Leigh Metcalf was running a storefront with a bricks and mortar fabric shop as well as a sewing studio in Atlanta in the year Covid struck, bringing in-person business to a halt. The owner was searching for a way to take her company online, but recognized that the store thrived on in-person classes.

People loved them. Actually, they were the largest part of Leigh's sales.

Then Leigh thought, "I've got to get these classes online and come up with some method to endure what is probably going to be quite a disaster retail in person, experience-based."

The answer was the member-based community Topstitch Makers, which launched in 2020 . It was a space to bring her courses as well as community and live events together! Now, Topstitch has grown into an online company which has surpassed Leigh's live classes as well as her store. And the courses Leigh used to teach in the shop are now available on the web and built to scale, with recorded courses such as "Beginner Essentials," and live sewalongs every month.

If you're just coming to designing online courses, it can be an intimidating experience. Maybe, like Leigh who is facing an evolving marketplace and need to come up with new methods to conduct business. You might be a new creator of a course who's never attempted thisbefore, but have something valuable to communicate to the world. It's likely that you've heard stories or stumbled across gurus with 6-figure launch plans or sales templates that you could take. And while those resources might be helpful, you're probably thinking - "How can I design the kind of course that people be willing to pay for and then tell their friends about it?" ?"

That's the crux. That's the topic we're about to talk about. In Mighty we've got thousands of successful communities. Many Hosts find that online courses are an integral part of their business. Therefore, in this piece, we'll share some of the tips we've learned to create effective designing online courses.

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        In this post...    

    1. Join to a community

    2. Know your learning outcomes

    3. Learn when to stay clear of the learning outcome

    4. Let your students design real things

    5. What is your ideal student?

    6. Create a Big Purpose Statement

    7. Take a look at a course with a group

    8. Let your audience dictate format

    9. Mix mediums

    10. Make sure you leave some space

    11. Select your preferred platform

    Are you ready to get started?

1. Join a community

Ryder Carroll had struggled with ADD all his life. When he was growing up and was unable to find many resources to aid him in organizing his thoughts. In time the author came up with his own system - he described it as bullet journaling. Nowadays, Ryder runs BuJo U which does offer an online bullet journaling class within it, where he guides new journalers to master the art of bullet journaling.

The course, however, isn't only a stand-alone course. Ryder included the course within an active community of 750 members who all support to each other out, making new friends, and growing in their skills.

It's true that Ryder's story isn't unique. There are a lot of people love courses THAT ARE connected to a community! A community adds more than the mere ability to connect with people. Communities that are based around classes are better suited to getting their hands on their latest skill.

Why?

To answer this question, let's examine the difficulties associated with a conventional pre-recorded ( asynchronous ) online course:

• No accountability, so people quit.        
  
• Nobody to answer questions when you're stuck.        
  
• There is no way to dig deep into the information.        
  
• It's lonely. It's lonely sitting on a monitor and you try to improve your skills.      
  
• The instructor isn't engaging. The teacher talks to you, not with you.      
  

But what happens when you add an online community in a course? All of a sudden, these problems are addressed. Without changing the course itself, adding a community makes the likelihood that people attend, complete the work, and see the changes. They will also have other ways to get motivated, get answers to questions and to find people to connect with.

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2. Know your learning outcomes

Do you remember the time you were given a report card when you were a child, it would often have educational outcomes written on it? It would say things like:

• Works Independently        
  
• can focus on tasks        
  
• Finalizes Work Within the time allotted.        
  

These are called learning outcomes. Then, in conventional schools, we'd fill the letter grades so teachers could inform little Jimmy's parents exactly where Jimmy did in relation to other students.

It's true that the best online course design requires the learning outcome to be there as well. Learning outcomes don't have to look like those on your report card.

This could result from the creation of practical learning outcomes. The traditional educational outcome was aligned with standard assessments. Thus you had to be tested on knowledge acquisition (e.g. Do you think little Jimmy be able to name the 50 states? ).

