How to Write a Clear and engaging Content Outline for Your Online Course
Making an online course is something more of an artform than it is a science. There's not a set of rules to be successful, but there are some elements that most successful courses share in common. One of these elements is a course outline.
A well-organized, engaging and clear content outline serves both the learners and yourself in the beginning of planning your new courses. Making an outline may assist in making sure that the content of your course is in line with the goals you have set for your students.
Do you want to know how to start creating your outline? In this blog we'll guide you through how to make a winning course outline.
What's a course outline?
The outline of your course describes the subject matter of your course. It will help you plan your game when you start laying the lessons, sections, quizzes, and other content you plan to incorporate into your course.
It's easy to ignore the outline and get right to creating the content of your course, but resist that urge. The outline can help make sure you've got a well-constructed program before you go far too involved.
A step-by-step course outline guide
Beginning is the toughest aspect of starting a new venture. It's good news that you don't need to think about your course outline. Simple, easy steps will take you from concept of course to outline within a matter of minutes.
1. Find your students and identify their goals.
Start out by centering your attention and pinpointing your end-users--the students who will attend your class.
There are a few things to think about:
- What are you learning from your pupils?
- What are they trying to achieve?
- What do they struggle with?
- How will your course help students achieve your goals?
Asking yourself these simple questions will help to sharpen your focus and keep you on track as you create the outline that is tailored to your audience.
2. Create a roadmap to the desired outcome.
After you've pinpointed your students and their goals and goals, you're now able to design an outline of how they can reach their goals. Maybe their goal is to know a few conversational expressions in Italian towards the time they finish the class; maybe the goal is to achieve the professional credential.
Think of the roadmap as a basic sketch of your sketch. It is simply a map that shows the route from the beginning to the end of your route.
Related post: How to Structure an Online Course
Your first stop is a brief introduction. Whatever your topic, every course should begin by introducing fundamental concepts. Be aware that your students may not be starting at the same point. Some students may need a quick overview before diving into course content.
Use scaffolding strategies as you identify future sections on your plan of study. When you are completing your course, you must be conscious of your progression through the course. The sections you take should be elements that begin with a simple idea then move to more intricate concepts. Do not introduce an intricate subject or concept at a too early point in your course; work your way up to the big lessons.
3. Reinforce your learning.
Following each step of your roadmap for content it is important to highlight something that will help keep learning in the minds of your students.
What does this look like? This could include reviews at the conclusion of every section, with hyperlinks out to additional reading materials, videos, or resources. Or it could mean quizzing students at the end of each segment to test their understanding. Also, you could end every section by asking questions for essays in which students are able to put their knowledge to use.
4. Start putting the pieces together.
After you've drawn out a roadmap for your course then it's time to flesh out the outline of your course with specific sections and lesson titles.
Each section of your course, consider the following:
- What medium will be used? What format will the content be? via text, video, or as a mixture of mediums?
- What are your talking points during each lesson? What information do you need to convey?
- How can this section build upon the previous sections? What is the way it connects to the following section?
- How does this section relate to the students' goals?
At this point, you'll have a thorough content outline to your course. What's left is the final stage: constructing the course.