IT Sharks

IT Sharks is a free Arabic-language learning platform that organizes video instruction into courses and job-focused diploma tracks, and issues a free certificate when a learner finishes one. It is a learner product: there is no paid tier, no checkout and no instructor sign-up on the pages. The site describes itself as "منصة مجانية رائدة فى التعلم عن بعد" (a leading free distance learning platform) that gives learners the chance to earn a free certificate in a single skill or to build a job title from the beginning. Its tagline reads "كورسات ودبلومات اونلاين معتمدة مجاناً" (certified online courses and diplomas, free). The interface switches between Arabic and English.

Where the content comes from

The footer of every page explains the model in one sentence: "تعتمد IT Sharks على كنز اليوتيوب فى اقتناء افضل الدورات التعليمة وخلق مسارات تعليمية رائدة تناسب المبتدئين" (IT Sharks relies on the treasure of YouTube to acquire top educational courses and create leading learning paths suited to beginners). In other words, the lessons are existing video courses selected from YouTube and arranged into a sequence, with progress tracking and a certificate added on top. The footer also states that all copyright belongs to the owners of the courses. The About page says that across "أكثر من 200 تخصص" (more than 200 specializations), IT Sharks targeted top online lecturers in each field, with an eye on both the subject matter and the filming quality of the videos.

The site carries advertising and asks visitors who use an ad blocker to switch it off to support the platform. Visitors can also add the site to their phone's home screen as an app.

The course catalog

The home page puts the catalog at more than 1,474 courses, and the About page says these are "اكثر من 1474 دورة معتمدة" (more than 1,474 certified courses). The top categories on the home page, with their course counts, are accounting (19 courses), languages (14), computer skills (8), programming fundamentals (12), computer networks (18), personal skills development (9), marketing (21) and business administration (8). The About page adds graphic design, electrical power engineering, information security, civil and architectural engineering, web programming, mechanical engineering, databases, web design programming, DevOps, Big Data, engineering fundamentals and mobile app programming.

The most-studied courses shown on the site are Excel, beginner-level English, ICDL, accounting fundamentals, financial accounting, Cisco CCNA, the professional financial accountant course (PFA) and accounting with Excel. Other popular titles on the roadmap page include SEO fundamentals, graphic design fundamentals, computer fundamentals (A+) and networking fundamentals. Each popular course is listed with a count of محاضرين (lecturers): 8 for Excel, 9 for accounting fundamentals and 10 for Cisco CCNA, for example.

Diploma tracks for the job market

The diplomas are the platform's career offer. The About page calls them "دبلومات كاملة للمبتدئين من البداية للأحتراف تؤهلك لسوق العمل" (complete diplomas for beginners, from the start to a professional level, that qualify you for the job market). Eighteen are listed: graphic designer, network engineer, IT Help Desk, motion graphics, FrontEnd programmer, Flutter programmer, DevOps engineer, SEO specialist, system administrator, UX designer, PHP developer, .Net developer, MEAN developer, Android programmer, MERN developer, React Native programmer, Ionic programmer and Xamarin programmer. The FAQ page gives the size of four of them: graphic designer (5 courses), network engineer (9 courses), IT Help Desk (3 courses) and motion graphics (11 courses).

The FrontEnd programmer diploma shows how a track is built. Its page defines the role as the person who programs the visible part of a website with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and says the path runs from the very beginning to job readiness, ending with AngularJS, which it calls the most requested in the market. The track lists 12 courses in order:

• HTML, described as a markup language rather than a programming language, easy enough to learn with no prior experience;
• CSS, the styling language for web pages;
• HTML and CSS projects, where learners take a ready PSD template and turn it step by step into a working web page, the way it is done in the job market;
• SASS, an extension of CSS for larger projects with variables and split files;
• JavaScript fundamentals;
• jQuery;
• Bootstrap, including its grid system for responsive pages;
• Bootstrap projects, a responsive template built from a PSD file to a finished page;
• TypeScript;
• and a choice of framework at the end: AngularJS, Vue JS or React JS.

The page links related articles such as guides to free JavaScript, HTML and Gulp JS courses.

How studying and certificates work

The home and About pages set out five steps to a certificate. A learner logs in or creates an account, picks a course or diploma, and studies the lessons on the platform "بدون تقديم او تسريع للفيديوهات" (without skipping ahead or speeding up the videos). The platform follows the learner while studying and raises the completion percentage after every lesson. Once the course lessons are finished, the certificate appears in the learner's IT Sharks account. Sign-in works with a Google account or an email and password.

The site states that IT Sharks "تمنح ... شهاده معتمده على كل من الكورسات الفردية والدبلومات المتكاملة" (grants a certified certificate for both individual courses and complete diplomas), and that every certificate is entirely free as soon as the course or diploma is finished. A certificate check page lets anyone verify a certificate code, and the site links a sample certificate.

On what "certified" means, the FAQ answers the question directly: "منصه IT Sharks موثقه من وزاره الاتصالات وتكنولوجيا المعلومات مما يمنحها الحق اصدار شهادتها الخاصه واعتمادها بنفسها" (the IT Sharks platform is registered with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which gives it the right to issue its own certificates and certify them itself). So the certificate is issued and certified by IT Sharks itself; the FAQ does not tie it to a university, an exam board or a vendor certification.

Scale

The home page shows four running totals: more than 147,575 learners, more than 1,474 courses, more than 12,693 certificates issued and more than 1,158 lecturers.

Cost and support

Everything on the site is free: courses, diplomas and certificates. There is no price, subscription or paid upgrade anywhere on the pages. Help runs through a contact and help page, which carries the FAQ.

Who it suits

IT Sharks suits an Arabic-speaking beginner who wants a free, ordered path through YouTube instruction in web development, networking, IT support, design, accounting or Excel, and who wants a certificate at the end without paying for it. The diploma tracks give structure that a playlist does not, and the progress tracking makes the learner actually watch each lesson. It suits less well someone who needs an internationally recognized credential, original course material with direct access to the instructor, or graded assessments, since the pages describe certificates earned by watching lessons through and say nothing about exams.