In this post, we have featured Simpliv vs Khan Academy which included deteailed insights into these online learning platforms.
Show we one educated society that ever perished, and I will show you a cat that speaks. For many centuries, education has been a primary quest for humankind. After all, isn’t education the cornerstone and the soul of progress? Here, of course, I am referring to formal education, the kind that Mark Twain referred to when he famously declared that he did not allow his schooling to come in the way of his education!
A look at the cost of education in most educational institutions around the world would give one a jolt. Perhaps the only item that could give these costs a run for their money should be hotel bills and hospital bills. Jokes aside, it is a fact that education, so indispensable a means for human growth and development, has now become a commodity like any other in the market. Buy it if you have deep pockets. If you don’t, perish the thought.
In the midst of this tragedy and madness, there is a beacon of hope. It is in the form of two online learning platforms. They go by the name of Khan Academy and Simpliv Learning. In this blog, I will explain the two platforms to you in as much depth as I can, and will give you a heads-up on which of these two could be better suited for you.
Bottom Line Upfront: Simpliv is one of the best online learning platforms in the market. It offers courses of every kind and it also offers you a platform to teach which is really amazing. Simpliv is better than Khan Academy in many aspects such as course contents and expert teachers. So, what are you waiting for enroll for any course on Simpliv to get better experience as a teacher or a student.
So, sit back and get ready to learn more about these two learning platforms! I will set out to explain all that I know about this pair that intrigues me for both the similarity and dissimilarity they have to each other. One thing that I can assure you is that this blog is not a comparison between David and Goliath. It is a very fine and plausible comparison between two near equals-of the Gandhi and Mandela sort.
So, which do I start with, and why? I will start with Simpliv. The reason I want to do this is that, of the two, this is the one about which you need to know more. It is not the learning platform that is as well-known as Khan Academy or any other of its ilk. If this is the case, then, why am I choosing to compare the two with each other?
Simpliv vs Khan Academy 2024: Overview
Simpliv Overview
Khan Academy Overview
Simpliv and Khan Academy features
This is why. Ask anyone who has taken up a course with Khan Academy why they have done it, it is but natural to hear from them that the ZERO cost of their courses is the reason for which they chose it. This is a very acceptable reason, for, if someone gave me something of value without charging for it, I would be tempted to jump into it. What makes Khan Academy do this?
It is that it is a nonprofit organization. This allows them to collect contributions from a horde of philanthropic organizations. As declared by its founder, Salman Khan, its intention is to make education accessible to one and all, all over the world. As a registered nonprofit, it can afford to do so. Now, what if a commercial organization, with no such financial support, chooses to do just the same, i.e., stand up for the educationally deprived around the world, and is motivated by the desire to bring education to every learner around the globe?
Would you laud such an organization, or would you be in awe of it? My reaction about hearing that there indeed exists such an organization was a combination of both these emotions. If you have still not guessed which organization I am talking about, it is Simpliv. That is why I have chosen to talk about it at length in this blog.
One thing that baffled me about Simpliv is that it has dared to take the courageous, if the admirable decision of taking education to everyone on this planet, despite NOT being a nonprofit organization. Taking a stance and such a matching decision takes guts, and I am not exaggerating or dramatizing. It is not every day that one comes across an education provider that is driven primarily by the desire to spread education to as many people as possible, and then by profits.
Simpliv courses fees
For this reason, I doff my hat at Simpliv. It certainly deserves to be feted bigtime. Agreed, Simpliv does not offer all its courses free, but there are quite a number of them out there that don’t charge a dime for any online learning platform. And then, there are courses that are just so inexpensive that you would not mind paying for them. If you were offered a course free, sure, you would take it.
But, if you were charged something like $2.99 for a course that offers you a little extra value, would you mind paying? I certainly wouldn’t. So, this summarizes what Simpliv is up to. It wants to make education accessible to as many people as it can reach out, with no prejudice towards the race, gender, geographical location, or financial position of the learner. For someone to do this without being a registered nonprofit organization is praiseworthy, to say the least.
Let me get down to give some more detail about this organization. Simpliv Learning was started in the year 2017 in Fremont, CA. Its founding principle was what set it apart from most of the rest of the pack. It was primarily motivated by the desire to expand the learning capabilities of people around the world.
Certainly, the medium has been a catalyst for spreading education in today’s world, and Simpliv has made full use of the online medium. As the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) market expands rapidly, the rate at which these platforms have been able to reach out to their audience has multiplied exponentially. Simpliv offers all that it takes to become part of the online education revolution, in whose midst we are all placed today.
Simpliv is characterized by a huge spread of courses. I want to emphasize that where Khan has formal and structured learning, in the form of preps and other supplementary learning for different grades of school and college, and also has an impressive array of SAT and other competitive courses, Simpliv specializes in being a generalist.
