how to create a simple online course

by Prof. Kyla Wintheiser MD 7 min read

In this article, you'll find an overview of the 10 major stages of online course creation:
  1. Pick the perfect course topic.
  2. Ensure your course idea has high market demand.
  3. Create Magnetic and Compelling Learning Outcomes.
  4. Select and Gather your Course Content.
  5. Structure Your Modules and Course Plan.
Sep 1, 2021

How do you create your own online course?

 · How to create an online course Choose the right subject matter Test your idea Research the topic extensively Write a course outline Create the course content Bring your course online Sell your online course Market your content Gather feedback Cultivate a learning community 01. Choose the right subject matter

How to make a great online course?

How To Create An Online Course For Free (In 3 Simple Steps)? Outline Your Course. Who is Your Audience? What Will They Pay? How to Pick a Course Title? Who Is Your Audience? First... Create Training Content. For a full list of Content Types check out the article below. Now that you understand some ...

How to start creating online courses?

Creating an online course is easier than you think. Pick a ready-to-use course, edit it based on your needs, and share it. Or choose a template from our library; add your content - text, images, videos, presentations, quizzes & surveys; configure settings, and publish it. Watch this quick video guide to learn How to Create an Online Course.

How to create online course [ultimate Beginners Guide]?

5 simple tips to create online courses 1. Use what you already have. If you are going to teach about something, it’s a sign that the subject interests you a... 2. Opt for tools available online. Thanks to technology you no longer need expensive or …

How can I create an online course for free?

How to create an online course for freeThinkific: Software to create an online course for free. ... Canva: Free and low-cost design tool. ... Beaver Builder: affordable WordPress page builder. ... Camtasia: Cheap software for editing online course videos, with a free trial. ... Vimeo: Free video hosting.More items...•

How do you structure an online course?

In many ways, the structure of online courses closely resembles the structure of in-person courses. Each week, students generally must complete a set of required readings, watch one or more lectures, participate in a discussion with their classmates, and finish an assignment.

How do I create an online mini course?

The art of doing: How to create a mini courseChoose a course topic. For those: ... Identify the target audience. Scoping out and identifying an audience is key to success. ... Provide a transformation. The best way to do this is to solve a real problem. ... Outline the content. ... Shrink the list. ... Repurpose content.

What software can I use to create an online course?

What is the Best Online Course Software?Best Overall: iSpring Suite.Alternative Pick: Kajabi.Best for Automation: Thinkific.Excellent for Beginners: Teachable.Top Open Source Pick: Open edX.Good for Interactive eLearning: Adobe Captivate.Easily Scalable: Google Course Builder.

How many lessons should an online course have?

The number of lessons you choose to include in your online course mostly depends on the learning objectives you promise to deliver. Most short courses comprise of a couple of 5-minute videos while longer ones have 20 to 50 videos which are each around 5 to 20 minutes long.

How do you design a course?

To design an effective course, you need to:Consider timing and logistics.Recognize who your students are.Identify the situational constraints.Articulate your learning objectives.Identify potential assessments.Identify appropriate instructional strategies.Plan your course content and schedule.

How do I start a mini course?

2:0439:09How To Launch A Mini-Course Right Now - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipIf you want to do them right if you want a perennial bestseller. If you want a flagship. Product orMoreIf you want to do them right if you want a perennial bestseller. If you want a flagship. Product or products that just continue to make money like for example I had a course called rethink mixing.

What is a micro course?

We'll be talking about micro-courses today. They are essentially short-form courses that focus on very niche and narrowed down topics. They have their own unique strengths, opportunities, and advantages.

What does mini course mean?

a brief course of studyDefinition of minicourse : a brief course of study usually lasting less than a semester.

What is the best platform to teach online?

List of 15 Best Online Teaching Platforms for TeachingLingoda.CourseCraft.Thinkific.Podia.Ruzuku.WizIQ.LearnWorlds.Preply.More items...•

How do I create a PDF course?

