6 Tips for How to structure an online course |
No matter if you're constructing your very first or 10th class, these five tips will help your audience make the most of it.
There's an abundance of online classes available. It's true... Many.
Some are good. Certain are good. Others are awful.
The online course boom means that a lot of people are trying to cash in through their own online course and that's great! But too many online teachers create courses of poor quality, which aren't beneficial to them, or their students.
It's a craft to create the perfect online course. In spite of the competition, a well-designed, well-thought-out course that offers the transformation they need is still able to do very well.
In this article in this article, we'll be talking about the best way to organize an online course to make sure students are getting the best of the experience. These six tips can assist you in gaining a clear vision of what changes your students are going through and help them help them get there. If you adhere to these tips instructions, you'll soon be on your way to being able to deliver a high-quality course as well as testimonials from students who love it.
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3. Test for knowledge retention
Beginning at the end
Can we tell you the problem with too many online courses?
Too many course creators start by describing what they are familiar with they want to share with students. They decide what they want to talk about. Then they begin to plot their plan of action.
Here's why this isn't a good idea.
Good courses don't come from simply dumping your brain with every thing you've ever learned. The secret to an AMAZING course is being specific about what you would like your audience to get from it. Where will they be when the course is completed?
Start with the end in the mind of your. If you are building communities online, we describe this end as a Big Purpose statement.
A Big Purpose statement appears like this.
The Major Purpose of a course doesn't sound much different. The goal is to bring together a number of individuals who wish to get a certain result. That's what your course is designed for.
It's not:
- Sharing everything you know
- Impressing them with your knowledge
- The goal is to make them deep experts on a topic (unless there's a masterclass)
The single goal for your training is to lead your participants through a transformation that is of a certain kind. These could be big transformative life changes. Or they could be small, intimate, and fun.
Here are some examples of transformations:
- Learn to go from having no knowledge of guitar to playing songs around a campfire
- Go from being couch potato, to slow AF runners
- You can go from becoming a florist into running a successful floral business
- Go from knowing the basics of marketing to becoming an expert in YouTube advertisements
It's transformations people want. So, define the transformation you wish your participants to be able to complete. Then, you can work backward from this to build the course around precisely what your ideal student needs to accomplish the transformation you want them to achieve: nothing more, no less.
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Focus on the steps
Once you have a clearly defined goal for your course then you're able to sketch an outline for the course you want to contain. It could take some time to research OR, if you're instructing something that you've already learned It could just be sitting down and thinking through what you've learned.
Find a blank piece of either paper or paper. Record the conclusion. Next, ask yourself "What do they ACTUALLY need to accomplish this transformation ?"
One of the biggest dangers in this area is known as the "curse of knowing." It's difficult to determine how best to teach a beginner, especially if you've mastered certain things but it's been while since you were an absolute beginner. Do you remember looking confused at trigonometry as your instructor began talking about the hypotenuse without giving a reason for it?
That's probably the curse of knowing at work. You assume people know something that you would take for granted.
The answer is to focus on the process. You should ask yourself "what steps would it take to master this?" And include everything-whether you think that they are aware of it or not.
Let's say, for instance suppose you're taking an introductory guitar class. You've selected a catchy name which you'll name it: "Campfire Guitar Mastery: Start from 0 and lead singingalong ."
What do people who've not played guitar in their life have to know in order to move from zero to enjoying a campfire?
Here are a few steps that might make sense:
- What is the best way to select an instrument if you don't have one
- Guitar parts
- What is HTML0? How to locate & read chord charts
- Strumming patterns
- The first song
- What can you do to use it efficiently
- Where to find song chords
- Sing as you play
- How can you gain the confidence to play in public
Once you know what the purpose is, you'll have the right direction for how you can structure your online course to help your students meet the goal. They could be lessons or your modules.
Don't give them anything more than they need!
We talked a bit about this earlier. The biggest mistake teachers make is to cram the course with everything they've learned. The temptation to do this due to many reasons, typically, however, we feel that our students will value the class more when there's everything in it.
