Shaw Academy
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Legitimate Learning Site
I paid for a lifetime membership around 2017, and still access it. Recently I couldn't log in, this happened once before, and I was able to get it fixed. I was unaware they had migrated to a new site. They recently changed their name to "Upskillist" and upgraded the site, which probably generated the complaints. I contacted the support center through the site page. I received a reply with clear and concise instructions how to migrate my account to the new site. Everything was easy and went smoothly. Navigation at the site is much better and no more annoying pop-ups soliciting diploma certificates of completion. I found Shaw Academy with a 'Groupon' for their "Diploma in Photography Class”. I was impressed with the seemingly personal way classes were delivered live. They even gave away a [Canon or Nikon] DSLR camera on-air during one of the classes. Another time, at the end of one of the classes, ‘William Eames’ announced a one-time chance to get a lifetime membership (~$500USD), I jumped on it. At the time, they only had a few courses available, but reassured new ones will be added. The site was/is geared for subscription [courses], originally targeting photographers. Thay have since expanded well beyond photography. I'm retired and mostly use Upskillist to better my skills and expand my knowledge, not for college or business but for self-improvement. I consider myself a slow 'information-absorber' and often retake a course to help me understand things better. Price for courses were (still are?) a la carte. As I mentioned- lifetime members were given full access to all and future courses. For at least 7 years now, they have been true to their word, dozens of new courses have been added over the years. In January 2019, I received an email from SA advertising- "Get a Masters Level Qualification [Photography] for you and Lifetime membership for you and 3 Friends Only $125!". I paid for it, but was unable to recruit 3 friends :-(. Later in the year, I inquired when the course was expected to be available, I was told "it was coming". Shortly after, I suffered a series of life altering events and I forgot about it. When I finally returned, and saw the Masters Level course never happened. I then assumed they had kept my advance payment which caused me to post a review reflecting my displeasure. My fault for not trying to contact support before posting a bad review. **UPDATE** With the reply from support below, you can see they are on top of my problem. I have been attending classes at Upskillist’s new website and am quite pleased how it has been streamlined from the old. I’m impressed they are refunding my years-old advance payment for the Masters class that was scrapped. I had been told, “it failed to meet the standards they wanted to achieve”. Because they always addressed my issues favorably, as well as the improvements and added classes to the new website, I changed my rating from 1 star to 5 stars. My experiences are based on what it was like in their infancy, and how it has evolved. I really do think this is a good site to learn real-world skills from experienced people, designed to fit any schedule, presented in a no-nonsense way. I cannot wait to dive into some of the newly added classes. Upskillist has been true to their word. I edited and deleted a lot of my original claims in this review, they were inaccurate assumptions. IMO it is admirable they decided to cancel a class that could not measure up to expected standards, rather than roll out something just to attract more money. The only fly-in-the-ointment was how they failed to notify me and/or offer restitution then. Either way, they are making good now. To me, it would have still been worth it if only I was able to find 3 more friends to become lifetime members back then too. The site has grown and me with them. Upskillist is a legitimate learning site. As for it being recognized towards college credit, I cannot speak for that, for me it is unimportant. To find out the recognition level of all the courses, I recommend doing the research. I look forward to furthering myself and growth of knowledge with Upskillist. -Scott Irvin - Ellington, CT, U.S.A.