It’s been only a few years since online courses became the “it thing” for solopreneurs to share their knowledge and skills with others. Initially people created courses for platforms like Udemy, Skillshare before self-hosting their online courses on Teachable and so many others. Today you’ll find plenty of online course platforms to create and host your own online course but with all the different suggestions on the internet, how can you as course creator know what will be the next trend when it comes to online education? Very simple, keep on reading to explore the online course trends 2022.
Let’s start with some fact! While the popularity of online learning is on the rise, especially after the covid pandemic, one important number to keep in mind is that online courses and the e-learning industry are predicted to cross US$ 1 trillion by 2027, with plenty of room for you to share your know-how with the world wide web or even turn your passion into profitable online business.
So, how can you guarantee that your offers will be what your audience is really after? Besides providing in-depth information relatable to your niche, creating tailored content that is easily digestible, and generating the best results for your learners, 2022 will bring new trends for online learning that you should consider and implement when planning your next online course.
TOP ONLINE COURSE TRENDS IN 2022
In order to be ahead of your competition and all the other course creators in the market, here are the online course trends in 2022 to make sure that your courses are ready to impress your learners and guarantee success learning outcomes.
- Community-Based Curriculums
- Thoughtfully Curated Content
- Visual Learning With Extended Reality
- Learning Analytics
- Mobile-First Approach
- Microlearning
- Live Training and Webinars
- Dedicated Instructor Support
- Hands-On & Real-Life Learning
- Free Introductory Content
While some of the upcoming trends may be familiar to you already, it’s important to remember that you do not have to apply every single one of them into your course planning process to have a successful online course launch. Surely, by keeping all the suggestions below in mind will help you to create profitable courses, it’s up to you as a create to follow your heart & gut to get things done right.
Now, let’s no longer delay and explore the online course trends 2022.
Community-Based Learning
The curriculum that you create is half the battle when it comes to online courses – the new trend is building a community around that. Not only does peer support make learning more fun but also helps you as instructor to keep the momentum going without staying online at all times.
In addition to the continuous support, a community has a lot of benefits like helping to promote shared resources, engage active learning with discussions, and a community spirit that helps with the general ambience. After all team work is dream work, right?
Thoughtfully Curated Content
If you’re going to create an online course and community list, try and go for lessons which have a practical point to take away from them. The kind of content where real-life applications are prominent is often successful. With an overload of information available on the internet, you want to curate your lesson plans and modules to provide just the right amount of information for successful learning while skipping all the unnecessary noise around your topic.
After all, putting the user experience first is a successful strategy that will yield a lot of rewards long-term. And together with a course outline that promotes the must-know versus nice-to-know, all students will be able to learn effectively without wasting their time.
Visual Learning With Extended Reality
Visual learning is going to be a powerful tool when it comes to courses, and the way that we experiment with this type of resource will shape how well online learning does. I’m sure you’re not surprised, as popularity of info graphics & educational videos is pretty much the norm these days, but moving forward we’ll see more content created with the help of real-and-virtual combined environments.
For best results, providers would be wise to consider extended reality. It does a commendable job of making sure that the proper levels of engagement are achieved through things like Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR).
Learning Analytics
As a course creator we must know what learners engage with and what we can improve on. And that is where learning analytics come into place. They are powerful tools for making sure that successful learning takes place. Naturally, the ideal results are the ones which emphasize studying and learning from the courses already in place. But it never hurt to explore course data to change things around in your online course.
You need to be able to get to grips with analytics and study them in a fashion that will enable smart-decision making. Was option A more popular than option B? If so, how can B feature more prominently? And if you wonder where you can find all the data, most of course hosting platforms have it available.
Mobile-First Courses
Just like in website design, a lot of learners will use their mobile device to access courses and learn. To provide the best results, you’re going to need to be able to give them a mobile-friendly course. And this does not mean only responsive course website or platform design but also consider people who may join your courses with accessibility concerns. Also take into account those students who may not have constant internet access and may benefit from downloadable content. Be as inclusive as you can to open the doors to everyone on the world wide web.
To get the best results, try and aim for a mobile-first approach to course creation that delivers optimized content that’s easier to process on a phone. Another plus is to include subtitles in your videos and clear descriptions and indicators. Your learners will thank you for it in the long run.