How to create an online course PDF checklistOpen up your free (or paid) Canva account.Type “checklist” in the search bar.Select your favourite layout.Adjust colours to your brand colours.Adjust fonts to your brand fonts.Insert your content.Click download as PDF.Upload PDF to your online school.

How do I create and sell a course online?

Share this articlePick the perfect course topic.Ensure your course idea has high market demand.Create Magnetic and Compelling Learning Outcomes.Select and Gather your Course Content.Structure Your Modules and Course Plan.Determine the most engaging and effective delivery methods for each lesson.More items...•

How to develop a curriculum for online classes?

Now is the time to develop the curriculum for your online course. On a piece of paper, write down a list of the different lessons you plan on teaching online. Within each lesson, break it down to the main topics you want to cover. Go in a logical order and try to make your ideas evolve naturally from one to the other , to ensure a smooth and frictionless learning process.

What should the topic of an online course be?

The topic for your online course should be either a subject that you’re already knowledgeable about or are willing to invest in learning thoroughly. Either way, you need to be passionate about the subject.

What does competition mean in online courses?

Having competition means that people find the topic relevant and helpful for them. It’s also a good idea to create content that can comfortably fit into an existing, tried-and-tested space.

What to do if you already have professional experience with your course topic?

If you already have professional experience with your course topic, it’s likely that you’ve put together content about it in the past. Have you ever written a blog post or created a webinar about the subject? Maybe you host a podcast or run a YouTube channel for your business in which you’ve discussed similar themes? If so, go back to these materials. Repurposing existing content into your online course will help get you started and save a lot of valuable time.

How to get your audience to work on a topic?

Ask a group of friends, as well as your existing audience, what they think of the subject you had in mind. Test it out by sharing polls or online forms for your audience to fill out. You can make a short tutorial first, and monitor its performance. Then, follow up on the tutorial on social media or via email marketing campaigns, asking your audience if this type of material is something they’re interested in seeing more of.

How to test your idea?

In order to test your idea, use a landing page builder to create a page for your upcoming online course. Although you haven’t created the course just yet, you already know what it’s going to be about. Include a concise description of the course explaining what people can expect to learn and add eye-catching imagery to further reflect the concept. Check out these fully customizable landing page templates to use as a starting point.

How to determine competitor price?

Competitor prices: Start by doing a quick audit to determine the average course price on your topic. While the prices can fluctuate depending on how much of an expert the course instructor is, try to get a sense of what the going market rate is for reference.

Step 1: Identify Goals

The first thing you need to do is figure out what your online course is trying to accomplish. You’ll need to identify your clients’ goals for the course so you can define the learning objectives. Understanding what skills or knowledge your learners need to gain will help you design an effective course.

Step 2: Gather Content

When you’ve got an idea of what your course is going to accomplish, you’ll need to gather the information, images, logos, reference documents, and webpages you’ll use to build it. You’ll collaborate with subject matter experts and other stakeholders to figure out what should be included and how it’s relevant to the course’s learning objectives.

Step 3: Storyboard

You’ve got all your content and now you’ll fit it into a storyboard, or a visual outline of your course. This is sort of like a puzzle. You’ve got a bunch of content and now you’ve got to figure out how you’ll put the information together.

Step 4: Build a Prototype

You’ll work from your completed storyboard to build a prototype, or basic version of your course, using an e-learning authoring tool, such as Articulate Storyline or Studio.

Step 5: Get Feedback, Tweak, Finalize

Share your prototype with the project stakeholders and ask for their comments. Make sure you get in-depth feedback that you really understand so that you can minimize revisions.

Step 6: Get the Course to Learners

You’ve got a finished course and now you need to get it it to your learners. How you’ll do this depends on your needs.

Step 7: Measure Your Success

Measuring the success of your course is an important final step. There are tons of great approaches to measuring your course’s success, from low-tech paper surveys to data-driven investigations of ROI and performance improvements.

What is the purpose of creating an online course?