Resist the urge. Let them have what they want instead. Student satisfaction doesn't come from lengthy courses. It is a result of a well-designed program.
So, for our campfire guitar course above You'll note that it doesn't have:
- An in-depth history of the guitar
- Lessons in guitar music around the world
- A guide to reading music
- Extensive explanations on why you need to learn how to play (from the course description, they know exactly why)
- Instructions for how to make a campfire
Make sure you focus on the steps that they'll need to take. Then, pitch the rest.
A tip: When you've got your course laid out, go through each step and see whether you are able to scratch one off. If you can get rid of modules, and still feel confident that students will achieve the results they want take it!
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Test to determine knowledge retention
If you're having exams or assessments in your class ensure that your tests also stick to what they'll be required to recall in the future. Too many courses approach tests as an opportunity to test whether students are paying attention, or ask silly questions like "In module 2-who was the queen of England that we discussed? ?"
If you're planning to test, make sure it's reviewing and strengthening the information they must take into consideration and not checking that they remembered useless details of the class.
Here are some examples of bad and good questions:
Facebook advertising course:
- What colour is the color of Facebook logo? (bad)
- What exactly does "audience" refers to for your ad? (good)
Course in Business
- What color pants did Jake wear in the 2nd lesson? (bad)
- How can I increase membership retention? (good)
Check that all questions tie into the knowledge and the skills that students will require to achieve the objectives of the course.
Build your projects
One alternative method for how structure your online course material is for students to create projects. This can be done instead of doing tests and tests.
If your students get to the finish line of your lesson with some tangible results this is a fantastic thing! Also, they'll be able to have higher retention rates because they've actually done this in the first place.
In case you're teaching a course with the goal of creating something practical or artistic and guiding students in the process of creating portfolio pieces or projects may be the way to go.
Here are a few examples of the kinds of projects you could get from an online course:
The course focuses on Web Design to Beginners
Project: A website
CourseDescription: Ruby on Rails
Project: Your first app
Course: Learn Watercolor Painting
Project: Your first painting
Course: Intro to Lettering
Project: Portfolio of letters
Course: Pitching Magazines
Project: A completed pitch sent out
Too many courses out there instruct students on how to accomplish stuff and leave them to use the information independently. If you SHOW them how to do it by guiding them through the steps, and provide them with something they can take away, they'll have gotten their money's worth from your course.
Mix mediums
Another aspect that can really help with online course structure is mixing delivery mediums. Learners learn differently. Thus, adding a variety of courses assists students with different learning styles plus it makes your course accessible.
For instance, you could build an online course using pre-recorded Asynchronous video. The students will have the option to view or listen and to the ability to pause and start whenever they want. The video could also be accompanied by a text summary or transcription of the video to those who prefer reading or those with disabilities that make audio or video unaccessible. There is the possibility of adding live conversations where the course members come together to chat about their course materials, ask you questions, and do some exercises with each other.
This type of mixed delivery provides many benefits to your studentsby letting them learn in the way that they best learn.
Select the correct platform
Not least it is important to select the best course platform. There are many alternatives available, however, only a few will let you do all the tasks we mentioned above: mixing up the synchronous and asynchronous classroom in live chats as well as Q&A sessions, conducting assessments, and letting students share the work of their classes.
So, choosing the appropriate platform is an important decision. If you're in search of a place to build an online course, try it ! It's got a simple and elegant engine for courses which lets you present content in just about anything you want, plus provides all the necessary tools to promote your course. Each course has its own community, it can be customized with a custom-designed brand and can be a mix of recorded and live content.
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Conclusion
The final decision on how to structure an online class boils down to focusing on what students want to change and how to get them there. If you're able to do this, you'll stand ahead of many of the classes available.
So if you:
- Define the transformation you want to give them,
- Determine the steps needed to reach their destination,
- Take them through it,
- and make sure it was successful...
Your course will be one that your students will love and talk to their friends about, plus the community of fans waiting for your next lesson!
If you'd like to test building your course on , you can check it out for absolutely no cost - and with without credit card needed.
Ready to begin the online training course of your choice?