Microlearning
The way that the world works is that we get short, simple-to-understand bursts of information. This is fine, for most situations. But when trying to learn something via an online course, this isn’t compatible with long lectures. Attention spans becoming shorter and therefore it’s important to get to the point quickly and only focus on the most important content that will get learners from A to Z.
A successful online course is going to need to deliver flexible lessons that aren’t too long. Think quality over quantity. We need to cut down on the length of our materials to get the best results. Try to aim for shorter lessons that don’t have as much content, so it’s easier to process.
Live Training and Webinars
For a lot of people, the live training experience is the most successful one. People like having access to support during the learning experience, and a live classroom environment can be very popular as a result. And while time zones and scheduling could present an issue at times, offering various session to accommodate your learners all over the world can help get the task done.
To get the best results, you may have to consider running live webinars in order to successfully provide that level of interaction to learners. whether you do this with an actual person, or you have a live lecture with AI support, the choice is yours. Furthermore, it’s probably also a good idea to have a static copy of the lesson that can be downloaded at the discretion of the learner, so people can choose how they complete the course.
Dedicated Instructor Support
The best online courses will be the ones that have access to dedicated support from its instructors. It’s important to make sure that people have access to the resources that work for them, and some people need that guidance from a teacher figure in order to work confidently. But keep in mind, giving access to you in your entry courses could prevent you from offering exclusive 1-on-1 sessions at a higher price. Just something to keep in mind whenever you plan out your program suite.
But dedicated instructor support, even if provided by a virtual assistant or chatbot is always a good idea, because it helps to replicate the in-person classroom experience to some extend, and it means that if people are stuck, they can consult with an expert or at least find some help along the way.
Hands-On & Real-Life Learning
As mention beforehand, one of the big trends 2022 will bring is the implementation of practical lessons and examples. To put it another way, learners want subject matter that will have real life applications. They want their lessons to be grounded in that same real-world focus because it’s just so much easier to relate it to what they already know. So, it just makes sense to find way to connect the new information to real-life examples.
You need to design and create lesson plans and examples for topics that have identifiable, real-world applications. This will significantly help to improve retention of knowledge, keep learners engaged and allow them to use it in their everyday life right away.
Free Introductory Content
Finally, something that we will surely see more of in 2022 is the rise of free introductory courses. If providing online training, sometimes the best way to attract and retain learners is to offer a mini course to make sure that learners know what they are getting into. Think about it as a one module of your entire course that you give access to for free to entice potential students to sign up for your full course. Keep in mind that your mini course should not be less of value just because it’s free. You want to wow your audience so they want and need more of your online courses.
Alternatively, creating and designing an informal learning environment can also be effective. If the first course is done via a social media group, then not only do you have a good chance of connecting with your audience, but a community also begins to form. But before you put all your eggs in the social media basket, kindly remember that you have no control what will happen with your content on social media so read the fine print before posting it all online.
DIY Edition: Online Course Trends 2022
There you have it, the online course trends 2022 in a nutshell. But now you may wonder how can you implement such changes without hiring an instructional designer or breaking the bank?
It’s simple, first you decide on your course outline and your target audience. Once you have all your content ready for your online course, you can take it one step at a time to implement. Or you can simply download the Course Creator Roadmap below.
Let’s say you want to start by creating a mini course. Follow these steps to success:
- Choose Course Topic
- Identify Your Audience
- Provide Transformation
- Outline Your Course
- Narrow Your Focus
See, in a few simple steps you can get starter with your course creator journey. And if you get stuck while trying to figure things out, you can always schedule a discovery session with me.
From Passion To Profit with Online Courses in 2022
To sum it all up, focusing on learning experience (LX) and “less is more” approach will be the big online course trend 2022. By removing all the noise and considering the overall learning outcomes will ensure high completion and success rates as well as plenty of learner satisfaction along the way.
But something you always must keep in mind is that course creation is constantly evolving, and therefore these trends potentially represent what will be popular next year. Only time will tell what design trends will be upon us in 2023. That’s why it’s important to implement the latest trends quickly, because just like everything else in life, nothing lasts forever and you won’t have that long to use them.
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