When it is done with a group of people trying to learn the same thing as you, you get to interact and support each other. 

When it is dynamic and two-way, so live courses and not pre-recorded ones. 

When there are fewer lectures and more doing, think workshops, demos, group and solo exercises, Q and A, and breakouts.

When you commit to learning, usually by putting a decent amount of money at stake, this will make sure that you’ll take hours scheduled for learning seriously.

When there is almost instant and ongoing feedback.

When the person you are learning from is a practitioner who also teaches.

Where there are deadlines – to finish and apply learnings and when learning is timeboxed.