How to create an online course: where to start as a beginner?

Online courses are a need of the modern world. With accessible technology, experts can share knowledge with a wide audience, and anyone can learn new skills at a convenient time without leaving home or the workplace. Unexpected events such as the global pandemic only confirmed the growing demand for distance learning. However, many people have a huge number of questions about creating online courses. In this article, we will try to explain where to start when creating educational online content or adapting it from a familiar offline format.

Benefits of online learning

The main reason people take courses is that they want to change something in their lives. Your course will help them solve problems, gain new experience, or achieve a set goal. Distance learning has a number of advantages for your clients or learners:

• Accessibility: knowledge can be gained from anywhere in the world;
• Flexibility: the learner studies at a time that is convenient for them;
• Saving money and time: distance learning is cheaper than in-person formats. There are no transportation costs;
• Specific and up-to-date knowledge: online courses make it much easier and faster to learn the latest trends;
• Health safety, for example during a pandemic, which became the main reason for the mass shift to and increased demand for remote learning in 2020.

For you, as a knowledge provider, this is an opportunity to earn repeatedly from work done once:

• Cost savings: no need to rent a space and set up a classroom;
• Time savings: no need to travel to a training center or spend time getting ready;
• Wide geographic reach: you can attract clients from different regions and even countries;
• Fast payback on creating an online course thanks to broad reach and a large flow of clients;
• Safety for your health and a decent passive income.

Create the course structure and curriculum

Creating an online course can conditionally be divided into three stages: developing the instructional part, filming video lessons, and editing the material. To begin with, you need to create a course curriculum. That is, build the structure and decide in what sequence you will deliver knowledge and your learners will absorb it.

The course curriculum should be organized from major sections down to individual lessons and assignments:

• Divide your course into main modules;
• Split each module into sections;
• Define lesson topics within each section;
• Decide in what format each lesson will be presented (video lesson with an instructor or expert / presentation video without a speaker on camera / text documents for self-study);
• Based on the chosen format, prepare a script for each video lesson. In the script, outline the text for the video lesson and what visual materials will be needed for its design;
• Based on the format, prepare the necessary visual materials: presentations, e-books and lectures, photos and video images, articles and links that you will use for online lessons;
• Prepare homework or test assignments for each lesson or section to reinforce the material covered;
• Additionally, you can prepare handouts for students for each lesson or section.

Choose the format for delivering your online course

After you have decided on the course structure, you need to decide on content design.

An online course format can be varied: from images to video lessons — it all depends on the specifics of your course. The most common format is video lessons with a speaker on camera plus slides. You can choose one or several content delivery options:

• Video lessons: speaker on camera + visual materials + voice-over. You can create video lessons with an expert or instructor on camera. It is advisable to diversify this format with additional materials that will appear on screen. These can include: opening and closing title cards with your organization's logos, pop-up text with the lesson title, presentations, text inserts, images, additional videos, tables, charts, animations, and subtitles. This format will help make your course interesting and easier to absorb.
  For example, if you offer accounting courses, your expert can speak to the camera with general information, while more specific and detailed material — such as working in 1C software — can be shown by recording screen actions and commenting with voice-over. Terms and other important concepts can be displayed on screen with animation. At the beginning of a video lesson, you can show subtitles with the expert's name. You can display your company's logo on the side of the video and occasionally show pop-up banners with your organization's contact details or other important information.
• Video lessons without a speaker on camera: visual materials + voice-over. A more economical option. If your training course does not require an instructor on camera, it is enough to display the necessary learning materials on screen (a presentation or work in a specific program) and voice the video with voice-over.
  Suppose you want to create corporate training in Microsoft Excel for your company's employees. An expert who knows how to use the program can teach by demonstrating and narrating their actions in the program.
• Digital materials. Your course can consist not only of video lessons, but also of text, audio, or video materials, presentations, test assignments, or exams.

Write video lesson scripts and prepare materials

Once you have decided on the curriculum and course format, prepare a script for each video lesson:

• Print the text that the expert will say on camera or read for voice-over of video lessons.
• Edit the text, remove unnecessary parts such as introductions, evaluative words, and clichés. Simplify your text by removing participial and adverbial phrases. Try to leave only the essence of the lesson.
• Check approximately how long the prepared text will run.
• Once you have written the script, understand what materials you need and how long your course will be, you can start preparing it.

"Keep it brief"

Short lectures are a rare thing. Far more often they are long and boring. An online course should be a short path to achieving the learner's goal. People buy your course to learn something quickly. The quality of your course does not depend on how long its lessons are. Large, lengthy video lessons are better split into several smaller ones.

It is recommended to create lessons no longer than 15 minutes; on average, 4–8 minutes is enough to convey the essence of a topic. Try to deliver 1–2 key ideas in each video lesson. Break longer video recordings into smaller segments. There can be exceptions, for example for an academic course, but even that should ideally be simplified.

Why is it important to "lighten the course"? Put yourself in the place of a student or working professional. Most likely, the learner takes additional online courses in their free time: evenings or nights, on weekends, and they are probably tired. If a learner sees that a lecture lasts 40 minutes, they will likely postpone it for another time. But if each lecture is no more than 15 minutes, the learning process will not feel so burdensome. The learner will be able to watch several such lessons in a row because they are much easier to absorb.

Think about homework, interim assessments, and final knowledge checks

Include short tests or homework after important topics, sections, or modules. This will help you assess and make sure your learners have absorbed the material covered. Each section can be reinforced with useful handouts or checklists. Also include feedback surveys after major sections to find out how clear and useful the sessions were, and, if necessary, improve weak points in the course.

Remember, a successful online course consists of useful and engaging video lessons. The main goal is to lead your learners to progress and help them achieve results. Try to engage learners and show them their progress from the very first lessons. Reinforce each topic with small, achievable tests and assignments. Ask students to leave feedback on the material covered and content quality. This will allow you to see their engagement and receive valuable comments on course shortcomings so you can keep improving.