Deep diving into the world of Notion and trying figure out if the Notion Academy is worth your time?
You’re in luck! I’m about to give you the lowdown on what to expect from the Academy, whether you should be taking advantage of it or skipping it altogether.
What We Will Cover
What Is The Notion Academy?
You can think of the Notion academy as a collection of Notion tutorials and educational resources, all in one place. It’s meant to help users maximize their Notion experience.
Officially created and maintained by Notion, it provides accurate and up-to-date resources, making it easier for users (especially beginners) to navigate the platform.
Other ‘Notion Academies’
BTW, there are Notion Academy lookalikes. They have similar names but aren’t made by Notion themselves.
They offer their own Notion courses, but guess what? Most of them come with a price tag!
Just remember, knowing the difference between the original and these doppelgangers can save your wallet some grief.
Who Is It For?
Now that we can tell the real Notion Academy from the others, let’s take a look at who the platform is truly designed for.
We’ll look into three distinct user types who stand to reap the greatest benefits from these resources.
1. Absolute Beginners
The Notion Academy is great for those eager to learn the ropes. (1)
If you want to grasp the basics, like writing, editing, blocks, and databases, you’re in the right place.
The 101 and Notion For Personal Use sections are particularly helpful, providing a solid foundation for new users to build upon and navigate the platform with ease.
2. Those With Teams
The next group who can benefit from the Academy are teams.
Notion Academy can be a valuable resource for those wanting to learn collaboration and team-based features. They’ll be able to create wikis, set up team spaces, and configure permissions with ease.
I found the team and database sections are particularly useful, making collaboration within the Notion workspace simpler.
3. Those Pursuing Notion Certification
For users pursuing Notion certification, the Notion Academy is a good supplementary resource.
It covers comprehensive topics that not only build a strong foundation but also cover several certification test modules.
It’s not strictly necessary but if your goal is to pass with 100/100, I recommend covering the Notion Academy.
What The Academy Covers
There are plenty of topics to explore within the Notion Academy, although it’s kinda scattered. If I had to explain the curriculum, I’d narrow the topics down into 4 areas.
Let’s take a closer look at these core areas below.
1. 101: Introduction
The 101: Introduction section in Notion Academy helps beginners is like a beginner’s best friend. If you’re in this group, it has everything you need to get started.
Essential topics like adding blocks, creating pages, and organizing content are covered.
Additionally, users will learn about databases, sharing, and creating everyday documents, providing a solid foundation for their journey into the world of Notion.
2. Databases
The Database section of the Notion Academy is helpful for users of all levels.
It provides beginner information on various database views, including table, timeline, gallery, and more. Then it goes into more advanced tips on formulas, rollups, and even how to link databases.
From my perspective, this section stands out as one of the most useful parts of the Academy. It offers users the insights and techniques they need for organizing and visualizing data more effectively.
3. Teams
From here on end, the Notion Academy gets a bit wild, with topics becoming less structured.
This section leans more towards teams than solo users, focusing on sharing and managing documents in a team environment. But hey, it also covers assigning tasks, which can be pretty handy.
It also goes into detail about permissions and working within teamspaces.
Overall, this module is more team-oriented, individual users can still learn a thing or two.
4. Specific Use Cases
Lastly, the next sections of Notion Academy tackles specific organizational functions like HR and engineering, showing how those teams can benefit from using Notion.
While not everyone may find it super useful, it’s worth a skim. But not all is lost for individual users…
There’s a section on Notion For Personal Use, which I highly recommend exploring. It’s packed with practical tips for individuals looking to create practical pages like task lists and journals.
Should You Check It Out?
Alright, let’s talk about whether the Notion Academy is worth it.
The content is a bit scattered, hopping from features for all users to team-specific ones. If you’re after detailed, structured courses, you might find it slightly disappointing.
That said, the content is engaging and informative, just lacking proper curation.
My advice? Unless you’re prepping for their certification, jump straight to the modules relevant to you. There are hidden gems to be discovered, but you’ll need to do some digging!
FAQs
How can I learn Notion for free?
Looking to learn Notion for free? Notion has you covered with free resources such as their Reference Center and Notion Academy.
If video tutorials are your thing, head over to the Academy. And for beginner-specific content, the Reference Center is the place to be.
Enjoy learning Notion without breaking the bank.
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