how to lay out an online course

There are three main formats that you could use as a basis for your online course structure: 1) A step by step program 2) A week by week program 3) A reference course

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How do I create an online course outline?

Your next step is to create some order to it all by creating an online course outline. First up: sit down and brainstorm the main points you want to teach in your course. To begin with just write down whatever comes to mind....try writing each idea on a separate post-it note. Someone's Jumbled Up Post-It Notes In Need Of Organising!

What is the best way to offer online courses?

Having a set pricing strategy with full access to the course upon payment is the simplest way to offer an online course, a digital product or a membership site. However, you can use a course in many different ways. Offering a free course, for example, can generate leads for expensive courses or work as a way to showcase your expertise.

How to design an online course?

How to Design an Online Course. 2. Start with an outline of the material. With online courses, it will be more difficult to control the flow of information as students can chose how ... 3. Determine learning objectives. Decide what you want students to get out of the course as a whole and out of ...

What is an online course and how does it work?

Online courses are not strictly used for teaching. An online course can be a suitable wrapper for a digital good you are offering. In other words, an online course can be used as a portal to give access to users to certain digital products or extra services. Bonus courses are usually short and offer some extra resources to students.

How do you structure an online course?

How to Structure Your Online Course?Group Similar Ideas into Modules.A progressive flow that depends on the order.A collection of tips – not dependent on order.Select Type of Content.Organize Online Course by Choosing a Format.Providing Supportive Content to Students.Consistency is Important.Add a Link for Discussions.More items...•

How do you create a course layout?

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.

What should a course outline include?

THE COURSE OUTLINE:BASIC COURSE INFORMATION:COURSE DESIGNATION:COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES. List one to three student learning outcomes for the course. ... SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES: ... COURSE CONTENT:REPRESENTATIVE METHODS OF INSTRUCTION: ... REPRESENTATIVE ASSIGNMENTS:

What makes a good course outline?

A course outline should include the following sections: Course Name, Number, Credits and Description. Prerequisites/Co-requisites. Instructors Name, Contact Info and Bio.

What makes a good online course?

A good online course requires a few things to make it worth the investment of time, effort, and money people are willing to invest in themselves an...

How long should a course outline be?

A course outline is a really important component of any prospective online course and it needs to fulfill a few different and important roles.An ou...

What is the difference between a course outline and a syllabus?

These are both very important but very different tools with quite distinct purposes, and they certainly shouldn’t be used interchangeably.The outli...

What should a course outline contain?

A course outline should contain several things. Ideally, it will include some basic information about the tutor such as name, contact information,...

How to get students to get out of a course?

Determine learning objectives. Decide what you want students to get out of the course as a whole and out of each individual unit. These outcomes should be explicitly stated to the students and guide your development of the content. Start with objectives for individual units.

What are the limitations of online learning?

One of the most significant limitations of online learning is that students can’t interact with you or each other as directly. If you don’t include an interactive aspect of the course, the education students are receiving will be little better than if they simply bought a textbook and read it on their own.

Why should each unit include some kind of interactive assignment?

Each unit should include some kind of interactive assignment so that students are consistently engaged. This type of assignment may be more difficult for math or science course. However, you can use message boards to encourage students to explain how they worked out certain problems or applied formulas.

How to save yourself time in a class?

There is nothing wrong with borrowing or remixing material that other teachers have used for similar courses. You can save yourself a lot of time and maximize the quality of your content by reading other curriculums and adapting it to your class.

Why is online learning so popular?

Many prefer online courses because of the convenience while others note challenges for interactive and engaged learning. Before you start designing your course, it’s important to recognize the differences that will make lesson plans originally designed for an in-person class an ...

Is there an open source LMS?

If you have some software development skills, you may want to consider an open source LMS. These software are free to use and will allow you to manually change aspects of the code to tailor the LMS to your preference. The downside is that they usually don’t come with a customer support service.

How many types of online courses are there?

Eighteen types of Online Courses. Before you start creating an online course, it is good for you to know what type of course it is you want to create. We have researched several online courses and concluded to specific activity patterns, each of which correlates to a particular course type.

How much will the elearning market be in 2025?

The whole elearning market is expected to exceed $300 Billion by 2025, and that includes both individuals and corporations spending more and more into online learning. There has never been a better time to join the growing industry of eLearning. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.

What is drip feed in a course?

With the drip-feed course, you can organize the timely release of your content (section by section) so that it doesn’t become available to your students all at once. For example, if you’re running a fixed time frame course, ten weeks, it makes sense to drip your content weekly to keep students engaged and moving through the course.

