7 Essential Elements of a Good Online Course: a Foolproof Guide for Creating a Great Course
The essential means of furthering your own growth is through learning. Education, in general, is by far one of the most critical aspects of human life.
And in recent years, a lot of strictly physical experiences have been transferred into the online world. Due to such a unique experience of quarantining or just being stuck at home, people got interested in learning new things through online courses.
And while online courses have existed since the early days of the internet, in the last two years, their popularity skyrocketed. But to make an excellent online course, it needs to have certain qualities.
So here are some of the essential elements that make a good online course.
1. Attractiveness
The most basic element of any online course is its attractiveness. After all, if people don’t find it attractive, they won’t apply. And if they don’t apply, the course won’t be able to sustain itself.
This element may seem simple, but it’s crucial for both its longevity and students’ interest. You must keep in mind that this applies to the course’s theme as well.
The content you want to teach people should be interesting and relevant. History, for example, is an incredible academic subject, but it can be self-taught and, for the most part, isn’t going to experience much change.
Therefore compared to other topics, your potential history course won’t have a lot of relevance and interest.
2. Manageability
The majority of people who start online courses are busy, hard-working people. So to ensure that your students can keep up with both their work and your courses, you need to make your coursework manageable.
But to be clear, this doesn’t mean that your courses should be exceedingly easy. You need to find the perfect balance between a steady amount of coursework and not overwhelming your students.
This can be best applied through tasks that grow in difficulty as the course progresses. That way, your students are mastering easier tasks earlier and have a strong base for harder tasks later on.
3. Interactivity
To make sure your students stay engaged, you need to make your course interactive. By making your course interactive, you give your students proper support, from video counseling to in-depth coursework review.
Another good way to increase interactivity is by offering student debates and open forums for your course takers to engage in discussions. This promotes a more open learning experience in which students can help each other learn and overcome their problems together.
Not every student is perfect, and they might struggle with some parts of the course. But giving them advice and encouragement, as well as a way to interact with other students, might be just what you need to overcome your challenges.
4. Provides a Challenge
Speaking of challenges, it’s essential that you make your courses challenging.
There’s no point in a super easy course that’s a breeze to pass. That’s because the more you challenge your students, the more they have the opportunity to learn.
Each new challenge builds upon the last, and by the end of the course, your students will have all the skills and knowledge necessary for their future endeavors.
5. Accessibility
When it comes to learning and education, there’s a very big gap between economic classes. Wealthy people already have the means to engage in higher education.
Therefore marketing to them may result in fewer applications to your course. Instead, make your courses accessible to people that need them the most.
By allowing access to a wider number of people, you give yourself the opportunity to grow. And not to mention that generally speaking, more accessible and cheaper courses do generate more interest.
Having accessible courses allows your students to raise their economic standards. And with this, they may recommend your courses to friends, thus growing your business.
6. Clarity
One of the essential elements of an online course is its clarity. Without clarity, your students may end up confused and unsure of what they learned. So make sure you lay out clear goals in set time periods.
Knowing what, how, and when to do is the most important part of students learning period. Clarity provides a safe and steady way for your students to reach their goals.
7. Relevancy
There’s little to no point in creating courses centered on an in-depth analysis of the Dvorak keyboard or on the specifics of steamship transportation.
While these topics are interesting, they are also quite a bit dated. Therefore make sure your courses are up to date with all the latest trends both in the world and in your field specifically.
Some fields of education have a longstanding tradition of what needs to be learned, so there you won’t need to think about it too much. But for example, in the field of IT, innovation and change are ever-present, so you must keep yourself on your toes.
In Conclusion
Running an online course and teaching people new and interesting things is a magical experience. But to provide your students with the best course possible, you’ll need to apply these elements during your course creation.
