- 1.1 What content are you going to teach?
- 1.1.1 Decide the Resource(s) to Use
To create a course, first you need a specific learning goal in mind and what content you are going to cover. In terms of structure, Immersio courses break down into sections and lessons. So, whether you are working from a textbook, organized notes, or other materials, decide first what the ideal learner will look like when they start, and what they’ll be able to do when they finish. The role of your course is to bridge that knowledge gap between start and finish. If you need some inspiration, check out some examples from the demo site.
- 1.1.2 Giving your Course a Title
Every course needs a title that shows what it’s about. This can always be changed later, so even if you’re not 100% sure, the first task to do is name your course. It should somehow reflect the learning goal you decided on. For more advanced courses, it’s recommended to choose a name in the target language you want people to learn.
- 1.1.3 Best Practices for Course Tags
Immersio lets you give customized tags so learners can quickly search for the right courses for their specific learning goals. Best practice is to choose at least one tag pertaining to the type of content you have (such as, e.g., storytelling, activities, grammar production, dialog, texts), and one pertaining to the subject matter in particular (such as, e.g., Roman history, IELTS, Squamish nation, etc.). Remember, you can always easily add or change tags later.
- 1.1.4 Leveraging co-authors
For some courses you alone might provide all the content, and for others you might collaborate with others. When applicable, it’s better to include a co-instructor because, all things considered, two eyes are better than one when developing courses.
- 1.2 How do you describe your course?
- 1.2.1 What is this course about?
After the title, your course description will be the first text potential learners will see when deciding to enroll in your course. Make sure this answers why your ideal learner would be interested, and the scope of what it covers. Limit this to a few sentences, and make sure it aligns with the course tags you choose.
- 1.2.2 The Learning Outcome
The learning outcome gives learners a goal to aspire to and describes what they’ll be able to do by the end. Be as specific as you can as to what language skills this course will give them, and list them out if possible. Keep in mind what language level your learner will be at, anywhere from beginner to advanced.
- 1.2.3 Who is this course for?
For the requirement portion list any prerequisite skills, experiences, or resources for the course, which any course besides those for total beginners should have, and describe anyone for whom the content is especially appropriate. If the course is part of a series of courses or related to others, let your learner know so they can choose the appropriate course.
- 1.2.4 Choose a Course Image
Choose a jpg or png file or photo that will be the image students see as they browse for courses. Use an image that best represents the content. There are quite a variety of free and paid image editing programs out there to help you, or Immersio offers an in-house microservice to do this for you if you wish. Just contact us and we’ll give you the options.
- 1.2.5 Record Course Video and Audio Introduction
Choose a short 1-2 minute mp4 video file that describes what the course is about, what it covers, and who it’s for. Best practice is to first give a brief self introduction about why you are qualified to make this course and what motivated you to do so. Then simply use the three scripts you already wrote for the description, learning outcome, and prerequisites. And finally finish with a simple call to action like “let’s get started” or “ready to begin?”. There are quite a variety of free and paid video editing programs out there to help you, and Immersio offers an in-house microservice to do this for you if you wish. Just contact us and we’ll give you the options.
- 1.2.6 Arrange Content into Lessons (and Sections)
All Immersio content is found in individual courses, each of which may contain a number of lessons, and, when applicable, sections of lessons. It’s recommended to keep courses to a minimum of 3 lessons, a maximum of 40 lessons, and appropriate sections if you have more than 10. So, name each lesson and section when applicable, and notice how you can easily change names or rearrange the order at any time. Ideal names for lessons will contain keywords from the dialogs or relevant topics.
