How to Create a Clear and captivating Content Outline to Your Online Course -
Making an online course is something more of an artform than a science. There's not a set of rules for success--but there are certain factors that profitable courses have in the common. One of those elements is the outline of the course.
A clear, engaging outline of content is beneficial to the learners and yourself in the beginning of planning the new curriculum. Creating an outline can also help ensure your course content corresponds to the objectives you set to your students.
Do you want to know how to start creating your outline? In this post we'll show you how to make an effective course outline.
What's the course outline?
The outline of your course describes the subject matter 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 add to your course.
It can be tempting to skip 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 too deep in the process.
A step-by-step course outline guide
The first step is often the most difficult phase of starting any new project. The good news is that you do not have to think about the outline of your course. These simple, actionable steps can take you from the concept of your course to the course outline within a matter of minutes.
1. Determine your learner's needs and objectives.
Start out by centering your focus and identifying your intended users, the students who will be taking your course.
Some questions to consider:
- What are you learning from your pupils?
- What do they want to accomplish?
- What are they struggling with?
- How will your course help to in achieving your goals?
By asking yourself these questions, you can help you focus your mind and ensure you're on the right track when you develop an outline specifically for your intended audience.
2. Create a roadmap to the desired outcome.
Once you've identified your learners and their goals, it's time to create an outline of how they can be able to achieve their goals. Maybe their goal is to master a couple of conversational expressions in Italian at the end of the course or perhaps the aim is to earn an official certification.
Consider the map as the bare bones first sketch of your plan. It simply plots out the route from the beginning to the final destination of your course.
Related article How to structure an online Course
Your first stop is a brief introduction. What ever your subject each course must begin with an overview of the fundamental concepts. Keep in mind that learners might not all start from the same place. Some students may need a quick overview before diving into course content.
Make use of scaffolding strategies when you are identifying the next sections of your course roadmap. 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 ideas. Don't introduce a complicated topic or idea at a too early point in your course; work your way up to the major lessons.
3. Reinforce your learning.
At the end of each stage on your roadmap for content, you'll want to feature something that will help keep learning in the minds of your learners.
What is this going to mean? It could mean designating an end-of-section review of every section, with hyperlinks for additional reading material, videos, or resources. You could even ask students after each section to determine their level of understanding. It is also possible to conclude each chapter with questions for essays in which students are able to put their knowledge into practice.
4. Start putting the pieces together.
Once you've sketched out the outline of your course, it's time to complete the outline of your course with specific parts and titles for your lessons.
For each section of your program, take into consideration these aspects:
- What medium will be used? What format will the content be? in text or video, or as a mixture of mediums?
- What is your main point of discussion for each lesson? What are the details you'll need to convey?
- What does this section add on previous sections? Does it flow into the section that follows?
- How does this section relate back to the learners' objectives?
At this point, you'll have an extensive outline of the content for your course. The only thing left to do is to complete the last step: Building your course.