17 Steps Guide on How to Develop e Learning Courses

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How to develop e learning courses in this competitive market? The creation of eLearning material is essential for populating your Learning Management System (LMS) with relevant and interesting information in order to fulfill your organization’s learning and development goals through improving employee skills and establishing company values. This article will reveal a guide for free on how to develop e learning courses.

How to develop e learning courses from scratch

In order to provide appealing technical, soft skill, or compliance training for learners throughout the enterprise, instructional designers use a variety of authoring tools accessible to them to explore, create, and review interactive web-based training. Here is the complete guide on how to develop e learning courses:

1. Pick a topic according to your passion and expertise

Choosing a topic to teach is the first step in designing an online course. In a perfect world, this would be:

If you’re going to teach people, you need to know everything there is to know about the subject. Consider how you would feel if you were standing in front of a group of people who were asking you questions on this subject. Would you be able to answer such questions easily or would you be stumped?
It’s acceptable if there are others who know the subject equally as well, if not better than you do. What matters at this stage is that you comprehend it completely.

Once you’ve decided on a topic, see what additional courses are available on the same subject.

What exactly does the course entail?
Is there any video or additional content included?

Examine all of the other courses available. Now go over those courses and see if you can locate any gaps.

Is there anything that isn’t thoroughly described or that is passed over?
Would adding a video to the course make it better?
What further services do you have to offer?

When you don’t have anything further to offer, attempt to come up with a creative method to package the course.

While it’s crucial to choose a popular topic, don’t give a course on how to change a tire if you believe it’s the dumbest thing anybody could ever do and you’d never replace your own tire. You may be an expert on the subject, but if you aren’t enthusiastic about teaching others about it, the course will fall flat.

It goes without saying that you should choose a topic about which a significant number of people are curious. You may have limited your specialty too much to attract an audience if you chose a topic that is particularly distinctive. You could, for example, provide a culinary lesson on how to prepare eel appetizers.

You can be sure that not many people want to eat eel, and you’ve just narrowed your target market after learning how to develop e learning courses.

On the other hand, if you give a class on how to prepare interesting appetizers, and one of them is eel, but you also include some more traditional options, you’ll appeal to a larger audience.

To gain a notion of what people are most interested in knowing more about, use Google Keyword, KeywordTool io, and SEM Rush to conduct research.

2. Choose your target market

What are the qualities of the target students for this course? Is it probable that this target population will be able to access online learning resources without difficulty?

What are their stumbling blocks, and how can you help them overcome them? Do they have access to the technology you want to utilize (for example, powerful computers if a lot of simulations and games are involved)?

What are the course’s evaluation needs, and how may they be met through an online learning experience? How can you use evaluation to help you with the learning process?

Is the number of students in the next 3-5 years adequate to warrant a shift to online learning? This may sound like an unusual issue, but is it really worth all this effort if there are only 7-10 students every year?

3. Gather and evaluate the information

Collect and examine all of the course’s accessible assets, including course materials, videos, PowerPoints, texts, simulations, games, and evaluations after assessing how to develop e learning courses.

Typically, these assets include:

A textbook or other related material. A digital text, a collection of chapters, or a collection of open education materials might be used. There are currently a number of good open education resources accessible (see here(external link)).
If students are to be successful in achieving the learning objectives, they must have access to and be able to use a set of necessary books, videos, PowerPoints, and other learning resources.
Students may choose to explore a series of suggested texts, videos, PowerPoints, and other learning tools, but they are not required for successful course completion.
Students might participate in group activities in class, in pairs, or as self-study activities.
Assignments and evaluations that contribute to the course’s final grade.
Students can use self-assessments to measure their own learning or abilities.
You’ll need to “get” online for audio or video assets that will help students study during the course but aren’t easily available.

Students can be directed to web references and sources (sometimes known as “URLs”). Learning materials from other online courses, materials from free educational sites, and other sources can be used.

Examine the textbook carefully – it may be both a huge help (how else would all of the important information be available in one place?) and a major hindrance. as well as an issue (they keep changing it; it is expensive for a student and for an online learning student difficult to obtain).

Some schools and institutions are abandoning textbooks in favor of online textbooks or online resources that provide the same material.

4. Set timeline, required skills, and objectives

Determine the learning objectives, activities, needed interactions, skills and knowledge mastery, and evaluation for each week of the course.

So that you can truly build this course for the online student, you must first grasp the course’s overall learning objectives and how they relate to time. You’ll need broad course objectives that are tied to how students spend their time.

The objectives are expressed in a straightforward and simple manner. Here’s an example from an organizational theory and behavior course. Each week of activity is referred to as a lesson, and it is assumed that each lesson – or block of work – constitutes a weekly commitment of 25 hours.

