These days, the internet is absolutely overrun with online courses and programs. It seems like everyone is slapping “educator” into their title, and coming up with something to teach in an online course, right? As an educator with experience and degrees in education, this is very frustrating to me. The word educator is becoming undervalued because of this.
Being a self-proclaimed expert in your field does NOT automatically make you an ‘educator,’ or prove that you know how to teach anything. Granted, the opposite can also be true, and having a degree in education doesn’t automatically mean you are a good teacher. The main issue I have with educator becoming a buzz-word title is that the primary goal of teaching should not be about generating passive income. So, I am here to help you weed through everything out there and decide whether or not an online course or program may suit you. Let’s find an educator that actually cares about teaching you something you need to know–and is good at it!
What do you need to know from an online course?
You should decide what you need to know before you start looking for an online course. What is your end goal? It is helpful to work backwards and decide what skills or understandings you need to be able to meet your goals. Then you’ll know what to look for! Next, what is the value of learning those skills? Try to come up with a budget before you start looking so you don’t convince yourself later you need to spend more.
Lastly, how much time do you have to do dedicate to learning the material? This may be important depending in the course you purchase, so try to figure out how much time you have to invest in a course, too. Ideally the course will be created with your exact needs in mind. There are very specific courses out there with niche audiences. Try to find one that makes you think, “oh my gosh, this course is exactly what I need.”
Does the program have explicit objectives or “promises?”
One thing that makes a course taught by an good educator stand out is that successful teachers understand how to create learning objectives, how to meet them, and how to measure them. This isn’t something you learn overnight. People are SO GOOD at marketing these days, and landing pages for courses will be full of all sorts of fluff to get you to buy into their program. (Remember when I said a lot of people do it for the wrong reasons?)
Examine the information provided about the course and see if there is anything concrete the instructor says you will leave the course with. You need something to be able to measure your own success by. In other words, how will you know whether the course “worked” for you?
What is the course delivery structure and platform?
How is the course is delivered and does that meet your preferred learning style or availability? Is it delivered via emails? Do you log-in somewhere and complete the materials? Is is video lessons or written content? A slide deck with audio? Will you be engaged as content is delivered or sitting in a virtual lecture hall? Do you get supplemental learning materials like workbooks and other resources? Are there exercises to assess whether you have met the learning objectives? How much time do you have to devote the course and how long to do you have access to it?
One thing mistake I often see in online course offerings is providing way too much content. Novice teachers think more is better. They simply do not know how to structure course content succinctly. The quality of the content is far more important than the amount, and most of us do not have time to watch or read hours and hours of instruction. We want to learn as quickly and efficiently as possible, right? Another mistake IMO is lifetime availability courses. You are far less likely to finish the course unless you are extremely intrinsically motivated without a deadline and accountability. (Speaking from experience here too–I have only ever completed online courses with a deadline. Have yet to complete a “lifetime access” course because I know it will always be there).
What is the instructor’s background?
Who is the person instructing this online course? What is their field of expertise, and what led them to the creation of this program? Why did they make it, and HOW did they make it? Have they ever taught before? You should know, like, and trust this person before you buy a program with them. It is there job to make sure you feel that way. If they claim they are an educator but you have never learned anything from their main content platforms, do you trust that they can teach you something? Have you turned to them in the past to help with the topic you are interested in learning about? Were they able to effectively help you? Do they consistently show up to educate you on that topic?
Is there social proof of this course working?
If the online course you are looking at has clear objectives, matches your needs, and you know, like, and trust the instructor, the next thing I would consider is whether there is any social proof of this course working for others. This is really important. Maybe the most important. Just because a course met all of those other points I mentioned, doesn’t mean it is a successful program. Is there tangible evidence that someone else has taken this course and been able to meet the course objectives? This is also helpful to know in case you feel like someone doesn’t really have the right background to be instructing, but you think the course sounds interesting. If other people have taken the course and been successful, maybe that person is a natural educator, and you could be successful too!
Questions?
Hopefully you can weed through all of the programs out there now! If you have any questions about selecting an online course or program, contact me here and I’ll help you. Check out my course website here if you are interested in what I have to offer. 💖