step by step how to design an online course

Full Answer

How to build an effective online course?

• Choose a robust LMS. You want an LMS that can handle multiple file types, is capable of m-Learning when you are ready for it and is SCORM-compliant. ...
• Get employee feedback. An online training program isn’t effective if employees don’t like the format or find it hard to use.
• Keep tabs on the training. ...

How to create and launch an online course?

Some of the other ways that I test the sellability of an online course idea include:

• online discussion forums
• pay-per-click testing
• surveys
• analyzing popular blog posts (on your own blog and other expert blogs in your niche)
• posting the right questions on social media

How to start creating an online course?

Step 2: Develop Your First Online Course

• Creating a course outline. In order to create a course outline, you will need to divide the course curriculum into main topics and sub-topics.
• Choosing your learning method. Decide on a learning method or a blended approach you want to follow and stick with it. ...
• Uploading your first course. ...
• Adding the learning material. ...

How to create best online courses?

In order to design an awesome online course, you need to focus on:

• Choosing the types of online course content you’ll be using
• Writing, recording and editing your content
• Establishing grading & assessment methods

How do you structure an online class?

0:231:41How to Structure an Online Course - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipOnce you determine the starting and ending points organize your curriculum to take the student fromMoreOnce you determine the starting and ending points organize your curriculum to take the student from point a to point b in a logical sequence. Let them know when they hit milestones.

How do I create an online course website?

0:001:52:38How to Create an Online Course Website with WordPress - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo you won't need any previous. Experience i'm going to show you how to fully customize your courseMoreSo you won't need any previous. Experience i'm going to show you how to fully customize your course presentation how to build a course on your website using learndash how to include quizzes.

How do I start designing 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 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 I create an online training module?

How to develop an online training moduleKnow your audience. First up, you need to focus on who'll be taking the course. ... Break your topic into modules. Now you've identified your audience, it's time to think about how to organize your course content. ... Plan your content formats. ... Add knowledge checks. ... Responsive course content.

How long does it take to create an online course?

It can take anywhere between 3 days to 2 months to create an online course, assuming that you are working on it full time. A mini-course covering a very narrow topic can be produced in only 3 days or less, while a complete in-depth 20h masterclass covering all levels can take several months to produce.

How much does it cost to create 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.

What makes a great online course?

Student-Friendly Pacing Good online classes know how to pace the assignments so that students are neither bored nor overloaded on any given week. These courses are specifically designed so that plenty of time is allotted for working on major projects and that minor assignments keep students engaged in the meantime.

Who can create online courses?

Anyone with knowledge in a particular area can create online courses. You don’t need a formal qualification or a degree to teach an online course....

How much money can you make selling online courses?

While some course creators make $50k+ month, most successful ones make between $1k-$10k per month. However, your actual course revenue depends on v...

How long does it take to create an online course?

As you might expect, there is no set-in-stone amount of time to create an online course. Generally speaking, it can take anywhere between 20 and 50...

What is the cost of creating an online course?

Generally speaking, it can cost you anywhere between $140 and $10,770 to create your own online course. But, of course, it could even be more, as m...

Can I create an online course for free?

Yes, it is possible to create an online course for free, but for that, you’ll need to do all the work yourself. Plus, you should use your smartphon...

How long should an online course be?

An online course should be as long or short as it needs to deliver value to your target audience and cover the information thoroughly. Overall, it...

What technical skills do I need to create an online course?

In most cases, you don’t need any technical skills. You’ll have to learn about a few things, such as video creation and setting up your course webs...

Where can I host my online course?

There are several options for hosting your online course, but the two best platforms are Thinkific and Kajabi. These platforms allow you to build y...

How much should you charge for your online course?

There is no definite answer to this, and you need to evaluate your competition, the value your course provides to students, and the niche you’re in...

What does competition mean in a course?

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. Once you have a clear target audience in mind, you are best equipped for later creating and marketing the course.

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 to do after a video is filmed?

After you’ve filmed your content, invest some time editing your raw footage. There are many free video editing software available, from iMovie, to Lightworks, and the Wix Video Maker. Try to craft a nice rhythm to your video by breaking it up into digestible bites.

What is a paid plan?