Instead of setting 25 goals for each week, consider time and reality. A student with 5 or 6 hours per week to devote to the course will be unable to accomplish more than 4-6 goals. What exactly are these?

A 10-week course should include no more than 40-50 objectives — but less is more in this case. There are tasks and readings to complete every time a new aim is introduced – a student is more likely to master 20 objectives than 200.

5. Set Assessment parameter

Define the prerequisites for assignments linked with the course, as well as the assessment/marking rubric.

How are these objectives evaluated in light of the just-mentioned goals?

Students must understand exactly what is required of them for an assignment, how it is assessed when it is due, and what kind of feedback they may expect from their instructor.

While some online proctoring tools are available, they are pricey, and online evaluation may seem different from how you may assess students in a face-to-face context.

Do you use continuous evaluation? Is there a grading system for participation as well as student presentations and activities? You must make decisions. Students must understand exactly what is expected of them and when it is anticipated.

Present your views in the style of an essay. Your analysis should be well-thought-out, and you should back up your claims with pertinent course topics and resources.

Make careful to properly cite all of your sources. Also, make sure your work has a comprehensive editing process and that it has a proper introduction, conclusion, and reference section so that you know how to develop e learning courses.

6. How to help struggling learners?

A struggling student requires assistance. What do you recommend a student who is having trouble with the course do each week to help themselves?

Are there any exercises, readings, self-tests, or internet resources available to assist the student in overcoming their learning disability? If the course involves statistics, for example, we know from experience that students will have particular issues – if the student self-assessed and finds they are not doing well, have you established remediation and support route to help them past one obstacle and on to the next?

These resources will most likely include remedial tasks and more in-depth explanations, as opposed to those you might give to a student who has mastered the lesson for the week.

7. Set Interaction strategies

There are two types of interaction in online learning. The first is synchronous conferencing, which allows instructors and students to engage in real-time via audio conferencing, videoconferencing, or web conferencing (frequently complemented by audio and/or video).

Many courses are just as effective with what is known as asynchronous engagement, in which students communicate with one other and the teacher anytime/anywhere within a set timeframe (say, a week) and engage in a discourse that is visible to everyone in the course.

Most conferencing solutions allow you to record and view the session for a period of time after the class has ended (you can specify how long the video recording is available).

Do you plan to do this and make the video available to everyone, whether or not they were present? What should someone do with the video if they are unable to attend? Is there an activity or assignment associated with it?

8. Select a Delivery Platform

You may utilize a variety of platforms, some of which are free and others that are charged.

Owning a website or using a third-party platform

You may select one with an existing audience; popular options include Udemy, Teachable, and WizIQ. According to Forbes, the typical Udemy instructor earns around $7,000 per course, but this varies greatly. Some people earn $60 per year, while others earn six figures.

“Those with significant social media followings who can organize their own audience to buy – can often produce six figures per year from their courses,” adds Dorie Clark, author of “How to Create a Money-Making Online Course.”

You may also create your own online course using free software such as Moodle and host it on your own website on applying how to develop e learning courses.

Emails and a Discussion Board

If you don’t want to deal with a software platform, you may alternatively provide your course as a mailing list, with fresh lessons sent out every so many day.

Another alternative is to use an old-fashioned internet chat room to meet with students and present your lesson on a specific day and time. After that, students ask any remaining questions.

Because listing all of the options would be impractical, I’ve focused on a few of the most popular in Part 2 of this tutorial. When your course is over, make sure to have a look at them.

9. Create a Course

It will be easier to write your course once you’ve decided on a platform since you’ll know what format you need to utilize.

If you’re intending to give a video course, for example, you’ll need to develop a script and practice recording lectures.

Depth and Quality of Content

There are a few things to bear in mind while you write the course.
Create material that is simple to scan and understand. When feasible, use headings, bullet points, and content breaks.
The student in the class has no idea what you know. Because he or she is a novice, begin from the beginning.
Create a dictionary of words with definitions. Make sure you define them the first time you reference them in the course.
Have someone else read your work to assist you spot and correcting errors.
Enlist the help of a beta group to look over your course and let you know if there are any gaps in the content that need to be filled up.
One of the most time-consuming aspects of selling online courses in writing and perhaps filming the course.

But keep in mind that you’re making something that you’ll be able to sell again and again. So, while you’ll be putting in a lot of work right now, you’ll reap the benefits for a long time.

10. Readability should be improved

By now, you’ve most certainly created a fantastic course. This is the point at which you should put your project on hold for a week or so. Then go over it again with fresh eyes to ensure that everything flows well.

Read the full course aloud or have it read to you by a reading program. This will allow you to hear any phrasing errors and spot any odd phrases or mistakes.

