Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Course Layout:
Introduction
• How to write a course?
• How long does it take?
• How much does it cost?
• How to make it interactive?
1. Types of online courses
• Masterclass
• Coaching
• Virtual Self-Paced
• Corporate Training
2. Online Learning Development
• Learning Theories & Styles
• Memory
3. The steps
• Decide on the course topic.
• Research the topic.
• Plan the Course Outline.
• Write down the Goals & Objectives.
4. Practical aspects
• Decide on how to present your course material
• Map your production schedule
• Scripting your course.
• Which equipment to use
• Compile your video content
• Create assessments.
- Why assess
- Formative vs Summative
- Tools for assessing
- How to form questions.
• Quality Assurance
• Upload it to the SA Campus Online platform.
5. Growing your audience
• A Landing page
• Marketing Strategies
Learner Guide:
If you have something to share with the world, there is a lot to consider:
• Are online courses the right type of online business for you?
• How can I choose the right course topic?
• How can I create a profitable course?
• How will I sell it afterwards?
Delivering a masterclass is not for the faint-hearted, and it takes in-depth knowledge,
understanding, and preparation to create one. A master class brings all the aspects,
activities, and tools together towards creating an effective and aspiring learning
‘concert-like’ environment that allows different playing styles and opinions to be heard.
No other educational setting gives it such focus.
2. Coaching
The tasks can be time-bound and spread within days or weeks. Coaching courses
usually use drip-feed courses, which means the content is released in intervals, so
that the coach can control the flow and not overwhelm the student. Coaching refers
to fields such as sports, performing arts, acting, business, education, health care, and
relationships.
This course type takes full use of the tools readily provided for you at any of the various
online course platforms out there. You simply publish your course which can come in
various media at a localized virtual clipboard as well as assignments and quizzes. The
students can then access these files at any time and finish the course at their own
pace.
Direct interaction with your students might be limited but this gives you more time to
address issues students might have with your course personally, improve on the
details of each module, or build a new course from scratch.
4. Corporate Training
Apart from formal classroom training, there are multiple ways people can consume
training. Online learning platforms, are not only becoming an accepted corporate
training tool, but a preferred one. Cultivating employees’ skills and preparing them for
career advancement provides a better trained and more productive workforce.
- Behaviourism
Behaviourism is a theory of learning which states that all behaviours are learned
through interaction with the environment through a process called conditioning.
According to behaviourists, behaviour is simply a response to environmental stimuli.
Behaviourism is only concerned with observable stimulus-response behaviours, as
they can be studied in a systematic and observable manner.
So, what role does behaviorism play in instructional design? The development of
objectives is the main area where behaviorism affects instructional design. According
to behaviorists, objectives indicate whether learners mastered the knowledge
presented in the course. In other words, if the learner mastered the objectives, then
their behaviour changed, and learning took place.
- Cognitivism
The cognitivist revolution replaced behaviourism in the 1960s as the dominant
paradigm. Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental activities – opening the “black box”
of the human mind is valuable and necessary for understanding how people learn.
Cognitivists are of means that learning involves the reorganisation of experiences. It
is considered an active learning process. Cognitivism assumes that an existing
knowledge structure is used to process new information. This theory believes that the
information is received, stored, and retrieved.
When cognitivists design their courses, they focus primarily on the learner. As
opposed to behaviorists, who focus mainly on learning objectives, cognitivists
concentrate on making learning meaningful through using learners’ background
knowledge. Cognitivists also believe that it is easier to remember items mentioned at
the beginning or at the end rather than somewhere in the middle. Instructional
designers who follow this theory focus on presenting the “must-know” or the most
important content both at the beginning and end of the course.
- Constructivism
The term refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves, meaning
that each learner individually and socially constructs meaning as he or she learns.
Constructing meaning is learning; there is no other kind. The dramatic consequences
of this view are twofold: 1) We have to focus on the learner in thinking about learning,
rather than on the subject or lesson to be taught, and 2) There is no knowledge
independent of the meaning attributed to experience constructed by the learner, or
community of learners.
