Billy Wigley arranged the outline of his Excel course in order to accommodate his actionable content. If your course has actionable steps, you can do this too.  

The course outline generator can help you with actionable content ideas when you add words like “steps” or “keys” and numbers. For example, you can try something like “the four keys to…” or “the five steps for…”

Once you have those ideas down, use your content and experience to modify the outline and make it yours.

6. Sequence It Logically

Your outline’s sequence should make sense. Here are a few common options:

• Process
• Student Journey
• Simple-to-Complex
• Acronym

Which of these sequences works best for you? Use this chart to find out.

• Process: This structure puts your course in the order of a set of tasks or processes. This is the most common way of organizing content. Examples include: “How to Get Out of Debt” or “How to Bake a Pie.”
• Student Journey: This structure anticipates the student journey. It’s where we place content in the order the typical student needs the learning it provides. Examples include: “Stages of Grief,” “Learning to Forgive,” or “Overcoming Trauma.”
• Simple-to-Complex: This structure organizes your content on the basis of difficulty, starting with basics and advancing to more complicated content. Examples include programming, microbiology, and learning to speak Russian fluently.
• Acronyms: This structure gives your outline a unique twist, so if you want to use an acronym, set it up in the outline. One example is Terry Moore’s How to Write a Eulogy in 4 Easy Steps with L.I.F.E.

Once you have a sequence you like, walk through the order in your head to see how easy the shift is from one lesson to the next. When the flow is right, the transitions will be effortless.

7. Measure the Results

With our last tip, we take a look back at our first tip, “Define the Course Goal.” When we are crystal clear with our goals, measuring success becomes effortless.

Schools and companies often measure results with formal tests and assessments. Online courses, instead, are different. It is the student who decides if the course was successful.

For this reason, the following question is the best measure of success.

Did the student achieve the goal you promised?

Because a student’s perception is the most critical metric, tests are rarely necessary. Plus, valid tests are very hard to create, and since some people struggle with them, if they fail, they might assume that the course was unsuccessful even though it wasn’t.

But fear not. There’s a better approach to creating moments for your student to measure their knowledge.

• In the introduction, paint a picture of the destination or ask your students to do it.
• At the end of each lesson, have them reflect on what they learned.
• At the end of the course, have them review the results you promised and score how well they did with each of them. Don’t forget to offer solutions when they don’t achieve the desired results.

There are some courses—such as those promising a certification—in which a valid test is required. If you must create an assessment, consider consulting a testing expert.

Use Student Feedback to Measure the Outcome

Student feedback is the best measure of success. Having conversations with your students provides the highest quality of feedback. However, this isn’t feasible with a course that reaches thousands of people.

A best practice is to interview your students during the course’s early iterations and use their feedback to improve it. Then, build in automated feedback tools—e.g., surveys—at the end of each module and at the end of the course. This feedback will help you monitor the quality of your course.

Putting It All Together

Now that you know how important your outline is, are you ready to create a masterful course outline?

Download our outline course template and get started right away.

Explore our comprehensive list of AI tools for course creation to stay ahead of the curve.