how to create your own course material

by Aglae Padberg 10 min read

  • Choose Your Course Topic. In all significant endeavors, you need to plan. Your plan for making an online course should begin with choosing the primary topic of focus.
  • Identify the Target Audience. After choosing the topic for your online course, it’s now time to identify your target audience. ...
  • Gather and Structure Your Knowledge. Once you’ve determined what you’re teaching, that you do have people to teach, and that you can teach them something useful, then you can get ...
  • Create an Online Course Outline. Creating an outline for your online course will not happen in one day - be consistent! So, you’ve got your knowledge all organized – fantastic!
  • Choose Your Online Course Software or Platform. Where are you going to put your stuff? On a website of your own? Or on an existing platform like Udemy?
  • Create the Course Content. Congratulations! With the structure out of the way, you’re all set to start building your online course!
  • Make Sure Your Content is Engaging. Engaging the students who enroll in your online course is absolutely crucial if you want to become successful in the e-learning industry.

Creating your own materials to use in class
  1. Start by asking yourself what the purpose of the activity will be. ...
  2. Keep it simple. ...
  3. Personalize your content. ...
  4. Invest more time and thought into content than appearance. ...
  5. Try the materials out yourself. ...
  6. Try the materials with your students.
Mar 12, 2014

Full Answer

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.

Do I need to create all the content for my course?

That being said, you don’t need to create all of the content for your online course before you start selling it. It’s always better to start off with a smaller batch of content, as this will allow you to take in feedback from your students and make improvements accordingly.

Do I need to create the course material before going live?

Strictly speaking, you don’t need to have the entire course material ready before you go live. Some teachers finish creating their course while running it for their first batch of students—basically, they put together a structure, and just improvise from there.

How do I design a course from scratch?

Design your courses from scratch by using course authoring software or pick a style from a library of hundreds of templates. Bring your course ideas and we’ll take care of the rest. Customize as needed using our 100+ settings for common business workflows like security, compliance, integrations with other tools & more.

How do you make course materials?

How to Make Course Material Relevant: Tips from an InstructorTeach theory in moderation. ... Relate new theory to old knowledge. ... Help students personally connect with the material. ... Apply theory to practice. ... Link course content in various ways. ... Give students agency. ... Tie content to students' long-term goals. ... Be likeable.

How do I create my own course?

In this article, you'll find an overview of the 10 major stages of online course creation:Pick 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.More items...•

How do I create a course module?

How to create the best training modulesStep 1: Establish your training objectives. ... Step 2: Define your audience. ... Step 3: Decide on the right content format. ... Step 4: Create your training module template. ... Step 5: Test and test again. ... Step 6: Upload and launch your training module.

Where can I create my own course?

The 11 best platforms to create and sell online coursesUdemy for launching your first course.Skillshare for teaching creative skills.Teachable for creating an online school with advanced marketing.Podia for selling digital products and memberships.Thinkific for building a course from scratch.More items...•

How do I create my own online course?

Here's how to create an online course for free in 10 steps:Choose Your Course Topic.Identify the Target Audience.Gather and Structure Your Knowledge.Create an Online Course Outline.Choose Your Online Course Software or Platform.Create the Course Content.Make Sure Your Content is Engaging.More items...•

Is selling online courses profitable?

Are Online Courses Profitable? Yes, they are. Online courses offer one of the best business models to digital entrepreneurs. The demand is rising and people are more than willing to pay for them, and they are one of the top ways to make money online.

How can I create a 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 I create a PDF course?

Go to Manage Learning Content.Select Courses.Click on a specific course in the Course Overview.You will now be in the Course Curriculum area of the Course Builder.On the left-hand side, click Add Lesson.Select PDF.Name the Lesson Title as desired.More items...

How do you make a 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.

How much does it cost to make an online course?

It can cost anywhere from $200 to $10,000 to create an online course. The main source of expenses is the labor involved, followed by the equipment and software. If you are creating the online course yourself and not paying someone else to do it, this means that other than your time there are very few expenses involved.

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 fro...

How to design an online course

ProProfs offers plenty of appealing course templates for you to choose from. Pick a course template that resonates with your brand. Pick a theme an...

How long does it take to create a course?

Depending on your training topic and whether you use a ready-made course or template, it takes just minutes to create a beautiful course. Keep the...

How to embed a course on a website

It’s easy to embed a course on any website with ProProfs. Just copy the embed code of your course, set your preferred resolution, and paste the cod...

How to make an online course more engaging?

An easy way to make online courses more engaging is to stimulate the student visually. This means pictures and videos. The simplest method of using picture and videos in an online course would be constructing your online class more like a PowerPoint presentation:

What is the most important part of creating an online course?

One of the most important components of creating an online course is setting a learning goal for the course . However, there’s more to it. Every online course consists of various sections, and each individual section also needs to have a clear learning goal.

What does it mean to get started teaching?

Which means you need to get your knowledge together.

What is the target audience of an online course?

The target audience is the group of people to whom you are writing your course.

Do you have to create all the content for an online course?

That being said, you don’t need to create all of the content for your online course before you start selling it. It’s always better to start off with a smaller batch of content, as this will allow you to take in feedback from your students and make improvements accordingly.

Is it a waste of time to create an online course?

It’s crucial that you decide on a specific course subject in the beginning phase of creating your online course. Be as specific as possible.

Do online courses require money?

Contrary to popular belief, the process of creating online courses doesn’t require a large chunk of money. If you know what you are doing, you can develop profitable online courses at no cost whatsoever. Creating successful online courses is like building powerful magnets.

