Are you looking for the best technical writing classes available online? Then look no further! We’ve put together a list of the best technical writing tutorials and courses on the web. Plus, we’ve outlined both free and paid versions suitable to all abilities to give you a variety of options.
But first, we need to answer the important question – what is technical writing? And why is it important that to be good at it?
Technical writing is the process of writing (or drafting) the technical communication that can be used in technical and occupational fields, such as computer hardware and software, engineering, chemistry, aeronautics, robotics, finance, medical, consumer electronics, biotechnology, and forestry. Often, their role involves simplifying the complicated literature so that others can use and interpret it.
To learn how to write breath-taking technical articles, you don’t need to spend hours at University. There are plenty of online tutorials that cover everything you need to know. Suitable for those of all levels, I have spent the time researching the best technical writing courses and classes out there. If you’re looking to progress your technical writing skills, either for a writing career, or just to enhance your skill set, there will definitely be one for you!
1. Business Writing & Technical Writing Immersion (Udemy)
- Level: All levels
- Completion time: 4h 34m
- Cost: $69.99
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 23,539
- Course rating: 4.4/5 (out of 2,317 ratings)
In just over four hours, you can learn the art of effective and persuasive business and financial writing. Using 12 steps and nearly 60 practical techniques, this course covers everything from initial writing analysis to final copy, producing document that succeed every time.
What makes this course stand out from the rest, is that for each writing technique you learn, there is an in-depth tutorial that provides expert instructions and practical exercises. By the end of this course, you’ll have covered how to analyze purpose, analyze the audience, write a purpose statement, write a draft, edit for clarity, edit for economy and edit for readability.
2. Technical Writing: Master Your Writing Career (Udemy)
- Level: All levels
- Completion time: 5h 19m
- Cost: $49.99
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 3,389
- Course rating: 4/5 (out of 625 ratings)
Joseph Phillips has over 20 year’s experience as a project management consultant, educator, technology consultant, business owner and technical writer. In his popular Udemy course, Joseph will help you to master technical writing!
You’ll learn the goals of technical writing, how to research a topic, how to define contents and boundaries, how to revise and polish and how to market a technical book for good sales. After completing this course, you should have the skills to write technically and to begin growing a profitable technical writing career!
3. Technical Writing (Coursera)
- Level: Intermediate
- Completion time: 19h
- Cost: Enroll for Free
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: 36,962
- Course rating: 4.6/5 (out of 452 ratings)
Offered by the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, this course is designed to develop all the technical writing skills that are necessary to communicate information.
This course highlights the factors that determine the degree of technicality of the language and concepts involved. You will learn how to write different technical reports – from laboratory reports t0 research reports, progress reports t0 consulting reports and much more. You will also look at several languages, structure, style and content issues that you can encounter whilst writing reports!
4. Technical Author/ Technical Writer/ Technical writing training course (Cherryleaf)
- Level: All levels
- Completion time: N/A (15 modules of independent study)
- Cost: $299
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: nearly 1,000
- Course rating: 4.5/5
Taught by industry experts, this course will take you through the process of creating technical documentation. You’ll cover the purpose of technical documentation. You’ll then take a look at the entire documentation process from beginning to end, which covers planning, writing, editing, indexing and production. Towards the end of the course, you’ll also cover other skills you’ll need as a technical communicator, how to work more efficiently and how to work more effectively.
Throughout the entire course, you’ll need to complete practical projects to put your learning into practice. You will also have the option of getting feedback on each of these projects from an industry-leading expert!
5. Technical Writing (ACS DISTANCE EDUCATION)
- Level: All levels
- Completion time: 100 hours
- Cost: $490
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: N/A
- Course rating: n/a
This course will offer you an incredibly useful certification that you can walk away with at the end and use to enhance your career!
There are 9 separate lessons on this course. To begin with, you explore the scope and nature of technical writing. You will then go on to take a look at presentation, different styles, structure and formatting, collaborative writing and how to write articles, project proposals and reports.
By the end of this course, you should have a greater capacity to write marketable materials and be able to work in a greater variety of situations. You’ll understand your writing style and the way in which you work best, which will boost your confidence!
6. Professional Technical Writing: Advance Your Writing Skills (Udemy)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 16h 48m
- Cost: $200
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 4,483
- Course rating: 4.6/5 (out of 621 ratings)
In this course, you will create your first technical document by applying the principles and techniques of technical writing taught by a pro writer.
This course is ideal for fiction writers, web content writers, engineers, scientists, developers, product managers, government workers, screenwriters and anyone else wanting to change careers! Through 107 lectures, 22 exercise sheets, 36 quizzes, 6 PDF books and 1 final assessment (which is reviewed personally by the instructor) you will learn how to become a pro at technical writing. By the end of this course, you will have an excellent understanding of all the basic principles of technical writing and will have the skills to build yourself a great writing career… and one that pays well!
7. Get Started with Technical Writing: Learn to Write Software Documentation (Skillshare)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 19m
- Cost: 14 day free-trial
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 370
- Course rating: N/A
This course is only 19 minutes long – making it a great way to get in a tiny additional bit of learning! In this short course, you will quickly cover what technical writing is and what a technical writer actually does.
Furthermore, you will also then look specifically at the world of software development, and why they need technical writers! The course then tailors off to look at the technical writing process specifically to software development. To finish up your learning, you will complete a quick exercise/project to put your skills into practice!
Conclusion
So, there you have it… the 7 best technical writing classes online.
There are a huge variety of online classes and course available to teach you everything you need to know about technical writing. Some of the classes are quick and free. Whereas, others are more expensive and take more time to complete – but they offer a more in-depth exploration of the entire process of technical writing. Similarly, some are better suited to complete beginners with no writing experience. Whereas others are far better suited to experienced writers.
All of the above online tutorials are excellent. They are the best of the best. Each is taught by an experienced and dedicated teacher and they all have lots of satisfied and happy customers.
So, which course you decide take depends on your experience, funds and spare time. Are you a complete writing newbie? Or have you got years of experience in the industry and just want to refresh your knowledge? Do you have a huge amount of money to spend on your skill development? Do you have a lot of spare time, or are you just looking for a quick, but effective, skill top up?
