Planning to start your online class? Here’s all you need to know before you start one

Teaching is one of the noblest professions where people voluntarily become knowledge-sharers. Teaching has also been a very competitive profession in the past. Being able to transfer knowledge in an easily understandable format is no easy task. It is still the same today. The only difference is the medium through which it is done has changed.

Many people who went unwaged due to the COVID-19 pandemic, became successful online teachers, each running an academy on their own. This has been attributed to online platforms like Learnyst which makes it a child’s play to create and distribute courses. But still, there are thousands of passionate individuals who do not know where to start and engage in their teaching passion. We, at Learnyst, feel that this tremendous growth opportunity should not be confined to just a select few. And this post is going to help all those who want to start their own online academy or school in 6 simple steps.

Step 1: Choose the subject you are expert in

Before starting an online class, research the topic you are going to teach thoroughly. Choose a topic that is unique, interesting, and can lure the learners. But, pick only those which you can handle well and in which you are an expert. Here is a trick to choose the subject for your online class – 

1. Brainstorm various topics you are familiar with and rank them in the order of your knowledge. 
2. Eliminate one by one starting from the bottom and retain a clear list of 3 topics. 
3. Ask 10 random questions to yourself in each of these 3 subjects and see whether you are confident to answer them. 
4. Pick the subject where you answered the most questions.

Step 2: Define the problem for the student

Now that you have chosen the subject you are going to teach, spend some time in discussion forums of that subject and find out the concepts(or problems) that most students find difficult to grasp. Make that the core strength of your course (and also the course title). Apart from discussion forums, you could also take surveys using Google Forms to help you to define the problem in a better manner. 

Step 3: Define the Course Outline

A course outline is a document that clearly defines what the students will learn in the course. It acts as a guide to the students as well as the tutor. Course outcome, specific goals, student learning objectives, assessment plans, and a course schedule are usually a part of the course outline. 

With the help of a course outline, the students get to know what they will be learning beforehand and can be well prepared with their doubts before attending the class. They can also access other materials on the internet to keep them ready for the class. 

Here are some tips for penning an effective course outline –

1. Define lucidly the goal and objectives.
2. Every module in the course should be able to individually transform the students’ knowledge.
3. Split the content into detailed modules and ensure sufficient time is assigned to each of these topics.
4. Every assessment should perfectly fit with the course and should not be a hindrance to its smooth flow.

Step 4: Create Course Contents

Creating engaging content is a vital part of any online course. Content should be brief, non-plagiarised, and well structured with facts and figures, animation videos, and presentations. Add activities like quizzes to make the class interesting. Connecting with SMEs can prove fruitful while writing content. They have extensive subject knowledge and can help you to create information-rich content.

Content generation is similar to designing a product. We start from scratch and cross milestones to arrive at the desired output. Here are some rules that are to be followed while creating course content –

• Keep your modules short and crisp.
• Video content has a greater impact than audio and textual content. Maximize the use of video and speak right in front of the camera. In this way, you have continuous interaction with the students helping you to hold their attention.
• Avoid discussing the same content for a prolonged period. This results in monotony and, ultimately lead to a lack of interest amongst students.
• Use technology to your advantage. Use powerful tools like Learnyst to create, track, automate, and analyze course content.

Step 5: Reach the students

Valuable content needs to be shared extensively to enable knowledge-transfer. For this, you need to work on reaching out to the audience. Post a gist of your content on student groups or on platforms like LinkedIn where many people are looking out for a solution to their problems. Use emails as a primary medium of communication to improve your chances of getting close to the students. Send automated personalized emails enquiring about how they feel about joining the course. 

If they show interest but not ready to purchase yet, you can send them emails regarding the schedule of your course and forthcoming activities in it. These help you to maintain a rapport with the students.

In addition to this, you can also create a social media page and frequently post the names of the students who have joined, completed certain milestones in your course, and some interesting facts related to the topic. 

Step 6: Set the perfect price for your course

This step has a very vital role to play in your business. Course pricing is a very important activity since everybody looks for a good return from their investment. The price of your online course directly affects every aspect of your teaching profession from the number of students you get to the revenue you accrue. 

It is very common to see course authors charging very low to attract more students. But this tendency depreciates the perceived value of your course significantly. At the same time, pricing it very high has a negative effect too. While setting the price, keep in mind the competition that is raging on the internet for the e-learning business. Some simple tips while fixing the price for your course are –

• Study the competition for your subject
• Calculate the overall value of your course considering the effort you’ve put in, the costs you would incur for promotions, and your estimated profit.
• Resist the temptation to charge your course at a low price.

What is the estimated cost to start your own online class?

Evaluating the costs incurred for your course is similar to the costing done for any product. You have to consider multiple factors while finding the cost. In general, most people use the ADDIE model to evaluate costs.

1. Analysis – Analyzing market conditions, competition, and content analysis.
2. Design – Designing the materials
3. Development – Writing content, preparing the course curriculum, and presentations.
4. Implementation – Uploading the course on an LMS and deploying the course.
5. Evaluation – Monitoring performance, feedback, comments, and working towards maximizing ROI.

The above are the 5 steps of an ADDIE model. Find out the costs you will incur for each of these activities. It varies from person to person and course to course. When you use an LMS like Learnyst, most of the above expenses are covered and you can have a clearer picture of the costs. The only costs that you have to worry about are for the research and course creation, especially if you have hired someone to do these tasks.

So, what are the next steps? 

At Learnyst, we help you with the entire process of course creation to marketing, creating your own branded online academy.

If you already have course contents ready, signup with us and get your online academy for free 14 days.

You can create your own branded online academy, upload, sell, and get 100% course sales credited to your bank account during this 14 day trial period.

So, go ahead. Create and Sell Courses online and make 10X revenue within months.