This guide describes the process of designing an online course, specifically, how to setup the objectives and learning outcomes of the course, how to select what should and should not be included in the content, how to develop the course structure (modules, learning units etc), how to create a compelling and consistent design throughout the course how to put in place navigation rules so that students find it easy to follow and how to make the course interactive and playful enough to maintain their interest. In simple terms this guide will provide the knowledge on how to design the course content appealing to the learners and effective (delivering the learning outcomes) before proceeding to the development phase. There are a lot of rules to adhere to and best practices to follow in order to design a compelling online course.

First and outmost the i-CONTENT DESIGN guide will describe how to develop clear objectives and learning outcomes. Just because a trainer knows what the course will give their students, it does not mean that they will know. If your students don’t know HOW your course is going to help them, they are unlikely to enrol in it. Learning outcomes clearly explain, with measurable verbs, what the learner will be able to do, know and feel by the end of your course. What skills will they be able to demonstrate? What new knowledge will they have obtained? What feelings will they have moved away from or to? Having clear learning outcomes also ensures that only the RIGHT students are joining your course – which means higher completion and satisfaction rates.

The i-CONTENT DESIGN guide will elaborate on how to select the right content for the course. The selection of content can be tricky. This is the stage where many course creators start to risk falling into ‘The Hole of Eternal Procrastination’. The main reason we get stuck here is often because of the sheer volume of information we have in our heads or all around us in books, on our hard drives, in our notepads and so on. The art at this stage is not just about what we should include in our course, but what stuff we need to leave out. While you need to keep in mind the learning outcomes, you need to sort through your piles of content, throw out anything that does not directly relate to achieving a learning outcome. Then you need to make sure that every learning outcome does have content aligned to it.

The i-CONTENT DESIGN guide will also describe how to structure the content. You need to take a look at all of your content and start grouping together your similar themes, tips, and ideas into modules and then ordering the lectures within those modules into the most progressive and logical manner so that they form a flowing sequence of lessons. Moreover, the course designed needs to follow the basic rules and best practices. Although there are many similarities with the way we would be structuring a classroom-led course, there are specific rules to adhere to in order to keep your audience focused and committed. For example, long units of content will not help. Shorter units though, can keep the students focus, progression and may provide a feeling of progression.