Creating and Sharing Your Very First Online Course

With the information superhighway being the most prominent source of knowledge nowadays, it’s no surprise that more and more people are taking up online courses using their own computers or mobile devices. The convenience of being able to level up your skillset at a time and place most convenient to you is such a force to be reckoned with–it has made life generally easier for anyone wanting to secure the career of their dreams.

So you’re an aspiring teacher who’s just starting, or perhaps a field expert aiming to try a new method to impart knowledge. Tapping on the internet as a teaching venue unlocks a plethora of tools and platforms you can use to start your very own online teaching videos. Creators such as yourself might find the abundance of available resources rather confusing, so let me help you decide by introducing a number of outstanding options for creating and publishing your very first online course.

Creating an online course using VideoCom Presenter

I’m pretty sure many of us have an idea of what happens during an online class. Most of the time, you can hear the instructors speak as they share their screen, manually cycling through different apps and windows to show images, videos, slides, and more. A lot can happen as you go about your lesson, like forgetting where the next image is located in your local drive or accidentally closing a window, to name a few. Oftentimes, creating online courses can be such a chore that some people eventually give up.

The good news is that you can kiss your technical and creative worries goodbye with VideoCom Presenter. This app is carefully designed with online course creators’ needs in mind. You can either create an online course from scratch, or load your existing PDF, Google slide, or PowerPoint presentation to enhance it further by adding different rich-media sources such as images, videos, screen capture, and more. Use the app’s virtual pointer and annotation tools to draw attention and steer the course of your lesson in the right direction.

Its built-in camera background removal technology acts as a green screen for your webcam, allowing you to add yourself right in front of your slides. Want other guests to join? You definitely can by adding your guests’ cameras from zoom, skype, or other video conferencing apps you’re using! Of course, you can record a video of everything so you can publish them later too. VideoCom Presenter has you covered!

How to structure, organize, and sell your courses effectively

Planning an online course is not much different from how teachers would do their traditional lesson plans. However, it is very important that you truly understand how your tools will work for you to get a grasp of what adjustments you need to make in order to fit what one might expect from a single online lesson. In a traditional physical school setting, some subjects can last up to four hours per session–it might not be a good idea to structure your course similarly to that.

Instead, try to structure your online course in smaller sections where each lesson will last no longer than 20-30 minutes, inclusive of the actual videos and other elements that make up the entire lesson from the introduction to the wrap-up. As for the videos, an average length of 5 minutes each should suffice. The idea is to make people feel that online learning is a more convenient and manageable way to gain knowledge by introducing them to the notion that each lesson shouldn’t take too long to finish.

It’s also important to learn about your target audience. This will help shape the level and style of your teaching. Even those seemingly simple elements such as the title and description of each lesson in your online course can attract or drive away potential students.

Consider the following factors when creating online courses:

• Age (to determine the best level of vocabulary and tone for your lessons)
• Education Level (to gauge their level of understanding)
• Target Country (to gauge their level of language proficiency)
• Culture (to know which gestures and practices to avoid, etc.)

These are only but a few of the many other factors you should review prior to creating your online course. Your target audience will surely appreciate this gesture and you will gain more positive reviews in the long run.

Best platforms to share your online courses

There are a number of reputable online platforms where you can share your courses. Let’s go over some of them:

For people wanting to teach topics leaning towards creativity, Skillshare is an excellent choice. You will find that most courses published here are about media-related topics like graphics, filmmaking, UI/UX design, and more.

Udemy has been around for quite some time and is well known by many as an excellent platform for learning technology and computer-related topics. Lessons are taught not only by teaching professionals but also by actual experts in their respective fields.

If you are just a beginner online class creator who wants to test the waters in getting your content published and can use a simple and easy solution to get things done, then Thinkific might be a great option for you. It features an easy-to-learn interface so no technical know-how is required for you to get started with your very first online course.

Equipping yourself with enough time to prepare and the right tool for the job can turn things around for the better, ensuring that your learners are having fun watching your online course as much as you had fun creating them. With apps like VideoCom Presenter to help you out with your journey as a professional online course creator, you can bring your ideas to life and share your knowledge with the world without hassle.