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.

Can you create a course without software?

Create online courses without any software installation. Courses are adaptable to different devices including laptops, smartphones, and desktops to facilitate ‘anytime’ and ‘anywhere’ accessibility. You can create a course in multiple languages. Configure over 100+ settings to develop secure courses online and provide private or public accessibility.

How to create an eLearning course

Before we get to the free tools, if you’re ready to create eLearning content for your team, there are a few basic steps any project will follow.

25 free eLearning authoring tools

You’ll notice that, in those six steps, we identified a few key areas of development, namely:

Get help with your employee training

For some, DIYing your own eLearning course won’t be worth the time or effort. Or, you may want an expert to jump on board to help you create a large-scale strategy or pick up certain development tasks. At EdgePoint Learning, we know that creating effective and remarkable eLearning programs takes work.

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What is training material?

Training materials are a necessary part of any program or activity that involves knowledge acquisition and retention. The best approach to developing instructional materials is to start by examining the training plan and available resources.

How to evaluate the effectiveness of training materials?

Evaluate the effectiveness of the training materials by asking training program participants to share their opinions. Training material feedback forms could contain questions about organization, clarity, variety and usefulness, and may be used to revise and improve the materials.

What is training plan?

Develop a training plan. A plan is an overview or outline of how training will be approached. It typically includes the training program schedule, key learning objectives and a list of the available resources. Estimate how much time to spend on each learning objective.

How to build a training program?

Once you’ve established course objectives and clear learning goals, you should begin to gather information to support your training programme, building a comprehensive reference of elements to include in your training material. Look at any existing course materials, talk to stakeholders or subject matter experts, review training manuals, read books on the topic and gather information wherever you can to help source course content.

What is courseware design?

Professionally developed courseware materials using instructional design techniques will focus firstly on learning objectives and what you or the client want the learners to do differently as a result of the training course or other learning solution. From there, you’ll develop a detailed outline of the course topic and perhaps create a table of course content that you use to sift the key learning points and outcomes. This begins the process of deciding what the eventual course content will look like.

Why is it important to proofread?

It’s important that you proofread your own course content during material development and once complete, as errors and mistakes can easily slip in. Use spellchecker software, but don’t rely only on this, as it can miss out some glaring errors.

Is it okay to have a sense of humor when writing a course?

It’s ok to have a sense of humour when you are writing learning courses and, in some cases, a funny anecdote or example can help the learning process. However, there is a level for this, and it should never be taken too far. Certainly, you should avoid anything that could be considered offensive or insulting as, of course, this is never going to be well received. Again, understand your training audience and keep their opinions in mind.

Why do you need to create and sell your materials?

Creating and selling your materials will force you to keep things organized, and will also encourage you to step back and take a more objective look at your own lessons. You’ll refine your own lessons in the process, making your teaching more efficient.

What is the biggest marketplace for selling your teaching materials online?

01. TeachersPayTeachers. TeachersPayTeachers is the biggest marketplace for selling your teaching materials online, and was one of the first, created by a teacher back in 2006. The site features over 2.7 million educator-created resources used by over four million teachers around the world.

How do creation strategies work?

The way most of these sites work is like this: 1) Create your teaching materials; 2) Create a free account and upload your materials onto the site; 3) Promote your materials; 4) Get paid.

What to check with your school about?

Be sure to check with your school about the protocol on resource use. If you are employed at a school, and using the resources you plan to sell in class, there may be intellectual property guidelines you need to consider.

Can you make a presentation with Canva?

Lecture slides and presentations are easy and enjoyable to create now with Canva's latest features. Since they still take more time than simply giving a lecture without a visual aid, many teachers will gladly pay to have the work done for them. Check out these tips on how you can create an eye-catching presentation.

Can teachers design better worksheets?

Many teachers are finding that they can design better worksheets than publishers. You may be using a textbook that comes with specific teaching materials, but oftentimes they’re expensive or don’t quite suit the learning needs of your students.

1. Start With Your Learning Objective

What will this training manual or set of training materials teach people to do?You might think the answer is obvious, but it’s imperative to identify your exact goals. For example, your first instinct might be to say that a training manual is about your company intranet.

2. Think About Delivery Methods

Modern technology enables countless methods for delivering training materials. Popular options include:

3. Segment Training Information

You might be tempted to start writing your slides or scripting your videos at this point. But if you jump ahead, you’re likely to miss something. Start with a detailed outline instead. This makes the writing process easier, but also helps you organize your information in a way that best serves your trainees.

4. Write for Quick Reading, Listening, and Watching

Now that you have a goal for your training materials, a plan for delivery, and a detailed outline, you can start writing.

5. Plan for Assessment

How will you know if your training materials are effectively educating your trainees? The only way to know for sure is to use assessments. You might not think of assessments as a core part of training material development. Assessments are given after the training.

6. Get Feedback

You should be bouncing ideas off of other people throughout this entire process. But when you think you’ve completed your training materials, it’s worth sitting down with someone to go through everything you’ve done and get feedback on where you can improve.

What can you make with reclaimed materials?

The Balance Beam. Here’s another one you can make with reclaimed materials. Keep it safe and secure, but you can use a fallen log or pallets to create this for your obstacle course. Make It Simple: If you’re not able to find materials to make a true balance beam, then create something on the floor using tape!

What is a cardboard tunnel?

Every school can find extra cardboard to use. This cardboard tunnel is made of several different boxes to give students a section to crawl through. Remember, students still have to be holding their plastic bottle. Attaching all the boxes together really makes it challenging (and fun) for students.

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