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Class is in session — from a distance.
Google searches for online classes have catapulted in recent weeks, likely because people who are social distancing are looking to make the most of their newfound alone time by doing something productive.
Fitness classes were quick to adapt to the surge in online-only demand. Brands as big as Peloton and as small as local yoga studios are now offering online workout courses.
IPA Gym in Jersey City, New Jersey, is among the fitness businesses that have started offering virtual group classes for members through Zoom meetings.
“We want to assure them that we will still be available everyday to keep them active and accountable,” Joshua Teves, the gym’s founder and owner, told HuffPost Finds. “We are there to give them a sense of community and emotional support by communicating through Zoom.”
But the hunt for online activities doesn’t stop at breaking a sweat.
Sites like Skillshare, Creative Live and Udemy offer online classes focused on creativity, whether it’s brushing up on painting skills, playing an instrument or learning a new language. If you want a class that’s streamed live and feels more intimate (or just want to support a local business), platforms like Dabble and Groupon offer courses from local shops near you.
That’s been the case for Dan and Josh Lucero, the brothers behind Wine & Design in Weehawken, New Jersey. The creative studio typically hosts events where the local community can gather to enjoy a drink while painting and crafting. After brainstorming with other Wine & Design franchise owners, they agreed to offer virtual classes. Participants just have to pick up a take-home painting kits that contain canvas, paints and supplies for the project.
“More than anything, we wanted to continue to provide a space for positivity and creativity, whether physically or virtually, for our customers to get together and forget for a bit about what was going on in the world around them,” Dan Lucero said.
If workouts or artwork aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other online classes that’ll keep you from reaching for the remote. Skillshare, Creative Live and Udemy also have plenty of professional courses available in business, branding and creative programs. Masterclass features everything from screenwriting with Shonda Rhimes to cooking with Gordon Ramsay. And Coursera partners with Ivy League universities to bring you the best of their curriculum.
Break up your binge-watching bender with something a bit more productive. Because we could all use something to do that doesn’t involve Netflix, we’ve rounded up a complete guide to classes you can take online.
Below, a guide to places you can take classes online:
1. Online arts and languages classes
- Bluprint: Learn crafts like jewelry making, knitting and woodworking.
- Coursera: Find classes like the guitar for beginners at Berklee College of Music and the fundamentals of contemporary art taught by MoMa. They also have a ton of language learning courses available.
- Creative Live: Find art and design classes like illustration and typography, as well a craft courses in everything from embroidery to cake decorating.
- Etsy: The handmade goods marketplace has vendors who teach online classes in painting, journaling and more.
- Masterclass: Learn photography from Annie Leibovitz, EDM music from deadmau5 and creative writing from Margaret Atwood.
- Udemy: Practice arts and crafts like anime drawing and soap making. Learn a new language, makeup application or how to play an instrument.
- Skillshare: Take fine art classes like drawing, watercolors, photography and film, as well as music classes covering singing to sound engineering.
2. Online education and professional skills courses
- Coursera: Become proficient in Javascript and coding with a number of computer science courses or learn about the wonders of ancient Egypt.
- Creative Live: Take classes in branding, learn software like Adobe Photoshop and start podcasting.
- Masterclass: Learn business leadership from former Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz and scientific thinking from Neil Degrasse Tyson.
- Udemy: Find courses in accounting, game design and marketing.
- Skillshare: Take classes in business analytics, master software like Adobe Illustrator, and jumpstart your new gig with freelancing and entrepreneurship courses.
3. Online fitness and wellness classes
- Blink Fitness: The gym is streaming live workouts on Facebook.
- CorePowerYoga: The yoga studio is offering free access to online yoga and meditation classes.
- Creative Live: Take self-improvement and wellness courses in building confidence, stress management and more.
- Crunch Fitness: All gym members now have free access to Crunch Live, an app featuring a wide variety of workouts.
- Masterclass: Learn gymnastics from Simon Biles and basketball from Steph Curry.
- Obé Fitness: The exclusively online workout app features live workouts.
- Orange Theory: The fitness studio is sharing daily workouts that can be done with no equipment or household items.
- Peloton: The popular spinning studio is offering its app to new users for free for the next 90 days, featuring yoga, bodyweight cardio, strength training and of course, cycling.
- Planet Fitness: The gym known for being a “judgement-free zone” is live streaming workouts on Facebook.
- Retro Fitness: The gym is streaming live workouts on Facebook.
- Udemy: Take a wide variety of fitness classes in dancing, self-defense and yoga. As well as personal development and wellness offerings like massage and nutrition.
- 305 Fitness: The dance studio is live streaming cardio dances twice a day on Youtube.
4. Online cooking and bartending classes
- Bluprint: Sharpen your knife skills and learn how to cook a wide variety of recipes using professional techniques.
- Masterclass: Learn wine tasting from James Suckling and French pastry fundamentals from Dominique Ansel.
- Udemy: Find classes like bread baking, bartending and cooking your choice of cuisine.
- Sourced: This service employs bartenders who are out of work due to the coronavirus to deliver everything you need to create a craft cocktail directly to your door. While it’s not exactly an online class, many of these bartenders share their tips and recipes on social media.
