This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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What's the latest in online education? That's what one of our listeners who's also a course creator wants to know. They want to know some tips. They want to know how you can sell courses more effectively in 2023, because in case you haven't noticed, that is in fact the year we have entered. And by the way, welcome to Side Hustle School.
This is Chris Guillebeau, your host. I'm gonna focus my answer around a concept known as transformation, okay? So I'm gonna assume you know what that word means, transformation, generally, but it has a specific meaning in education that I think is increasingly important to pay attention to for anybody who wants to offer any type of online course or really anything where you're trying to transmit knowledge going forward. So that's what we're gonna look at in my answer, transformational online education. But first, let's hear more about their idea.
Oh, and of course, a quick sponsor message. [Music]
Hi, this is Amy from Boise. You've talked a couple of times about how online education has shifted over the years. It used to be easy to teach something online or at least sell something you'd be teaching, but now there is so much more competition, it's harder to thrive. It makes me wonder what makes for a strong online course these days.
I'm working on my second course right now, so I've been paying close attention to what seems to be working and not working with other courses. Thanks and keep hustling. [Music]
All right, so as I said, I wanna focus on this concept of transformational education. And you know, to think about it in a single sentence, the shift is from informational to transformational. So just think about that, you know, to inform means you provide information.
To transform means that a learner or a student, the course buyer, purchaser, et cetera, they go away completely changed. Like something is different from the time they took the course. They didn't just like acquire some information, they were transformed and everything else flows from that. So that's the big picture. Now to create an online course that meets the standard, you might consider incorporating a few of the following elements.
So I'm gonna give you three tips here, but if it feels overwhelming, if you forget some details, just focus mostly on that principle of creating real change. So tip number one is to introduce interactive and experiential activities. Rather than simply presenting information to students, try to create opportunities for them to actively engage with the material and apply what they have learned, right? They could do some problem solving activities, anything that's hands-on is good. Number two, include authentic assessments.
Rather than relying on traditional exams or quizzes, consider assessments that allow students to demonstrate their understanding and their skill in a more authentic way. So this could include a project, a presentation, any other type of performance-based assessment. So there's some accountability there and they have to just not just recite the information, but they have to, as I said, apply it in some practical way. And tip number three, if possible, include some sort of personalized learning. Obviously you're creating a course for a group or for a lot of people, but consider using adaptive learning or other personalized learning approaches to help students learn at their own pace and in ways that are most meaningful to them.
This takes some work, of course, but it could involve multiple paths through the course or some other form of customized learning resources based on students' needs and interests. So if you think, well, that's just so much work, yes, it is, as a creator, but just think about it from the perspective of a learner. Like if you experience transformation, if you buy a course and you actually don't just learn a couple things, but you are transformed, you are changed, you're gonna remember that. And you're gonna buy the creator's other courses. You're gonna recommend them.
You're gonna be a super fan. In short, it's going to be the kind of experiment or experience, I guess it's a little bit of both, that can pay off hugely. So a lot of work, high risk or high work, high effort, let's say, but potentially a very high return. So think about that. If you're interested in creating any sort of online education for people, and if there's something you're trying to figure out, I'd love to know, sidehustleschool.com/questions.
Of course, we'll continue to feature them throughout the year. We've got a new episode every day, lots of other segments as well. I'm just so glad you're out there. Take care of yourself. Do one thing to get closer to a goal.
It's important to you. That's all for today. My name's Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