What is professional training?

Professional training courses serve in building knowledge, skills, and competence in a group of individuals or a team. Companies are used to promote job quality, efficiency, and effectiveness while also motivating employees to make a formal commitment to growing with the institution and being more productive. Corporate training is a main use case of professional training courses and this course outline template.

What is a demonstration course?

Demonstration courses consist of a series of videos where an instructor demonstrates specific skills to students online. Workshop courses usually fall in arts & crafts, painting, sewing, fitness, content creation, anything that shows the instructor demonstrating something new that students try to imitate through observation.

How often can you schedule a live interview?

You can schedule a series of (live) interviews every three months or two weeks, for example, and ask for payment from the beginning.

What is a mini course?

Mini-courses are short to consume summaries (teasers) of a full-sized course. Like presell and orientation courses, they serve as teasers that make students enroll in a course. However, in contrast to the other two categories, Mini-courses provide real educational value: A full summary of what will be taught in the full-sized course .

What is learning management system?

Most learning management system tools focus on the delivery of your online course content and course features such as progress tracking, quizzes, certificates, and assignments. It is NOT responsible for the layout and design of your course pages.

Can I use an LMS theme for an education website?

Any education site can leverage a learning management system with an LMS theme. Most LMS plugins can use any number of different WordPress theme solutions. The good news is that you don’t need an expensive education WordPress theme to create an attractive membership site.

What is course outline?

A course outline is one of the most crucial elements you can create for your online class. It’s the blueprint showing the foundational structure and design for ...

Why is it important to divide an online course into parts?

Designing an online course can be an overwhelming process, which is why it’s helpful to divide it up into parts. Your students will also be able to follow your course more easily if it’s broken down into a few digestible components.

Why do we need an outline?

An outline helps you keep your ideas organized when you are designing a course. It enables you to group together related topics, not to mention see the order in which topics need to be addressed. Starting with an outline helps you create the course more efficiently.

What is the best format for online courses?

Video. This format is becoming increasingly popular with online course creators, as it allows the instructor to communicate directly to students in a personable, relatable way. Video is best for demonstrating skills and giving easily-digestible presentations.

Why do people take online classes in person?

This is mostly because in-person classes rely on guidance from professors that allows for a more free-flowing structure. An online course, on the other hand, lends itself to easy confusion on the students’ part if not carefully structured.

How many lessons are in a module?

While modules should have the same basic structure, they don’t need to have the same number of lessons. One module may have only three lessons, while another module may have ten —and that’s perfectly fine! 4.

Find the steps

With your two main questions answered, now is time to get clear on the steps. If “Sam” wants to go from A to B, i.e. their current location, where they don’t know what to do, to this fancy schmancy destination, how are you going to get them there?

Give them the roadmap

Inside each module there are going to be things your student needs to know to progress on to the next step. Don’t assume anything about their previous knowledge or experience. Break down a single step into smaller bit size chunks that give them the literal roadmap.

KISS – Keep it simple stupid

At this point you should know the main objective of your course. You should have defined all the modules and all the lessons. But now you need to think about what you will actually teach in each particular lesson.

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What is an orientation course?

An orientation course provides an overview of all the courses you offer. If you are offering many courses in your Academy, create an orientation course to build student engagement and interest with the course contents and let them get acquainted with the goals of your Academy.

What are traditional academic courses?

11 Traditional Academic Courses. Academic courses are courses with a traditional academic structure followed by universities. Each section usually consists of an introduction to the course, where objectives are discussed, a short test to assess pre-existing knowledge, and multiple lectures.

What is a presell course?

Presell courses serve as a storefront of an upcoming course. They can rapidly validate a course idea and start building an email list of your potential students before officially releasing a course.

What is a mini course?

Mini-courses are short to consume summaries (teasers) of a full-sized course. Like presell and orientation courses, they serve as teasers that make students enroll in a course. However, in contrast to the other two categories, Mini-courses provide real educational value: A full summary of what will be taught in the full-sized course .

What is instructional design?

Instructional design is a thoroughly researched subject I suggest you study to get lots of insights into your course design.

What is drip feed in a course?

With the drip-feed course, you can organize the timely release of your content (section by section) so that it doesn’t become available to your students all at once. For example, if you’re running a fixed time frame course, ten weeks, it makes sense to drip your content weekly to keep students engaged and moving through the course.

How often can you schedule a live interview?

You can schedule a series of (live) interviews every three months or two weeks, for example, and ask for payment from the beginning.