Its courses are spread across all categories and for all age groups. One look at the categories of its courses will show you just what all to expect:
- All Development
- Database
- IT & Software Systems
- Health & Vigor
- Individual Development
- Desirable Lifestyle
- Productive Expertise & Efficiency
- Profession
- Blueprint & Designing
- Marketing
- Frames & Portraits
- Music
- Academics
- Language & Vocabulary
- Preparation Tests
- Engineering
No one would dispute the fact that this is a very well thought out set of lists for learning. The creation and organization of this list suggest that people at Simpliv know a thing or two about what they are doing. Its list is not only impressive; it is well-conceived, as well.
And yes, what I am talking about here is only the list of general categories. Under each of these categories, there is a further selection of course topics that the learner can feast upon. I clicked on one of these categories, Frames, and Portraits, and this is the treasure trove that unfolded before me:
- Landscape
- Photography Tools
- Mobile Photography
- Travel Photography
- Photography Fundamentals
- Digital Photography
- Commercial Photography
- Wedding Photography
- Wildlife Photography
- Movie Making.
This sample list makes it abundantly clear that where the assortment of topics and categories is concerned, Simpliv shows the stuff it is made up of. Just one look at this set of subtopics was enough to convince me that Simpliv has certainly rolled up its sleeves and worked overtime to make sure it understands its learners’ needs. If I wanted to learn anything about frames and portraits, I simply don’t need to look beyond this selection. Another round of applause to Simpliv on this score.
Range of teaching methods
I would like to make a special mention of the teaching modes that Simpliv has put in place. It offers as many as three methods by which learners can take up its courses:
Simpliv course offerings
Individual courses
This is the collection of courses that any individual can take up as she pleases, based on her learning interests and needs. Simpliv has a very huge collection of courses that cover the widest possible mix of subjects. Almost any area of learning that a learner wants to learn, she can find here.
These can be taken up and completed at absolutely any time of the learner’s convenience. Plus, these courses are certified, which means that it is money well spent. And, the other bonus of this learning is that it is offered by experts across various industries.
Course bundles
Sensing perhaps that this vast expanse of courses could be somewhat tedious and disconnected, Simpliv has introduced a simple innovation that makes it a lot easier for the learner to find related courses. It has organized a few courses in a manner that makes it a lot more sensible for the learner to lay her hands on topics that are closely related to the one she is accessing.
The aim of making this bundle is to not only bring related courses together; it also aids tremendously in the cost. When bought as a bundle, these courses are incomparably less expensive than they are when bought individually.
Live virtual classroom training
This is for those who want to take up competitive and career exams. As the title suggests, this is a method by which training is offered live, in the classroom mode. That is, once you have enrolled for this training, you have to be around to take it up at the assigned time.
This is the nearest feeling you get to a classroom, where you are in direct connection, live, with the tutor. It allows you to interact directly with your tutor. Expectedly, the bulk of this mode of training is for exams and certifications. Simpliv facilitates easy and practical learning with this mode.
Come over, Khan sir. Let us talk about your academy…
When American educationist-turned IT professional Salman Khan gathered his cousins and offered them a presentation, few would have foreseen that his efforts were to sow the seeds of what soon came to be hailed by the media as a trillion dollar opportunity. What he had heralded was a revolution in the making, and this was the storm that seemed capable of taking just anyone on earth, in its sway.
The baby steps that had been taken then soon turned out to be giant strides, as the clichéd saying goes. One thing that Khan was very resolute about was the fact that he was out to take education to just everyone. An accompanying thought, obviously, could be that if this had to happen, education had to be given FREE, absolutely free to everyone concerned.
That is the quintessential difference between Khan and other platforms: it is offered free. The moment one mentions this fact, the next logical question that should spring up in anyone’s mind is this: was Mr. Khan born without a stomach? What about his family of employees?
That is the crux of the Khan success story: it has roped in real big names from the industry-a vast swathe of it-to fund its benign and noble program. Want a small sample of the biggies that support the Khan model and grant funds? Here it goes:
Khan Academy supporters
And mind you, this is nowhere near being a comprehensive list. This is a list of only those entities who have contributed 10 million USD or more! This leads us to another core question about the company: if this is the fundraising ability that Khan has, and had decided to pool all this money for a cause such as education, there is perhaps no better purpose than this. This is cause for another huge, deafening round of applause.
And then, let me move on to something more valuable and awe-inspiring about Khan Academy. What do Laurene Powell Jobs, Scott Cook, Carlos Slim, Bill Gates, and Ratan Tata have in common, apart from being what they are in their respective roles? They are all on the global advisory board of Khan Academy. What kind of words does one use to describe this collection? Well, that is Khan Academy for you. Need we say or look for more?
So, what all does Khan Academy offer in its list of courses? As I said at the beginning, everything, right from the conceptualization of this working model, is topnotch with Khan. The same goes for its courses, too. If I were to use just one word to describe its range of courses, it would be, “all-encompassing”. That says everything that Khan Academy is.