One of the great things of online learning is that the majority of them are directed toward real-world learning outcomes. If you enroll in a Facebook advertising course that says "Bring 5,000 visitors a day to your website," you know what the outcome is... You want to attract 5,000 people a day to your site! There's no need to be challenged on Facebook's algorithm or advertising theory. You just want a path to follow that will achieve success.

Students want to know to know something. Most courses have some form of change, or possibility to put something into practise and get outcomes. The outcome of learning for a particular course must be linked to the things students will need to be able to demonstrate outcomes.

3. Learn when to stay clear of negative learning outcomes

Then, there's another type of class altogether. A course has no business having clear learning outcomes.

Imagine a program designed to assist you become more aware and in touch with your feelings.

At the end of your course, you're probably not seeking a specific list of things such as The student meditates 5 every daily. Instead, you're looking for a feeling. The feeling that you're farther in a path that ultimately has no conclusion. It can also be subject to interpretation.

For certain types of education, you as the teacher are required to communicate what you know and hope it's sufficient. But not every student will have similar reactions to it.

4. Let your students design real objects

Okay, let's stop criticizing traditional education in this instance. In traditional schools, the students usually made up fake projects.

The great thing about an online course is that you are able to create actual work. If the course were called Creating an Artist's Portfolio that is effective and you were to teach it, the most effective way to instruct it would be just to walk your students through the steps of creating the work. Learn by doing. Or, as the experts refer to it, you may use the process of learning through experience.

5. Find out what you want from your ideal student

What is so bad about traditional schooling is that you have a lot of things within a classroom. There might be a few great students who are excited to attend. However, there will some who don't really care, and some who are sticking gum under their desks, and throwing spitballs when they're not paying attention. (Not likely to perform that kind of thing, surely? )

If you're developing an online course, you're creating a completely different (and more favorable) area. There's no way to force anyone to sit through your course. They'll only do it if they want to!

That's pretty cool!

Take this into consideration, and be sure to fill your virtual classroom with students who want to be there. It's all about finding the Ideal student. An Ideal Student is a focused, specific individual that your program is designed for.

Ask questions in order to determine your perfect Student

• Where did they originate from?        
  
• What issues do they have to contend with?        
  
• What demographic do they belonged to?        
  
• What is their hope and aspirations?        
  

Over time, we've discovered that the most effective ways to find Ideal Students is to travel and interview people! What's the point of trying to figure out the needs of people rather than asking the questions they have? In many cases, those you interview can become some of your first students - in the end, if you're developing a program around the needs of your students, they're likely to be interested.

6. Make a statement with a big purpose

So after all that talk about outcomes for learning there's a innovative way to connect your learning outcomes and your Ideal Student together. This is part of the process called Community Design(tm).

What you need to this is... the Big Purpose Statement. A Big Purpose Statement defines what your class or community is for, and what they'll get from it. It's like this:

You can try it out for your course!

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7. Try a cohort course

If you're creating the online version of your course, you need to know another trick. Think about a cohort course. A cohort course is one which is taught live. A cohort course taught in an online style changes the dynamic of the course entirely.

Consider Doug Neill's life story. As Ryder, Doug had a visual organizational strategy that people loved. He's an expert in notes in visual form, which known as sketch note taking. Then he realized that many people wanted to learn the technique.

He started by building some courses but struggled to get an audience. As Ryder he discovered the secret of community, immersing the audience on a platform that let them build relationships while they took the course. He moved his courses to an online platform called Verbal in order to create a visual.

But Doug is trying something else right now. After recording five courses, he decided to launch his newest course before an audience that is live! Doing live teaching, whether through courses, webinars, or Q&A brings his participants together, and allows them to be able to take the discussion wherever they need it to go.

Actually, this is what a group course is that's distinct. If you record a course in advance, you're giving the audience what you think they need. When you teach live, you're opening your course open to the possibilities which can arise from an unexpected query or feedback.

Here are a few advantages of a group course:

• You can presell the course. If nobody buys it, perhaps you can tweak it and then try again! There's nothing more effective for market research than upfront installments.      
  