It’s crucial to finish this stage even if your prose is grammatically correct. Your course may be written in a way that makes it difficult for students to grasp what is happening.

11. Add values

Now it’s time to round out your course with some more features.

Keep in mind that you want your course to stand out from the competition. If you’ve chosen a topic that people want to learn more about, there are probably already other courses available on that subject.

What distinguishes you from others?

Why should individuals choose your course over those offered by others?

Consider include the following:

Other experts’ interviews
Bonus content on a related subject
Worksheets
Clips from videos
Question and Answer sessions from prior lectures or seminars
Links to other resources that the user will find useful, such as books or websites.

When connecting out from your path, though, be cautious. You don’t want the user to leave your site to go to another and never return.

Selectively distribute just what actually adds value to your content. It’s best to develop the material yourself and retain the traffic on your course if it’s something you can write yourself and provide to visitors.

12. Promote Your Course

You can create the finest course ever written, but if no one takes it, it won’t be very useful. The importance of marketing your online course cannot be overstated.

How to Promote Your Online Course

Create a website that explains what your course has to offer prospective students.
Start a blog and produce blog posts connected to your course, but don’t give out the course content.
Make relationships with your target audience by sharing/promoting your material on social media.
Course directories such as CourseIndex.com can help you promote your course.
Collect email addresses and create a mailing list.

You should also think outside of the box.

13. Interaction with learners

Whether you don’t have thousands of students right away, which is rare, check-in on a personal level to see if the student is enjoying the course. It’s a good idea to follow up after completing the first section of the course, midway through, and at the end of the course to request an evaluation.

Encourage students to join your email list so that you can keep in touch with them after they’ve finished the course. This might also open up the possibility of future add-on sales.

If you give a course on establishing a new business, for example, you might offer personal coaching as an add-on. Below, we’ll go through how to increase your income by adding more services.

To leave a lasting impression on your kids, remember to be kind, professional, and approachable on the basis of how to develop e learning courses.

14. Getting Ideas for New Topics from Questions

You may also create mini-courses to go along with your main theme. Looking at the questions your students ask and answering them in depth is one of the finest methods to identify these subjects.

If your course is on how to paint a room and your students are inquiring about the best method to paint the ceiling, you could consider adding a separate follow-up course on painting ceilings.

Sometimes a query will lead to something so in-depth that you’ll be able to turn it into a full-fledged course and offer your students a second option.

Questions, on the other hand, almost always lead to quick add-ons to your first course. These extra resources can help you keep money pouring in that you would not have gotten otherwise.

15. Residual Income’s Influence

You’ve most certainly heard of residual income. This is when you do the assignment once yet continue to earn money eternally. For example, if you publish a book, you may sell it and collect royalties on it for as long as you keep it on the market.

Online courses are similar in several ways. Once you’ve established the course, it will generate revenue over time.

Keep in mind that residual revenue necessitates ongoing promotion of your website and items. Otherwise, potential clients would have a difficult time locating you, and your sales will remain stagnant.

The importance of residual income to the success of your company cannot be overstated. You can only create courses so quickly, but because a course will earn money long after you’ve finished it, you can exponentially boost your revenue by producing a second course while the first is still available, and then a third, and so on.

You should be able to establish a regular source of revenue without doing much more labor over time.

16. Making additional Money from Your Courses

You could also consider additional options for monetizing your courses. You may sell add-ons and spin-off courses, as I’ve already explained. You could also provide one-on-one instruction. This would provide students with one-on-one coaching sessions to help them truly understand an idea.

Consider how you can make your classes more valuable. The most apparent option is coaching, but go outside the box and see what else you can come up with notions bout how to develop e learning courses.

17. Inquire about feedback

If you want your online course to shine, you should solicit feedback. Once your students have completed the course, send them a survey. You’ll get more honest feedback most of the time if you enable them to complete the survey anonymously.

Pay close attention to the concerns. You may simply handle difficulties in your course by responding to any complaints raised by students.

Perhaps there is too much work outside of the classroom, the video courses are slow to load, or portions of the course are incomprehensible. Whatever the issue, the input provided by your pupils is priceless.

In an ideal world, you would write your course first and then revise it until it is flawless. This is the most effective technique to ensure that your content is superior to that of others.

Take away

Developing an online course isn’t difficult, but writing an online course that has an impact on people is. You may build a reputation as a competent instructor by paying attention to all of the factors that make up an effective lesson. Your pupils will not only adore you, but they will also suggest you to others.

As your reputation grows, you’ll be able to offer more and more courses, generating the residual revenue we discussed before. We’ll look at some recommendations from others who’ve created successful online courses in the second half of this post. You will benefit from both their accomplishments and their failures, without a concept on how to develop e learning courses.