Paid Plans act as a pay-wall, allowing users to access the content only after they pay and log into the members area within your site. One-on-one real-time lessons: In addition to the course, you may teach live lessons to students in a personalized 1:1 setting.

Why is online education important?

Therefore, fostering a community of learners around your course will greatly improve their experience, contributing to the overall success of your course. An active online community can help users share their learning process with a group of peers.

How to teach a lesson?

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. Remember that teaching is about guiding your audience through an idea, step by step. To make this clear in your course outline, define an objective for each of your lessons.

Can you rent a lesson on a video by video basis?

Individual lessons for rent or purchase: Allow users to rent or purchase your online course on a video-by-video basis. When purchasing a video, users will enjoy unlimited streaming of the lesson they’ve purchased, so that they can go back and rewatch the content at all times.

How To Create an Online Course (In 15 Easy Steps)

Learn from an experienced course creator all the 15 super-practical steps involved in creating a best-selling online course from A to Z, with minimal to no costs at all.

How To Create an Online Course

Based on what I learned through the years, this is the process you need for creating an online course that makes sustainable revenue.

Conclusion and Next Steps

As you can see, there is a lot that goes into creating an online course.

What is eLearning business?

eLearning is a powerful solution businesses to engage, increase and convert their audiences. Whether you’d like to create online courses, online quizzes or both, following a strategy for the design and development of your content helps to ensure high-quality results.

What to ask after taking a course?

After your learners take a course, ask them to give feedback on how they liked it. This experience will help you understand what is good about your course and if it needs to be improved.

What are some LMSs?

Some popular corporate LMSs include iSpring Learn, Docebo, TalentLMS, and Adobe Captivate Prime. These platforms provide access to learning materials online and automate various aspects of training processes, but they’re typically more flexible from the point of view of course timeline and reporting to fit all business needs.

What is a course script?

Similar to a play or a movie, your course script includes all audio narration as well as all on-screen text. The instructional designer must write this course copy based on the information provided by the SME (s), which could come from any number or type of source files.

What is the next step in a course?

After compiling all the information that will go into your course, the next step is to map it out in what is known as a “storyboard.” This could be in the form of a document or presentation deck, or even a rough prototype or mock-up of what the final product could look like.

What is smart goal?

SMART goals, with their detailed structure, give a clear idea of what your learners need to achieve. Learning objectives provide a roadmap for both you and the learner alike. As the designer, learning objectives are your north star that determines which content you should and shouldn’t include in your course.

What is learning objective?

A learning objective is a concise way of stating what the expected outcome is for the learner upon completion of the course; in short, it’s what they’ll be able to do after gaining skills or knowledge during the instruction.

1. Choose The Topic Of Your Course

To start developing an online course, you will first need to brainstorm about what topic you can opt for. Be sure to possess sufficient knowledge in the field. Also, your choice of topic should not be too broad and must be something specific and unique at the same time.

2. Decide on the type, of course

When you successfully have a unique course idea, you will have to decide which type, of course, will suit your topic the best. This is vital to attracting the right kind of audience for your topic. Depending on your course’s content, you can easily determine the type.

3. Research About The Topic

Now you can finally start developing your online course, but you will have to perform proper research on your topic for this. For research, you will have to follow some important leads discussed here. Make sure that your content is factual and contains no extra irrelevant information.

4. Create A Course Outline

Each course is divided into certain sub-segments, and these sub-segments will be the topic of your course outline. Apart from subtopics, you also must ensure that they are presented correctly. A customer will first look at your course outline and course material, and if it fails to appeal to them, you’d, unfortunately, lose a buyer.

5. Establish Goals And Objectives Of Your Course

As we already mentioned creating a list of goals is important to let the students know what they will be learning from your course. Let’s discuss how You can do it precisely. An overall goal is not a bad idea, but your focus should be on stating the learning objectives of even the subtopics.

6. Build The Content Of Your Course

Finally, you have to build content on your topic to explore many mediums. Let's discuss a few of them here:

7. Choose A Platform For Your Course

When you have successfully created your course content, it is time to sell it. Choosing a perfect course platform is necessary to promote your idea and profit from it. You can choose from several options, remember each one has its pros and cons.

What is an LMS?

An LMS is an online education system that can link to your website and work as a brand platform for your course. LMSs make everything from creating online courses to setting up a profitable online course business a simple process.

