Best Safe Scrum Certifications - Q2 2023
Our Top Picks
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Our Expert Review
Content Coverage (5/5)
This is a comprehensive course covering all major topics we believe to be critical for Agile training. The course is organized into four modules, which contain brief, well-constructed video lectures, readings, hands-on simulations, and quizzes. The sequence of the course is logical and easy to follow.
Lecture Quality (5/5)
The instructor – John J. Rofrano – is a Senior Technical Staff Member and DevOps Champion at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. His credentials are very impressive and he is a confident, organized, and poised lecturer. All lectures start with a list of learning objectives, followed by a well-written lecture with Mr. Rafrano presenting to the learner, accompanied by bullets or conceptual graphics and animations. The graphics, while simple, are well-designed for helping the learner conceptualize complex topics.
Quiz Quality (5/5)
Practice quizzes conclude every section of every module of this course and there is also a graded summative quiz at the end of each module. Practice quizzes consist of well-written multiple-choice questions that cover all of the content taught in the section. Learners receive immediate feedback upon submission of the quiz, which includes helpful hints for questions answered incorrectly. Learners must receive a score of 83% or higher to earn credit for the practice quizzes and can retake them as many times as necessary.
Graded module quizzes conclude each module and are summative in nature, containing multiple-choice questions that address all topics covered in the chapter. Learners are provided immediate feedback on submission of the module quizzes, which includes a hint of which section to review for incorrect answers. Learners must receive a grade of 70% or higher to earn credit for the module quizzes and can retake the quizzes as many times as necessary.
Assignment/Exercise Quality (4/5)
There are several exercises in the course that provide step-by-step instructions for learners to perform certain actions within Zenhub software. The instructions are very well written and include screenshots. If learners choose to complete the exercises, they will indeed provide practice for concepts learned. However, there is no feedback mechanism or way to ensure that learners have completed the exercises.
Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)
This course is offered by IBM through Coursera. IBM is one of the most well-respected technology corporations in the world and Coursera is one of the leading online learning platforms.
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Our Expert Review
Content Coverage (5/5)
This course is structured into 17 sections containing brief, focused video lectures, readings, quizzes, and practice tests. The content covers all topics required of an Agile course, plus many extras, such as Scaled Scrum, Getting PSM Certified, and Preparing for the PSM II assessment. The content is well organized and sequenced in a manner that is easy to follow.
Lecture Quality (5/5)
The video lectures are all organized in small chunks (less than 5 minutes), which is great for busy adult learners. The scripts are very well written and researched. Videos consist of the instructor speaking in one of the lower corners, while graphics, slides, and animations are presented in the main area of the screen. The graphics and animations are very well designed to assist learners in understanding basic concepts. The instructor does have an accent, which could be a barrier for some learners. But we found him easy to understand and there are captions available.
Quiz Quality (5/5)
There are quizzes containing multiple-choice and true/false questions for most of the major sections within the course. The quizzes for most sections are relatively short, with one question for each topic. Questions are presented one at a time and feedback is provided immediately. Learners must answer all questions to gain credit for the quiz, but there is no minimum score.
There are also several simulated assessments to assist learners in preparing for the Professional Scrum Master (PSM II) Certificate Exam. These are excellent tools with thorough feedback. They reinforce most of the content taught in all of the other sections, so tend to make up for the more simple quizzes in other sections.
Assignment/Exercise Quality (3/5)
There are many videos in which the instructor presents mock questions from the PSM exam, pauses, and then explains how best to answer the questions. There are also several practice exams that provide experiential practice for preparing for the exam.
Certificate Brand Quality (3/5)
The instructor for this course – Mirko Perkusich – holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and professional Scrum certifications (PSM, PSPO, CSM, and CSPO) and has experienced software development projects for ten years. While Mr. Perkusich clearly has the credentials to teach the course, he is not well-known within the agile community. Udemy, the platform on which the course is provided, is well-known, but course quality varies dramaticaly. For these reasons, a certification from this course may not make the same impression as other courses on our list.
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Our Expert Review
Content Coverage (5/5)
This course covers all of the topics we consider critical for agile training, focusing on the perspective of developers in an agile team. As such, the course provides additional information relevant to developers, such as advanced concepts of Jira, using Confluence for documentation, various certifications related to Scrum, and Planning Poker. The course is organized into 8 modules, each containing brief and targeted video lectures and a quiz.
Lecture Quality (5/5)
Lectures in this course consist of presentation slides with useful graphics, text, and animations, accompanied by a voice-over. The scripts for each section are well-organized and the graphics and animations are well-designed. Each lecture is brief (less than 4 minutes) to accommodate learners who have shorter periods of study time.
Quiz Quality (5/5)
Each module ends with a quiz containing multiple-choice questions that test the learner’s knowledge of all topics covered in the module. The questions are all well-written with plausible answers and the number of questions is appropriate for the material covered. Learners are presented with one question at a time and provided immediate feedback upon submission of the question. When the learner answers a question incorrectly, this feedback includes links back to the lecture covered by the question. Learners must answer all questions to earn credit for the quiz, but there is no minimum grade required. Learners can retake the quiz as often as they wish.
