To create a successful course, you will need to organize it into sections and lectures that guide learners through your topic in an organized and thoughtful manner. Your sections should align with your learning objectives and include lectures that cover concepts and training opportunities for learners to achieve these goals. In general, each section should be assigned to one learning objective and each lecture should cover one concept or activity.
Create an outline of your online course outlining the planned sections and lectures, including the activities and assessments you’ll add to help learners apply their learning. As you create your outline, think about the format you will use for each lecture. Thkee supports video and text lectures, quizzes, coding exercises, assignments, and practice tests.
Get started by downloading our outline template
Download our recommended outline template to help you, or you can create your own. Next, follow the steps below and learn how to set up the basics for your course.
Build your course outline
Think of your cycle as a story. It should consist of three parts: a beginning, a middle, and an end, following a logical flow that builds knowledge in a clear and reasonable manner.
Introduction
The introduction is within the first ten minutes of your course. Its aim at the beginning of the course is to motivate and connect students. Start your cycle with:
- Introductory lecture: Keep this lecture short and simple, from 2 to 4 minutes. Introduce yourself and explain why you are the best person to teach this course. Set the right expectations, and tell the learners what they will learn from your course and what they will be able to do by the end of the course.
- Instructional lectures: Introduce the topic and why it’s important in these initial 1-2 lectures.
- Engagement Activity: Immediately engage learners by providing an activity within the first few lectures of your course. It can be a brainstorming activity and is a great way to motivate learners.
The middle
This is the main part of your course, where you will teach the subject and provide activities and assessments for learners to practice and measure what they are learning. This part of the course should include sections, consisting of lectures, training activities, and reference materials:
- Sections: Focus on covering one learning objective for each section. Ensure that all sections build on each other to deliver all the skills that your course promises in your learning objectives.
- Lectures: Each section should contain as many lectures as you need to help learners achieve the section goal. Stick to one concept per lecture to make it easier for learners to navigate the course. Keep your videos short, preferably 6 minutes or less. And you may need to make your lectures longer on technical topics.
- Practice Activities and Assessments: Include at least one training activity or assessment for each section, to give learners a chance to apply their learning and see how well they are achieving learning objectives. As you create your course outline, consider different projects, quizzes, and exercises that you can incorporate into your course.
- Reference Material: Don’t forget to note any additional resources you want to add in each section. This can include checklists, worksheets, templates, visual aids, PDF notes, source code, and additional links, as necessary.
Conclusion
Finish your course with a strong finish that leaves learners feeling motivated to apply what they have learned. To finish your course effectively, summarize the main points and thank the learners for taking the course:
Final lecture: At least include a congratulatory lecture at the end that summarizes the most important points from the course, thank the learners for their time, and leave them with a sense of accomplishment.
Additional Lecture: Although optional, you can include an additional lecture after your final lecture. This is a great opportunity to market other courses or products, but please make sure you follow our rules and guidelines for additional lectures.
