is, e-learning at DataCamp is too impractical.
3. The third issue is, most of the instructors are always ready to solve the problems themselves; which deprives students from the opportunity to learn, study and find the answer of any given problem themselves.
But, I would say that none of the above mentioned problems are too serious that these can not be solved.
No doubt, Data Camp’s instructors try their best to offer the best content, but there is still need to further improve the content quality.
Learning at DataCamp
After personally getting a DataCamp’s subscription, I would say here the courses are well-structured, beginner-friendly and easy to follow. If you are someone with no previous knowledge about data analytics or data science, the DataCamp’s courses provide an awesome learning option. But, if you are someone with extensive prior knowledge about Python programming and R, you will find DataCamp courses to be too basic.
There is an active DataCamp community, which is full of tutorials, chats, and news threads. There is a podcast and a resource center. DataCamp is not just resource rich but it also offers a remarkable way to get connected with other students.
Although, certificates of DataCamp are not accredited; but at the time of completion of a course you get a Statement of Completion without any extra charges; which is still acknowledged by data science experts.
Good news is, DataCamp’s courses are frequently updated; which shows that this e-learning platform is constantly improving its curriculum and it’s learners also get the opportunity to learn about the latest technological advancements in data analytics and data science.
I’m sure that you’ll find the above discussion to be useful to decide if you must get a DataCamp’s subscription in order to learn about the topics related to data science and analytics.
ConclusionTo conclude my review about DataCamp I would say that it is an effective e-learning platform where you can learn a large number of topics related to Data Science and Analytics. However, if you are someone who doesn’t enjoy reading a lot of text or someone with extensive prior knowledge about Data Science and Analytics then you must find another e-learning platform to further advance your learning.