- Andragogy
- VAK MODEL:
To better process new information or learn a new skill, one must hear it, see it, or try
it. There are learners who learn better through seeing; those who prefer to learn by
hearing; and then there are learners who prefer practical applications to understand
and retain new information.
Visual learners learn best by seeing. If you design courses that have no visual aids,
these learners will be lost. In order to stimulate visual learners, an instructional
designer should include images, handouts, videos, and demonstrations in their
courses.
Auditory learners understand and retain information best by hearing it. Your online
course should include lectures, discussion groups, and presentations as part of your
course design.
And finally, Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing. For the sake of accommodating
these learners, an instructional designer should consider adding practical activities to
their courses. They may also include quizzes, games, role-playing and practical
homework activities for these learners.
It is important to try to accommodate all three learning styles in your online course.
- GENERATIONAL STYLES:
Traditionalists are individuals aged 66 and older. They prefer learning through lectures
and do not like role-plays and interactive gaming elements in courses.
Individuals aged between the age of 47 and 65 are referred to as Baby Boomers.
Similar to Traditionalists, they prefer learning through lectures and workshops.
However, studies have shown that they do seem to enjoy small group activities.
Generation X is a younger generation, aged between ages 29 and 46. This generation
prefers online learning over any traditional learning approaches. They enjoy
experimental, practical learning activities, and whenever possible choose self-studying
above group-work.
- LONG-TERM MEMORY:
Long-term memory is the storage of information for a long time. Long-term memory is
the final stage in the processing of memory. The Information stored in long-term
memory lasts longer than those of short-term memory. Long-term memory decays
very little with time and it is easier to recall.
Our conscious mind may not be aware of the information stored in long-term memory.
But this information can be recalled with ease and accuracy. Examples of long-term
memory are the recollection of an important event in the distant past or bicycle riding
skills someone learned in childhood.
You should structure your courses so that they force learners to tie the information
together and create mental images of the information. Distribute practice activities
throughout the lesson as opposed to placing them at the end of the module. If the
course is separated into multiple chunks, offer practice in each module to help learners
put information in perspective.
- SHORT-TERM MEMORY:
Short-term memory is very brief. When short-term memories are not rehearsed or
actively maintained, they last mere seconds.
Most of the information kept in short-term memory will be stored for approximately 20
to 30 seconds, but it can be just seconds if rehearsal or active maintenance of the
information is prevented. Some information can last in short-term memory for up to a
minute, but most information spontaneously decays quite quickly.
According to George Miller’s magical number, “seven, plus or minus two,” short-term
memory is only able to retain seven pieces of information. To ensure better retention,
it is best to break lessons up so that they contain even fewer bits of information to
ensure better retention. The exact amount of information provided in the course should
depend on the content and its complexity.
Intrinsic Load:
In order for your course to be effective, it needs to be split into small
segments of various lessons, each with a number of relevant tasks. Be sure
to distribute them throughout the course to break information up into
manageable pieces.
Germane Load:
Studies show that elements which make learning ‘easy’ during instruction
does not always lead to long-term learning. By creating conditions which are
difficult and appear to impede immediate performance, lead to greater long-
term retention and better transfer.
This is exactly what the Germane load does. The germane load is the
demand placed on short-term memory while the learner obtains new
knowledge and skills. It requires learners to successfully construct schema.
A schema is a term that describes structures that organise our knowledge
about something for interpreting and processing information.
Extraneous Load:
The extraneous load refers to unnecessary information that wastes mental
resources. Everything that distracts learners from the main objective is part
of the extraneous load and should be avoided when developing your online
content.
The difference between these two methods is that quantitative is when the
research results are in numerical format, while the qualitative is not. We must
note here that the qualitative method is not necessarily just words or text;
photographs, videos and sound recordings, may be considered.
After conducting thorough research on your topic, you will have a clear idea of the
subtopics to include in your online course. Break down those ideas even more,
then divide them thematically. Put all those topics in a logical order and make a
list. You can follow this course template example below.
First you will write down your Course subject followed by the first main topic
along with its various subtopics. Follow this process until you have covered
every topic.