Assignment/Exercise Quality (1/5)
There are no exercises offered for this course.
Certificate Brand Quality (4/5)
The certificate is offered by LinkedIn Learning. Formerly Lynda Learning, this is a very well-respected corporate learning platform. LinkedIn Learning certificates can be automatically added to Learner’s LinkedIn profile. Given the notoriety of Lynda Learning and LinkedIn, this certificate is likely to impress employers.
Topics To Look For in an Scrum Certification
- Agile vs. Waterfall
- Three Pilars of Scrum
- The Five Values of Scrum
- Scrum Roles and Responsibilities (product owner, scrum master, developers)
- Scrum Events (sprint plannning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, sprint retrospectives)
- Scrum Artifacts (product backlogs, sprint backlogs, increments, definition of done)
- Kanban boards
- Epics and User Stories
- Effort estimation (t-shirt stories and story points)
- Burndown charts
- Velocity
The Major Online Learning Platforms
Each online learning platform is unique. Some specialize in certain types of content, some partner with major universities or corporations to develop content, and some have special learning features. While not exhaustive, the list below includes the major online platforms whose courses we feature.
Pros / Cons
Pros: Certificates often are offered from major universities or corporations.
Cons: The quality of course content and features available varies dramatically between courses.
Cost
$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Courses are very similar to those offered in colleges.
Cons: The quality of content and features offered varies dramatically between learning programs.
Cost
$$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: A focus on microlearning with consistently high-quality content. Consistent use of quizzes throughout all courses.
Cons: Pricing is skewed toward annual subscriptions, which is far more content (and cost) than most learners need within a year.
Cost
$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Labs offer a means of gaining practical experience in technical skills.
Cons: There are no incremental quizzes or ways to test learners on specific topics.
Cost
$$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Udemy tends to be one of the more affordable options for individuals looking to learn specific technical skills.
Cons: Highly inconsistent quality between courses.
Cost
$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Consistent, high-quality micro-content that focuses on practical exercises.
Cons: The catalog is somewhat limited compared to other vendors on this list.
Cost
$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Many free online classes are offered. Live online classroom experiences are offered for some of their courses.
Cons: Variable quality of courses, with some courses having relatively low quality.
Cost
$$$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Skillshare has a large library of courses related to creative skills.
Cons: Most courses are just a series of lectures with no interactivity, quizzing, or opportunities to practice concepts.
Cost
$$$
For more information, check out our detailed post on the best online course platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are scrum masters in demand?
According to the World Economic Forum, Scrum Master was one of the fastest emerging jobs in Product Development in 2022.
How Long Does it Take to Earn Scrum Master Certification?
The average amount of time to earn a certificate among our top rated courses is 11 hours, or roughly 2.5 weeks at four hours of dedicated study per week.
How does Scrum differ from waterfall?
Waterfall methodologies use long, distinct phases. Each phase has a beginning and end. The focus is to thoroughly cover each phase before moving to the next. A product is not created until all phases have been completed. By nature, waterfall is a longer, more expensive, and less flexible methodology – particularly if unexpected changes are required in earlier phases.
Scrum, on the other hand, is an agile framework. Agile frameworks focus on brief, iterative phases that produce some product, or piece of value, at each iteration. Agile frameworks assume that there will be unexpected changes along the way and allow for a product to evolve rapidly to those changes. Scrum the most popular agile framework, with clearly defined roles, events and artifacts.
Are scrum and agile the same thing?
No. Agile is a product development methodology that focuses on iterative and adaptable processes. It is not prescriptive. Scrum is an agile framework that is very prescriptive. Scrum defines clear roles, events and artifacts that should be used by teams during the product development process.
How does a scrum team work?
Scrum teams are comprised of Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and Development Teams. The Product Owner sets the priorities of development and is charged with being the “voice of the customer” to ensure that the each iteration produces something of value for real customers. The Scrum Masters collaborate with Product Owners and the Development team to ensure that the process is followed properly. The Development team works collaboratively on “user stories” – small elements of product requirements. They work on these stories during “sprints” – 1-4 week iterations in which user stories should be completed to produce some form of product. Before a sprint, Product Owners define which user stories should be prioritized from the “backlog” of user stories. The Scrum team collaborates on a sprint planning session to estimate and assign each user story. The Scrum team then meets daily for 15 minute “scrum” meetings in which status is shared and concerns are raised. At the end of each sprint, a sprint review allows the team to demonstrate the product of the sprint to the Product Owner and other stakeholders. The Scrum team than has a sprint review or retrospective to identify what went well and what could be improved in the next sprint.
Where can scrum be used?
Scrum is most often used in technology product development, but has also grown in popularity in a wide range of other industries, including construction, retail, financial services, advertising, marketing, government, and consulting.