• It is possible to adjust your presentation according to the your audience members require in the course of your presentation. Allow questions and feedback to guide your. They will make the lesson more enjoyable.      
  
• It is a way that some people like to discover.        
  

8. Let your audience dictate format

If you're torn about whether you should teach either live or recorded courses (AKA synchronous and. analogue) Don't worry about the trends or the gurus say. Of course, we do love cohort courses on Mighty. But ultimately, a pre-recorded course with a community attached to it is pretty special too.

It's important to remember that it is up to you to let the demands of your target audience determine which option is best. So, for instance are you addressing an audience of busy moms? They're the people who life is likely to be a bit unpredictable when they show up for your live course? Perhaps they require a recorded course. Are you engaged in some intense and hands-on tasks that would be greatly enhanced by real-time feedback while it's taking place? Maybe you should be looking at a live course.

Use the chart below to choose the best option for your needs. By the way, we should probably mention - you do not have to select. There are two options! Mighty allows you to teach an online course, and then upload the recordings into your LMS and there's an option to suit everyone.

9. Mix mediums

There are people who love to read. Others like watching. Some like to listen. If you are making an online course you don't need to choose one of these things. If you prefer to teach using cameras, you could create an AI. Then, you can transcribe your own words and edit them to create a clear lesson (or create a new lesson). If you're a writer, can you add images or videos that can be used to demonstrate longer written lessons?

Mixing the mediums of your course can benefit students with different learning preferences and help them understand the subject. Perhaps more important, it may also make the course more accessible for learners disabled who might have difficulty using each format.

10. You can leave an open area

We've talked a lot in this article about the benefits of live interaction. The addition of community chat, discussion, and live streaming to an asynchronous class. Utilizing cohort-courses for live teaching. For example, adding Q&A hours and "office hours" when students can get additional assistance.

All of these are a fundamental concept in the design of online courses which you could copy. You should leave room in everything you conduct to allow students communicate, ask questions, and define what they need to learn from your course. Interactions and relationships are an important part of their journey to learning.

11. Pick your favorite platform

Not the least last, a successful online courses require a good platform. This may seem odd, but it shouldn't. The majority of the things discussed previously require a top-quality technological stack to accomplish. In the end, if your teaching a live course or incorporating an active community, and mixing media for content delivery, you're going require a system that can do all that.

The solution is an adaptable online learning platform .

You need something that will enable you to design your course of choice, with a bunch of options. But don't forget, in the event that you're selling your course, you probably will require a platform which will handle monetization, sales as well as the ability to restrict access.

There are typically two varieties of online learning platforms. The first is a marketplace such as Skillshare or Udemy. These platforms allow you to put your course alongside thousands of courses. Marketplace platforms also have advantages. Your course will be listed in front of an existing audience, usually of millions. They will turn up, and if you play your cards correctly, they may find your course.

The downside to an online marketplace is that you have lots of competition. your course needs to get seen in the crowd. It's nearly impossible to include in a community or live instruction. You must comply with their rigid formats. PLUS, the monetization model for a majority of these sites doesn't often pay fair. On Skillshare you pay pennies for every viewing time. This means that you'll only make money if you get a lot of views. With Udemy, they take half of your earnings from people who find your course through their platform.

The second type of platform is a dedicated area that you manage. You can use a custom course-builder tool that you could host under your name, and then create your course as you wish. One disadvantage is that you'll have locate your students on your own. But the upside is huge in that you'll get to take 100% of the earnings and design a course that truly reflects your style and your students' needs.

Ready to start?

If you're ready to start learning with classes consider giving Mighty the chance! Our innovative software platform for culture can be used to accomplish all of that we mentioned above, bringing together courses, community, content, and commerce. And Mighty's flexible Spaces mix in live activities, live streaming and discussion forums, as well as messaging and discussions, polls, and questions as well as everything else you're imagining. PLUS, your Ideal Students have access to your course through an amazing app that works on every device. You are able to sell access to your course in 135 currencies and even through token-gating.