Objectives inform the learner how they will be able to know whether they have
learned and understood the lesson. This way, the instructor can see in which ways
they can shape each lesson around their main priorities for learning.
When choosing how to present your course, there is no right or wrong way. Know
your topic, know your audience, and decide which method would be best to address
both aspects.
• Equipment to use.
• Video camera
A camera is obviously the most essential piece of equipment you need for making
videos. Nowadays, cameras come in all sizes and shapes – and for any budget.
Professional films are being shot on anything from iPhones to high-end digital cinema
cameras. The truth is that we are living in the golden age of video content production
because you can capture high quality video with any modern camera – including the
one in your pocket.
If you are on the look-out for a professional camera to shoot your videos, I would
strongly advise you to consider a DSLR camera.
DSLR’s are ultimately for photography, but these cameras have added the video
recording capability. The quality you get from these cameras is amazing. Many models
can record 4k slow motion video, which would have been impossible to capture just a
decade ago, especially at the low price at which you can purchase a DSLR today.
A great advantage is interchangeable lens cameras, meaning you can put different
lenses on the camera, which is great when shooting in various locations.
• A Tripod
• A Microphone
Great audio is crucial for any video production. Experts are of means that it’s even
more important than the video quality. The reason for that is that many of your viewers
will be watching your videos on a small mobile screen. This means they’re focusing
on the audio more so than the video itself. Most cameras come with an
internal microphone, but we recommend getting an external microphone to up your
audio game.
• Lavalier
Also known as the lapel microphone or ‘lav,’ the lavalier is a small microphone that
can be clipped onto your shirt. These can be wired or wireless kits. Generally, they
are omnidirectional or cardioid. The higher quality cardioid ones won’t pick up many
noises other than the speaker, who is very close to the microphone. Lavalier
microphones are great for talking head videos where the subject is moving around,
and you don’t have a boom operator to follow them around with a studio microphone.
They’re also great for shooting extremely wide shots of an actor or subject when
you can’t have a boom operator in the shot.
• Shotgun
The benefit of a shotgun microphone is that it is out of the frame, and won’t distract a
viewer like a lav mic may. This is crucial for narrative films, where you wouldn’t want
to see a lav mic.
• Studio
These microphones are often used by radio hosts, podcasters, singers and musicians,
voice over artists, and screencast and webinar creators. Studio microphones sound
best when the subject is speaking directly into the mic, literally an inch or two away.
This means that they aren’t great if you don’t want to see the microphone in the video
frame. The quality of a studio microphone will be really high, with some of the best
sounding audio you can capture.
They capture a large range of frequencies, and they do not capture a lot of background
noise. There are many USB studio-style microphones that are great for recording
directly into your computer.
• Lights
Lighting is usually lower on an online video creator with a tight budget’s list of essential
equipment, but lights can truly help differentiate an amateur filmmaker from a
professional. There are so many lights available, to fit every filmmaker’s budget. But
if you don’t know how to set them up, they will be of little use to you. Instead of looking
at which lights to buy, I want us to focus on how to set them up. We do this by using
a method called the three-point lighting setup.
The basic premise of the setup is to have a key light, fill light and back lighting.
1. A key-light that produces the most amount of light and shines on your subject.
2. A fill-light that ‘fills’ in any shadows left by the key-light.
3. A back light that beautifies the image with a soft glow on the back of the
subject’s head/shoulders.
For any sort of interview or video with someone speaking in front of a camera, this is
a great set up. You can even use this set up for narrative videos as well.
• A Computer
One of the things many video creators disregard is the post-production process.
Having a fast computer is essential to speeding up your editing workflow. Should you
get a Mac? Should you get a PC? What about Linux? We’re not here to endorse any
brand of hardware, but which ever brand you choose, make sure that it’s built for
speed. This means a fast processor (Intel i7 or faster). Be sure to get as much RAM
memory as you can (16 GB minimum). And finally, get a fast graphics card that works
with your computer.
• Editing software:
On your computer, you’ll need a video editing application to edit your footage. There
are several popular options available. Usually your computer will come with a pre-
installed video editing app like iMovie on Macs. Out of experience, I
recommend Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing. It is great for both PC and Mac
users, and it is the preferred editing software amongst most professional
videographers.