One of the important components of creating an online course is to set learning goals for your course. As mentioned above, each online course consists of several course modules or sections and each individual section must also have clearly defined goals.

How to make an online course more engaging?

An easy way to make your online courses more engaging is to stimulate the content visually by using rich media like videos. When it comes to how to make an online course engaging, video is an integral part.

What is the importance of online courses?

Online courses must deliver an immersive, informative, and fun experience for students . One of the most critical elements to achieve this is to have a cohesive structure for your content .

What to do before enrolling learners in online courses?

Before you begin trying to enroll learners in your online courses, make sure you conduct tests and assignments in different browsers with different user types to identify any problems related to the content or technical aspects.

How to use image based content in online courses?

The simplest method of using image-based content in your online course would be constructing your online courses based on PowerPoint presentations. Add interesting images to your slides to stimulate your students visually.

When creating the content for your online course, do you need to create a final course structure?

When creating the content for your online course, you need to create a final course structure with the content you have gathered in notepads and hard drives. By going through the piles of content, sort out what you need, and discard what you don’t need.

Can you have text only lectures?

Classic lectures mainly consist of text content. The least effort would be to simply deliver a series of text-only lectures. However, you should not avoid text entirely. Text content is a crucial part of most online courses. But, to make it more engaging, you need to add more types of content to your online course along with the text.

What is the most engaging content to use for training?

Text is the most used but least engaging content you can use for your training material, but you will still use a lot anyway due to being easy to create and maintain. It is also good for explaining assignments and showing marking sheets.

Can you add interactive elements to a training?

There are heaps of interactive elements you can add to your training, but it all depends on the hosting you choose at the end of this article as to what you will be able to include. There are heaps of free software packages that simulate almost every type of situation. There is a huge amount of free games on the web that you can include for students to reinforce learning.

How to create an online course?

Creating an online course is easier than you think. Pick a ready-to-use course, edit it based on your needs, and share it. Or choose a template from our library; add your content - text, images, videos, presentations, quizzes & surveys; configure settings, and publish it. Watch this quick video guide to learn How to Create an Online Course.

How to build a custom online course?

Build custom online courses by importing your existing content, such as images, videos, podcasts, PDFs, docs, and presentations. You can also add branding so that your audience can easily identify you.

What is ProProfs training maker?

ProProfs Training Maker comes integrated with the world’s largest Quiz Maker, helping you test learners with quizzes and assessments.

Why add quizzes to courses?

Add engaging quizzes and surveys to your courses for assessment and feedback purposes. Keep learners motivated and excited about learning.

How to help learners identify critical information easily?

Help learners identify critical information easily through engaging course content. Use videos, images, flashcards, and presentations. It is easy to test a learner’s progress through quizzes and gain valuable feedback about the course through surveys.

How to embed a course in ProProfs?

Just copy the embed code of your course, set your preferred resolution, and paste the code to your website's HTML editor - that s it . Here’s a detailed guide for you to learn How to Embed a Course on a Website.

How long does it take to create a course?

Keep the 10-minute rule in mind, that is, any chapter (containing text, presentation, or video) should take only about 10 minutes for learners to complete.

What can be used to help format the content of your course?

From material from other courses, to printed content such as books, magazines, articles written by you or third parties, videos, among others , everything can be used to help format the content of your course. But don’t forget, all reused content must be adapted to the digital environment and the context of your course.

What is Coursify online?

An online teaching platform is software like Coursify.me, configured to host your material and act as a virtual classroom for your students.

What to think about when building a didactic material?

Think about language, design and other relevant points for building a didactic material.

Can you make a course on the internet?

Currently, you can make your course with tools you already own and free software available on the internet.

Can you make a video on a computer?

If all you have to start is a computer, great, you started well! Videos are a big favorite of online learning and it is possible to create one easily using screen capture programs.

Do you need to be a designer to design a course?

You don’t need to be a designer or hire one to give your course a nice professional look.

Is it easy to validate a business idea?

The good news is that the internet has made it extremely easy to validate your business idea before you start to create online.

image