Introducing the Skillies: Best-of-best awards in online education

NEW YORK, March 9, 2015 — (PRNewswire) — To the pantheon of awards including Oscars, Emmys and Grammys, add one more --Skillies. But make a special place for the Skillies -- a unique program by SkilledUp.com to honor and highlight the best of the best in the burgeoning field of online education.

"There is such an amazing variety of online courses that offer deep knowledge and actual skill acquisition," Nick Gidwani, president of SkilledUp, said in announcing winners in 11 categories for the inaugural Skillies Online Course Awards. "We wanted to highlight some of the learning companies out there that are really innovating and creating best-in-breed courses, and do it by leveraging our activity and engaged community of learners."

That community of thousands of learners decided the inaugural Skillies honorees by voting from nominees in the 11 categories, and sometimes by offering their own candidates with write-in ballots.

Each of the platforms cited -- indeed, all of the companies nominated -- offer high-quality online educational opportunities in their niches, and they offer learners something more: career mobility and professional connections.

With all votes counted, SkilledUp is proud to name the recipients, in their respective categories, of the Skillies Online Course Awards:

Best Bootcamp — Fullstack Academy, the NYC-based JavaScript-focused coding bootcamp that put itself on the map with multiple hackathon wins.

Best Provider for those on a Budget — Udemy, the online course marketplace, where you can find all sorts of great deals on thousands of courses.

Best Provider for Business — Fizzle, the community-course hybrid, where you'll find honest business training and a passionate and supportive peer network.

Best Provider for Creatives — CreativeLive, where you can find expert training in creative and entrepreneurial disciplines 24/7.

Best Provider for General Education — Coursera, the massive open online course (MOOC) provider where you get an Ivy League education for free.

Leader in Innovation — Coursera and its free college courses for the masses is simultaneously providing once-in-a lifetime education for the third world, and disrupting the system of higher education as we know it.

Best Live Online Instruction — Thinkful, an up-and-comer that is pioneering 1:1 live mentorship in the programming space.

Best Provider for Project-based Learners — Skillshare, a platform for creators, where each course comes with a fun project.

Best Provider for Self-paced Learners — lynda.com, pioneer and matron of the world of online courses, where you can take your pick of thousands of well-designed courses at your own pace.

Best Provider for Technology — Codecademy, a live interactive platform where you can learn to code for free.

Best Provider for Time-Sensitive Learners — One Month, where you can learn a host of skills in 30 days.