How To Stay On The Path Of Course Creation
Learn how to keep students on track in your course by aligning objectives, content, and actions. Create engaging, goal-focused modules that work.
Keeping students on the right path is critical for course success. This involves aligning learning objectives, content, and student actions to ensure progress toward the course goals.
Each module should flow seamlessly, with clear actions that encourage real-world application, like practicing a skill instead of just taking a quiz.
This lesson will guide you through strategies to maintain alignment, adjust when needed, and design modules that truly engage and support your students. Let’s get started!
After training thousands of people from all walks of life I have learnt how to simply create enjoyable experience to fill learning needs. Let's take the opportunity to create awesome online courses and make a positive impact on people's lives.
- Align learning objectives, content, and actions for a cohesive learning experience.
- Regularly check and adjust modules to stay aligned with course objectives.
- Ensure module actions help students apply skills, not just pass assessments.
- Define meaningful, creative actions to keep students engaged and on track.
There are three things that ensure your students stay on the path to their learning destination.
That is the “learning objective” because that tells them “where they need to go”, the actual content which tell them “how to get there”, and then there is “actually getting there” which is the “action” that your students need to take.
So we have learning objective – content – then action. These all need to be in alignment.
A module will not work if the objective is to go over there but you describe how to go over there but then you expect your students to go over there.
You don’t even want to via from the path for a little bit and then come back on. So as you design and build your course, ensure you regularly check that you are on the path with every module.
If you find the alignment is out, then you will need to adjust either the learning objective, content or action. It’s totally ok if you do. It’s all just part of the messy middle of the creative process.
If you do make a change to a module, particularly the learning objective then step back and make sure your course story is still sound.
Ensuring that module still flows with the module before and after on the path to the final destination, the course objective.
Now I mentioned that your students should take “action” in each module.
You’ve shown your students how to get somewhere so it only makes sense that they apply what they have learnt and try and get there right.
A common mistake though is to have an assessment like a quiz as the action. This is fine if it aligns to the objective but all to common this is not the case.
If you teach them how to bake a cake you could give them a quiz on the ingredients but a better actions would be better if they tried to bake the cake.
Action For You
Do what I do, and ask your students to take action after each module so that you are really taking them with you along the path.
And ensure you stay on the path by making sure your learning objectives, content and actions all align.
Define actions for your students to take for each module ensuring alignment to the learning objectives.
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