There is almost no topic or subject on which Khan does not have a course. Very broadly, this is the general list of topics on which they have categorized their courses:
Khan Academy course categories
Needless to say, each of these courses is as comprehensive and relevant as one can imagine. To take you through just one of these, history, this is how it is divided:
- World history up to 1750
- World history from 1750 onwards
In this category, you have a list of events that have shaped the world that we are living in today, these being:
- The World in 1750
- Liberal and National Revolutions
- Industrialization
- Labor and Society
- Imperialism, Colonialism, and Responses
- World War I
- Interwar and World War II
- End of Empire and Cold War
- Globalization.
The point of sharing so much detail about art and history is that Khan does not offer courses on only technology, as many do. It is a platform for ANY kind of academic learning, well, almost. This is the kind of platform that gives a learner just anything she wants to learn.
If I spoke to you about its contributors a few paragraphs ago, I have to add something of equal value to a platform like this by mentioning the names of at least some of its emeritus faculty.
- Steven, an art historian, is the co-founder of Smarthistory;
- Beth, also an art historian, is also a co-founder of Smarthistory;
- Jay, who creates chemistry content, is known for combining art with science.
The list of people on its course management is equally impressive:
- Lizzie, its Community Giving Manager, worked at several art museums and specializes at education and development.
- Who do you think its Senior Content Manager-Test Prep, is? Meet Dave, who previously ran a test prep and counseling center in New York.
- Jason, its Director of School Partnerships, is Yahoo!’s Kids and Education businesses, and brings a wealth of teaching experience.
Well, this is but a speck in the galaxy, if you like, of the truly illustrious pick of elite members of the Khan group. Does one need to elaborate any further to get an idea of the kind of platform one is looking for? Just one peek at its team shows the kind of passion and enjoyment that Khan has brought about among his effervescent bunch of people. Full marks again.
So, now, we come to the question that I try to answer whenever I write comparative blogs, i.e., making comparisons between two platforms.
Simpliv and Khan Academy head-to-head
Again, let me turn to the order in which I started the above narration. Simpliv, well, is a platform that has aimed to take education to as many learners as possible. Considering that it is a recent starter, and considering that it is not the platform that has big names backing it, I should say that what it has done is remarkable. It is now a popular choice for learners across the US, India, Europe, and Africa. If this could be achieved in a matter of just the three years of its existence, that shows the mettle it is made up of.
Simpliv is surely a name to be watched in the online learning space, and for good reason. What I can say is that I see the potential for it to make big, but is it the potential that will see it overthrow the likes of Coursera, Udemy, Udacity, Khan and the other names? Not really. But then, is Simpliv really interested in doing that? Not really, again.
So, where does that leave Simpliv? Exactly where it is right now: in the learner’s hearts and minds. When a learning platform resides there, you can rest assured that its brain is in the right place. It makes little sense to talk about numbers when we are talking about two platforms, one of which is supported by people from Microsoft and Apple, and the other is a startup that is finding its space.
Talking about numbers is meaningless when we talk about revenues too, because Khan Academy is not built on a traditional revenue model, either. So, that somewhat justifies my decision to keep numbers of all types aside when talking about these two platforms.
Now, as I come to my closing points, let me get to the point that I started this section with: which of these platforms I think you should choose. My opinion is that you should choose BOTH, depending on your learning needs.
If you are looking to simply enhance your learning on any topic that be of interest to you, be it photography or yoga, or personality development or financial management, there is no better option than Simpliv. This is simply because it has all these and more. Remember, its aim is to offer education to anyone, and it is very generous in its choice of topics.
On the other hand, if you are looking to seriously prepare yourself for various competitive exams and just want to keep learning, you could try your hand at Khan. This costs you nothing, literally. Its courses are available for the candidate taking up these exams, and more. Yet, when it comes to the spread of topics, Simpliv has the edge.
I will leave you with my rating for the two platforms:
Pricing Simpliv vs Khan Academy
Simpliv Pricing
Khan Academy Pricing
Testimonials: Simpliv vs Khan Academy
Customer Review Of Simpliv
Customer Review Of Khan Academy
Quick Links:
- Treehouse: Learn Web Designing & Coding Online
- Treehouse Vs Udacity: Which One Is The Winner & Affordable?
- SoloLearn vs Codecademy 2024 | The Ultimate Comparison( Who Wins?)
- Codecademy vs Udemy 2024 Which Is One Is The Best? ( #1 Reason )
- Codecademy Vs Treehouse 2024 | Which One To Choose & Who Wins?
Conclusion: Simpliv Vs Khan Academy 2024
To conclude my post, I would like to give an overview about both of these platforms, Simpliv is an amazing platform for learning and teaching but it requires you to enroll for the course which you desire but Khan Academy is a free platform and it has a good infrastructure and teachers as well.
Being a free online learning platform can be a good start for a beginner so i would recommend you to choose Khan Academy but if you want to be good in what you study then go for Simpliv because it offers better content and opportunity as well.
