How to Create a Clear and Engaging Content Outline to Your Online Course -
Creating an online course is something more of an artform than an art or science. There's not a set of rules to be successful, but there are some elements that most profitable courses have in common. One of them is the outline of the course.
A clear, engaging outline of content is beneficial to you and your learners as you start mapping out your new courses. Creating an outline can also aid in ensuring that your content aligns with your goals for your learners.
Do you want to know how to start compiling your outline? In this blog we'll show you all the steps to create a winning course outline.
What is a plan of study?
The outline of your course defines the contents of your class. It provides the game plan as you begin mapping out your lessons, segments or quizzes as well as other materials you intend to include in your class.
It can be tempting to ignore the outline and begin to create material for your class, but you should beware of that. A course outline will help ensure you're compiling a solid program before you go far too involved.
A step-by-step course outline guide
Getting started is the hardest part of any new endeavor. The good news is that you do not have to spin your wheels on your outline for your course. These simple, actionable actions will help you go from the concept of your course to the course outline quickly.
1. Find your students and identify their needs and goals.
Begin by focusing your focus and identifying your intended users, the students who are taking the course.
There are a few things to think about:
- What are you learning from your pupils?
- What is it they are trying to accomplish?
- What are they struggling with?
- How will your course help students reach your goals?
The simple act of asking these questions will sharpen your focus and help you stay on the right course as you design an outline specifically for your audience.
2. Create a plan for the outcome you want to achieve.
Now that you've identified the learners in your class and their motivations, it's time to create a framework for how they'll reach their goals. Maybe their goal is to master a couple of conversational phrases in Italian towards the end of the program; maybe the goal is to achieve the professional credential.
Consider the map as the bare bones first draft of your outline. It is a simple map of your route from beginning to the final destination of your route.
Related article How to Structure an Online course
Your starting point should be a simple introduction. Whatever your topic Every course should start with an overview of the key concepts. Keep in mind that learners might not start out with the same idea. Some students may need a quick overview before diving into course content.
Utilize scaffolding strategies as you identify the subsequent sections in the course map. When you are completing your course, you must be aware of your course's progression. Your sections should serve as foundational blocks, which start with simple and move toward more complex concepts. Avoid introducing a complex subject or concept too early in the course; work your way up to the major learnings.
3. Reinforce the process of learning.
Following each step of your plan for content it is important to highlight elements that help to ensure that learning sticks for your learners.
What would this mean? This could be reviews at the conclusion of each section with links for additional reading material, videos, or resources. You could even ask students after each section to assess their comprehension. Also, you could end each chapter with an essay question that allows students to put the concepts in practice.
4. Begin to put the pieces together.
After you've drawn out an outline for your class then it's time to create your outline for your course by defining lessons and sections.
Each section of your course, consider the followingaspects:
- What medium will be used? Will the section be presented as text, a video or any combination of media?
- What is your main point of discussion during each lesson? What information do you need to convey?
- What does this section add on the preceding sections? Does it flow into the following section?
- How does this section relate back to the learners' goals?
By now, you'll have detailed content guidelines of your course. The only thing left to do is the next part: creating the course.