• How to compile your video content.
If you are developing a tutorial, your video footage needs to be clear and detailed.
This may take some time to film, but if you planned it out properly during the pre-
production phase, the filming process should run smoothly. Don’t complicate things
by trying to set-up a multi-cam studio with an intricate sound and lighting set-up.
Keep is simple, and rather ensure that your video and audio quality is good.
If your course is built on a PowerPoint Presentation, the production phase will be used
to record your slides as well as the voice over recording which accompanies your
slides.
Depending on your course content and target audience, a good idea is often to add a
webcam insert into your visual slideshow. With even the most basic computer
software, you will be able to record the slideshow and video material simultaneously,
making the post-production phase pretty straight forward.
• Creating assessments.
Most instructors provide a final quiz at the end of their course and a passing score
accompanied by a certificate. This is a good start to apply assessment but is it
enough? Probably not. Assessment works best when it is ongoing, not episodic. This
way, you can also show students their progress in the course and what they achieved
in each step of the way.
The first thing an online instructor should be aware of is the two different types of
assessments that the educational theory indicates: The formative and summative.
Formative assessment gathers information all the way throughout a course. This
information is then used to guide teaching and to improve learning and performance.
The key component of formative assessment is feedback, whether the assessment is
a graded quiz, written assignment, or student participation in a discussion forum. If
you are developing a course on a tutorial, for example on how to do logo designs in
Adobe Illustrator, create worksheets for the learners to do and submit as part of their
formative assessment.
Summative assessment gathers and analyses students at the conclusion of a course
to determine whether or/not students have achieved identified goals. Summative
assessments typically result in a score or grade. A culminating final exam or
performance task is an example of a summative assessment. In the case of an online
course, a summative assessment would usually take form of a final online quiz, where
the LMS allows instant grading, and is able to issue the learner with a certificate upon
successful completion of the quiz.
Outcomes and learning activities are generally created with an eye toward moving
students from basic levels of understanding of concepts to the ability to apply those
concepts in a professional or academic setting. In other words, from what is
considered to be lower – order skills to higher – order skills. To accomplish this, many
educators have turned to Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives for assistance.
To write course outcomes and assessment activities that match Bloom’s levels, an
instructor would determine the cognitive level of the desired outcome and then choose
action verbs that measure the outcome at that level. It is important that your choice of
verbs is linked to measurement of the outcomes.
• Quality Assurance.
You can rest assured, knowing that our review team is available to help you get your
course ready to ensure that it is an enjoyable journey of enrichment for every learner
choosing to enroll.
Once your topic is approved and you can get started on creating content, our team of
reviewers will help you stay on track, ensuring that your course meets the desired
outcomes. Because, a high-quality course, leads to good reviews, which ultimately
leads to more course sales.
Once your course is designed, assessments are finalised, and you have compiled all
the necessary resources the learners might need, your course is ready to be uploaded
onto the SA Campus platform; which will be done on your behalf by our dedicated
team. All that is left to do now, is to create a landing page, which will help you to grow
your audience.
Your online course’s landing page is probably one of the most important components
of the entire course.
This is where learners decide whether your course is worth enrolling in by reviewing
your title, course description, preview lectures, and more.
When deciding whether to enrol in your course, learners will look at the following:
To ensure that your landing page is striking and engaging, our team of reviewers will
assist you with video development and layout.
To ensure uniformity, our dedicated camera crew will even assist you in creating an
introductory video for your course’s landing page. You will have the option of
presenting the course yourself, or making use of one of our qualified actors, to present
the course on your behalf.
• Marketing strategies:
The day has finally arrived…you have finished creating your online course! There’s
just one problem. Your course is completed, and uploaded onto the SA Campus
Online platform, but nobody knows about it.
SA Campus Online has a team of creatives, ready to promote your newly designed
course on their various platforms, but to increase sales, you will need to promote
your course as well.
• Ask your learners to review your course. Studies have shown that good ratings
automatically lead to more sales.
• Share your course’s information on your personal or business social media
platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
• Include a link to your course in your email signature.
• Build an email list