Creating long-lasting online classes mean you can use it repeatedly. This is an economical way for you to make courses that can be accessed by students now and in the future. However, creating a long-lasting course will require you to follow certain rules. Otherwise, you might end up creating a course that you can only use for a short time.
Before we go through the 4 rules, you need to understand that this does not apply to all types of content. There are certain lessons that can only be appreciated for a short while. For instance, if you were to discuss the search engine algorithms of Google, you would need to constantly update your course. Google changes their algorithms around 500 to 600 times a year. It is impossible for you to make a course about it last for a very long time because of the various changes. There are certain lessons that change too quickly that it is not a good idea to make it a long-lasting because there will be too much to revise at such short intervals.
But if the course content for the online classes that you will create is general in nature, then you can make them as long lasting as you possibly can. For instance, lessons about cooking, money management, car maintenance, etc – these can be created to be used for a very long time.
Here are the 4 important rules that you need to follow to create a long-lasting course for your online classes.
Rule 1: Be careful of date and time references.
If you have to make a time reference, stay away from words like “recently” or “just last week.” It is better for you to indicate the specific date. For instance, let us assume the lesson is about surviving forest fires. You should not say, “last week, a forest fire ravaged a portion of South Australia.” Instead, you will say, “on November 2015, a large forest fire burned through South Australia.” If both sentences were read a year from now, the facts in the first statement would have been distorted because it is easy to misinterpret when the event happened. The latter, on the other hand, would not require revisions. The same is true if you plan on using trending situations.
Rule 2: Use generic images that will not give away the time when the course was created.
If you want to learn something new, you want to get the most updated lesson there is. Online classes that look like they were created a decade ago would hold less appeal compared to those that look like they were created recently. To keep your course looking fresh and updated, you need to think about the images that you will use. Choose the images that do not show current trends. That means being careful with images that show people. If the course will be used in 5 to 10 years time, the students will not think that the course and the content are very old.
Rule 3: Choose tools and elements that are timeless.
If you have to use a program, scenario, simulation or any other element in your course, make sure that it is relatable even after a few years. To make a course engaging and interactive, we tend to insert graphics, scenarios and other elements. Avoid using elements that are only popular now because it is trending. Once that trend dies down, it will lose its appeal. It will fail in being relatable to the learner. That can disconnect your learner because they do not understand the reference. That can affect the effectiveness of courses in your online classes.
Rule 4: Use an eLearning software that can easily be updated.
Finally, you have to choose a software that you can update easily. No course can go very long without an update. You will need to update your courses – even if it is one small detail. That is how you can really make your course long-lasting so it can be used by online classes. Changing an image, a text, a scenario, a reference – these are important if you want to continue using a course. If the software you used enables you to make these updates easily, you do not have to recreate the course from scratch.
When you are creating long-lasting courses for online classes, make sure that you have a regular assessment of each course. That way, you can identify when certain updates should be done. That way, you can continue to use the material without it appearing outdated.
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