Making an outline for an online course tends to be the most difficult part. There are many possible approaches to go with. Most creators typically list down every possible topic they are familiar with and create lessons about them. Then, they compile everything and come up with an outline, but this is often ineffective.

A course with too much information results in a discombobulated collection of knowledge. Rather than a helpful, step-by-step tutorial that aims to teach students how to reach a goal in terms of building their skills, they could possibly end up confused.

The optimal course outline targets a desirable result. Your students will appreciate you for crafting a course that specifically addresses what they need to know. They don’t want an archive of all the knowledge you’ve accumulated over the years. Instead, they want to learn how to achieve an end result.

Here are the steps on how you can craft an online course that aims to help your students achieve their goal:

1. Figure out what the desired result is

Decide on a target for your students. Do some brainstorming and figure out what your students would like to learn the most to achieve their desired result. For example, if you plan to teach about digital marketing, tailor an outline that aims to show your students the ropes on how they can increase their visibility in the online world. If you’re planning to teach about finance, create a part-by-part guide that will help your students be more efficient in managing their money.

There are many ways to go about it, but the most important thing is that you think of any common problem and address it through your online course. You’re not limited to one, but it’s best to pick which goals you believe are most critical so that your students can follow without being confused or overwhelmed with too much information.

2. Show your students the benefits of each part

Obviously, your students will buy a course that they believe will be beneficial to them as they improve on a skill. Be more specific with the value of your online course and explain to your students why and how each part will be advantageous as they try to achieve the target result.

You can divide your course into different modules, then explain what they will get out of each. Afterward, you can layout the specifics on how they can achieve those goals.

3. Decide on a medium

Crafting an online course can be tedious at some point, even for students. Online course creation is content creation, and there are various mediums that you can utilize. There’s video, audio, text modules, or PDFs. You can even make a course that combines all of them.

In short, try to determine which format would work best for you and your students. As much as possible, you’ll want to keep them entertained and capture their interests throughout the entire course.

4. Keep creating

Some people, especially first-time course makers, think that their online course has to be perfect at launch. While this is a good mindset to have, it’s not always that possible. There will be times when you learn something new and find a new best approach compared to what you put out earlier. You won’t be able to make the best online course the first time.

For that reason, you’ll have to accept that you’re bound to make some changes and updates to your lessons along the way, and that is totally fine. Experience changes people, and that applies to online courses similarly. Don’t spend too much time thinking about the perfect course layout, just keep sharing your best knowledge and tips, and improve your course along the way.

Conclusion

Remember that your students should also benefit from your online course and not just you. By making a guide on how they can achieve a target, you’re setting yourself up for success. Be creative and try to be as helpful as you can.

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