What are the platforms for online courses?

Online course platforms are one of the most popular methods of distributing your online courses. Platforms such as Coursera and Udemy are vibrant course marketplaces where you can sell your tutorials. These platforms provide a stable and integrated environment for course uploading, marketing, and selling.

What to do after you complete the above steps?

After you've completed each of the above steps, it's finally time to jump in and create the actual course material. Here, you have a plethora of choices regarding the medium; I recommend going with video courses as these tend to have the most impact.

What are the demographic factors to consider when creating a course?

The following are some of the demographic factors that you need to consider: Age of your target audience. The Gender your course is more popular with. The average Education Level of your target audience.

Who is Adam Enfroy?

Adam Enfroy is a full-time blogger and affiliate marketing expert . Join Adam and 500,000 monthly readers on AdamEnfroy.com to learn how to scale your influence at startup speed. Before starting this blog, Adam managed digital marketing teams for large SaaS startups and reviews the best software to run your online business. He has been featured in over 100 publications, including Forbes, Business Insider, and Entrepreneur. Read more about Adam here .

Online Courses: The Basics

An online course is exactly what its name implies. It is a fun way of learning a certain skill, gain some knowledge on a certain topic. The best thing about it, you do not have to leave your room. This is perfect for those of us who do not enjoy going to school or live courses.

How to Start an Online Course

When it comes to starting your own course, it is not that hard. The hardest part is attracting people and making them take part in your course and not your competitors. What the goal of the course will be as well as how to run it, is entirely up to you.

What Makes for a Good Online Course?

What makes a good course is a not-so-hard question to answer. Firstly, you want to make sure your content is well structured and has something that makes it stand out from the other courses. You also want to keep in mind all of your students´ wishes.

Best Plugins for Creating Online Courses

The best tool out there, including every feature you could ever think you need. LearnDash is used by hundreds of thousands of experts and amateurs all around the world. It offers amazing features both on the students´ but also the creators´ side.

Conclusion

That’s just about everything you need to know about starting an online course. Once you set up the structure, decide on a monetization plan and choose the proper tool, all that’s left is to channel your passion and teach a great class. Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed today’s article, and we’ve made your job just a tad bit easier.

How much will the e-learning market grow in 2026?

It's little surprise that even before the pandemic the global e-learning market hit $200 billion in 2019 and was predicted to grow to $375 billion by 2026. And from a service provider's perspective, online training courses have many advantages:

What is online course?

Creating online courses is a very different style of work. It's largely solitary and the work is much more structured as you plan, design and create courses. And unless you're outsourcing elements of the work too, it's much more technical and requires mastery of recording video and audio, lighting, slideshows, video editing ...

Why are online courses important?

The content of your online courses can be reused for marketing, live presentations, articles, etc.

Is creating an online course for everyone?

A word of caution however: creating online courses isn't for everyone. Creating online courses is a significantly different business model to delivering services. With traditional service delivery you market and sell to clients and your contract is confirmed before you start the bulk of your work.

Step 1: Define the topic

Consider the context of the average students who will complete your course.

Step 2: Collect all necessary content

Creating an online course is a truly creative process, and it takes time to bring together all the pieces that will make up the course. Once you have identified your learning objectives, the work of writing content and choosing the related media such as photos and videos that will be used throughout your course begins.

Step 3: Create a storyboard

Once you’ve collected all the content for your course, you’ll want to weave the items together into a cohesive storyboard, which is similar to an outline. In this document, you’ll map out all the planned content, course verbiage, and describe the ways you will use the authoring tool to make the presentation interactive.

Step 4: Author your course

Now it’s time to bring your course to life! An authoring tool is a software program that enables you to create eLearning content and distribute it via a learning management system, or on the Web. Most authoring tools maintain a slide-based course structure – you create slides, fill them with text, images, videos, and animations.

Step 5: Conduct final reviews and share the course

Obtaining reviews and feedback on the course from your colleagues and school administrators may be useful. Each of them has their own perspective on the content and the course itself, so they can share their opinion on what they like and what they feel needs to be improved.

Final Thoughts

With a little planning, creating eLearning courses using today’s authoring tools can be a truly enjoyable and efficient way to work. Whether you are new to online course design or already have some experience in content development, we hope this guide provides some helpful orientation.