what is a good length for a digital course

Full Answer

What is the ideal length of an online course?

So what is the ideal length of an online course? First, consider how long you would want to spend taking an online course (without breaks). As a rule of thumb, the general theory is that people can only give about 20 minutes of attention before there is a need to take a “mental break”.

How long should a video course be?

In practice, you might create a course that only has a few short 5 minute videos to teach something simple. For a more in depth flagship course you might make 25-50 video lessons each 5-20 minutes long. Getting the right course length can be a fine line.

How long should a course last?

What’s nice about keeping courses to 1.5 hours maximum is that the course won’t suffer from a negative perception from the beginning (not many people want to sit for three hours straight at their computer – and almost no one can do this without many distractions).

How long should your eLearning courses be?

As a rule of thumb, the general theory is that people can only give about 20 minutes of attention before there is a need to take a “mental break”. This doesn’t mean that your elearning courses should only be 20 minutes in length, but it does give you an idea of how you may wish to break-up the content.

What is the average length of an online course?

The length of online classes varies. Some can be completed in as little as five weeks, while others take longer. On average, online courses last eight to nine weeks, especially those offered through universities.

How many hours should an online course be?

You should plan to devote a minimum of three hours per week per credit, plus an additional hour per class each week to review materials. For instance, for a three-credit online course, you will need nine hours of study time and one hour of review time each week.

How long should online course videos be?

A large-scale study from researchers at MIT that used data from 6.9 million video watching sessions. The top of the second page has recommendations for the types of videos that work best, including a recommendation that videos should be shorter than six minutes in length.

How long should a training course be?

Here's an abbreviated look at many studies' conclusions: Fifteen to 30 minutes is the “sweet spot”. Courses should be as long as needed, even if they're 90 minutes. Shorter is always better.

How long are online classes a day?

One of the many advantages of online schools is that they will require less time from you compared to traditional schools. But then again, it is highly dependent on the online school that you or your child is enrolled in. On average, students spend four hours online.

How long should students spend online learning?

On top of that, you will need to spend about 3 hours per week reading for the class, which may be a physical textbook or an online text. You will also need to spend 4 to 5 hours on homework, papers, tests, and other assignments. This adds up to 7 to 8 hours a week on top of the classroom hours.

What is the ideal length for a video?

Ideally, the optimal length there is between nine to 15 seconds although you can do 60 seconds in total. If you don't upload the video natively, however, you can exceed the 60-second mark. But, again, make sure you know how to hold your audience's attention if you want to play with longer videos.

How long is too long for online training?

Most experts confirm that a good length for a web-based course is somewhere between 15-30 minutes. This traditional opinion builds on psychological research, specific content patterns and, more often than not, gut feeling.

How long does it take to develop 1 hour of elearning?

How long does it take to develop 1 hour of eLearning? A average 1-hour interactive elearning course will take 197 hours to develop. But development of a 1-hour elearning course can range between 49 hours for the low end of the range of a “basic” course to 716 hours for the high end of the range of an “advanced” course.

What Is The Ideal Online Course Length?

Our general recommendation is to keep it short and sweet. If you’re making a comprehensive, beginner-to-advanced online course, we advise that you divide your massive online course into weekly units, with a tangible and clear end goal for each chunk.

What Is The Optimal Length for Online Course Videos?

Instructional videos are the primary method of delivering information for most online courses, so you’ll most likely have to make a video or two yourself for your own online courses. But what’s the ideal length of an online course video? How long can you make a video before your students start zoning out?

Factors That Affect The Length of Your Online Courses

While we’ve been talking about theoretical, big-picture, general recommendations, deciding on your online course’s length is not always one-size-fits-all. There are plenty of external factors that affect memory retention, student focus, and the overall online course length.

How long should an online course be?

An online course should be as short or long as it needs to be in order to deliver the learning outcomes it promises. In practice, you might create a course that only has a few short 5 minute videos to teach something simple. For a more in depth flagship course you might make 25-50 video lessons each 5-20 minutes long.

How long should a student watch a video?

A good amount of your students are likely people with full-time jobs and families to take care of. So it’s not convenient for them to sit down and watch a 30-minute video each day. Also, psychology shows that people retain information better when they’re given it in small portions with breaks in between (source).

What happens if you make a course too long?

If you make your course too long, people will get bored and never actually finish it. But if it’s too short, people might not feel like they’re getting their money’s worth.

How many lessons should be in a module?

Each module might have 3 – 10 individual lessons within it which all hold together as a related subject or step in the learning of the bigger outcome. Each lesson of a module should be kept nice and short; just 5 – 20 minutes long. It’s best to create your courses with busy people in mind.

How to make a course interactive?

Another way to make your course interactive is to add activities between presentations. So one section of your course may have 5 minutes of video. Then students are instructed to pause and complete a worksheet before returning to watch the remaining 5 minutes of video.

How to make a course fun?

Make your course an adventure. Give your students a reason to explore the course content. Even if that means making some kind of scavenger hunt to get them to go back and look at material multiple times to find a hidden word or something similar. Make them prove they understand.

Can you split a course into multiple sections?

It can be hard to accomplish. Instead of sacrificing quality content that you feel should be included, it’s usually worth splitting it out into multiple sections of the course. Worst case scenario, you can always attach extra material to the course in an appendix or “bonus section.”.

How much learning is lost in a month?

One source found that about 50% of learning is lost in less than one month, with employees reverting to their original behavior. Training should be an ongoing component of your organization, so much so that it transforms from “training” to become part of your everyday culture.

Is shorter training better?

Shorter is usually better, sure, but there are plenty of jobs and processes out there that simply need more. Identifying your requirements and then applying the lessons discussed in this article will help your training be the best fit for your employees—and make your training more than white noise.