7.11: Recap and Resources | Build Your Best Course

🎓 Module 07: Lessons

Here’s what you learned:

Building a course prototype allows you to test and refine your content before investing too much time in creating polished materials.
Like engineering a kite, an iterative approach lets you test early versions and make improvements based on real-world feedback.
A course prototype should have enough content for at least the first few weeks, created to a “good enough” standard to gather meaningful feedback.

Here’s what you learned:

Three common formats for course content are: video (“selfie mode”), narrated slides (“presenter mode”), and text-based lessons (“blogger mode”).
Prototype content should be simple yet effective. The chosen format should be easy to create, provide a good learning experience, and align with the final course format.
Each format has its advantages: video is engaging, narrated slides cater to multiple learning styles, and text is easily adaptable. The best choice depends on the creator’s skills and preferences.

Here’s what you learned:

An alternative approach to course prototyping is live delivery of content, which requires less upfront work and allows for quicker beta-launching.
Live delivery has advantages such as immediate feedback, easier content revision, and the ability to record sessions for later use, but it also comes with scheduling challenges and increased pressure on you to “perform”.
This approach may not be suitable for everyone, particularly those creating text-based courses or those wanting to gain content creation skills early in their course development journey.

Here’s what you learned:

A simple 3-step workflow for creating course content is: develop a lesson plan, build an outline into a draft, and produce the final asset.
Creating a lesson plan helps you clarify the lesson’s purpose within the wider course context and includes an outline of the main points.
The draft stage involves expanding the outline with explanations, examples, and other content, then reviewing and revising from a student’s perspective.
The final step is turning the draft into a finished asset, which varies depending on the chosen format (video, slides, or text) and whether the content will be delivered live or as a standalone lesson.

Here’s what you learned:

Proper planning is crucial for creating effective course content, even for prototype versions.
My one-page lesson plan template has three main parts: Outcome, Relevance and Outline.
Outcome defines what the lesson aims to achieve, Relevance explains why it’s important for the overall course, and Outline breaks down the lesson into 3-7 key points.
Using this template helps you clarify your lesson’s purpose, structure the content effectively, and ensure its relevance to students.

Here’s what you learned:

Creating an outline before diving into content creation helps you to structure the lesson effectively and ensures all crucial points are covered.
Outlining is like building a legal case, where each point is designed to lead the students (or jury) towards a specific conclusion or outcome.
The process: remind yourself of the lesson outcome, brainstorm relevant points, identify 3-7 “pillar” points, and arrange them in a logical order.
Lesson “archetypes” such as Problem/Solution are mini-templates for structuring common types of lessons.

Here’s what you learned:

Most people will need more than just an outline to confidently deliver or record a lesson, so you’ll need to fill in the lower-level details using a draft.
The Content Development Pyramid consists of three levels: outline (structure), substance (subpoints), and script (actual wording).
Subpoints expand on the main points, with 2-5 subpoints typically added for each main point.
The format of a subpoint depends on the lesson type but generally represents 10-20 seconds of lesson time or a single paragraph in text format.

Here’s what you learned:

These six lesson “additives” will enhance your course content and engage students better: examples, analogies, visuals, data, quotes, and tips.
Examples help illustrate points, analogies connect new concepts to familiar ones, and visuals like mind maps or flowcharts can clarify complex ideas.
Data and statistics add credibility, quotes reinforce concepts or sentiments, and tips provide additional coaching based on the instructor’s experience.

Here’s what you learned:

My seven-question checklist gives you a framework for reviewing and improving your lesson drafts.
The questions are: Is it Clear, Does it Flow, Is it Balanced, Is it Encouraging, Is it Credible, Is it Interesting, and Is it You?
The checklist will help you to: present ideas logically, combat students’ self-doubt and create a unique and engaging learning experience.

Here’s what you learned:

You can create more effective assignments and resources using the WHAT, WHY, HOW framework.
For assignments: WHAT does “done” look like? WHY is the outcome necessary for success? HOW do you expect students to go about the task?
For resources: WHAT is the nature of this resource (e.g., template)? WHY should it be included? HOW will you pull it together?
Assignments should balance detail with simplicity. Resources should initially be pragmatic and functional – you can refine them in later iterations.

Choose a specific lesson style (a.k.a. content format) for creating your course.

Practise and refine your production process by creating some test content.

Plan the lessons for one of the course modules for your curriculum.

Choose one of the lessons you just planned out and create a sample lesson using the production process you’ve already practised.

Create the remaining lessons in the same module.