- HD
- 720p
- 540p
- 360p
- 0.50x
- 0.75x
- 1.00x
- 1.25x
- 1.50x
- 1.75x
- 2.00x
We hope you enjoyed this lesson.
Cool lesson, huh? Share it with your friends
About this lesson
Dividing your course into sections and relying on learning objectives can help you create the ideal content with an easy-to-follow structure.
Exercise files
Download this lesson’s exercise file.
Outline Your Course and Learning Objectives61.7 KB
Quick reference
Outline Your Course and Learning Objectives
It's time to start building your course!
In this video lesson, we'll talk about course structure, creating an outline, and discuss where learning objectives come into play.
What is a Course Outline?
The course outline is your map, or the blueprint to help you build the course. Organize your content into sections and individual lessons to guide the learner from an introduction through each of the major concepts.
What are Learning Objectives?
Learning objectives are statements that define what your course is all about. Generally, courses have about 3 learning objectives that shape everything you teach.
To create learning objectives, revisit those initial questions of what you need to teach, who your audience is, and why they need to learn this material. Think of learning objectives as ideal outcomes for your audience - that often helps pin down the true focus.
A great prompt you can use is this one: “By the end of this course, learners should be able to…” What will they learn? What will they be able to do on their own? How is this course going to level up their abilities?
How Long Should My Course Be?
The answer is almost always: long enough to satisfy the learning objectives. Some courses only require a handful of lessons; others need hours of content. There is no "1-Size-Fits-All" approach to course-building. How much content do you need to satisfy the needs of the learners?
Login to download- 00:04 We've spent the last few lessons discussing some of the concepts that make
- 00:08 a good course, like the balance between passive and active learning.
- 00:12 But at some point, you need to start building this course.
- 00:15 So let's talk about course structure, creating an outline,
- 00:20 and where learning objectives come into play.
- 00:24 The course outline is your map or the blueprints to help you build.
- 00:29 It's where you can organize your content into sections and individual lessons
- 00:34 to guide the learner from an introduction through each of the major concepts.
- 00:39 Recall those questions we asked way back at the beginning.
- 00:42 What do you need to teach?
- 00:43 Who needs to learn it and why?
- 00:45 These questions are vital because they will help you
- 00:49 determine those major sections and essential lessons, and
- 00:53 they will help you create learning objectives for your course.
- 00:57 Learning objectives are statements that define what your course is all about.
- 01:03 If the course outline is your map, the learning objectives
- 01:07 are essentially the outcomes you'll achieve by following that map.
- 01:12 By the end of our course, I want students to know how to do X, Y, and Z.
- 01:18 Well, X, Y, and Z are your learning objectives.
- 01:22 Generally, courses have about three learning objectives
- 01:25 that shape everything you teach.
- 01:27 Let me give you an example based on a course description I found online for
- 01:31 an algebra course.
- 01:32 In this course,
- 01:33 we will introduce students to the world of Algebra through expressions and equations.
- 01:38 Students will evaluate algebraic expressions, solve linear equations,
- 01:43 and graph them.
- 01:44 We will also steer students through various real-world scenarios with
- 01:49 the emphasis on using basic statistics to interpret the information given and found.
- 01:55 If you break down this course description,
- 01:57 you'll find the three learning objectives the creators had in mind.
- 02:02 If you tell them from the learner's point of view, they make perfect sense.
- 02:06 Students will learn about the world of algebra through expressions and equations.
- 02:11 Evaluate algebraic expressions, solve linear equations and graph them.
- 02:17 Analyze real-world scenarios using basic statistics to interpret
- 02:21 the information given and found.
- 02:24 As the person producing your course, you should use the learning objectives as
- 02:29 guides as you create the outline and other materials for the course.
- 02:33 They will help you figure out how many lessons you need and
- 02:36 what those lessons should cover.
- 02:38 By the time you're done creating your course,
- 02:41 you should be able to revisit those learning objectives and ask yourself,
- 02:46 will the learner be able to do each one given what we've created?
- 02:50 So, how can you create your own learning objectives?
- 02:54 Well, the first step is always to revisit those initial questions of what you
- 02:59 need to teach, who your audience is and why they need to learn the material.
- 03:04 Again, think of learning objectives as ideal outcomes for your audience.
- 03:09 That often helps pin down the true focus.
- 03:12 A great prompt that you can use is this one.
- 03:16 By the end of this course learners should be able to blank.
- 03:20 What will they learn?
- 03:22 What will they be able to do on their own.
- 03:24 How is this course going to level up their abilities?
- 03:29 So you might be wondering, how long should my course be?
- 03:33 The answer is almost always, long enough to satisfy the learning objectives.
- 03:38 As we've mentioned before,
- 03:39 sometimes a course doesn't need to be much longer than a handful of lessons.
- 03:43 Other courses require much more material, including multiple sections and
- 03:48 dozens of lessons.
- 03:50 We'll continue our look at building a course in the next section when we
- 03:55 talk about, well, lessons.
Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.