How to Create an Online Course

The Community, Economic, and Professional Development team is here to assist you with creating an online course in Learn our learning management software.

Need assistance?

If this is your first time creating an online course or you are unsure of the components needed to get started, see the checklist below. This checklist aligns with the questions asked on the online course submission form. 

Please contact Armenta Lockhart via email at alockhart@uada.edu or by phone at 501-671-2021.

Enroll in Instructional Design 101: Master the Essentials of Online Course Creation

You may also enroll in the self-paced online course Instructional Design 101. This course will introduce the instructional design process, teach design and development best practices for creating quality online courses, and introduce the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service online course design process in Learn.

Do you have technical questions about building your course?

Contact Ashley Henderson by email at ahenderson@uada.edu or by phone at 501-671-2130.

Creating an Online Course Checklist 

• Will this online course be hybrid (face to face and online) or online only?
• Will your course be for an internal or external audience?
  
  
• Who is your learning audience?
  
  
• Do you have an outline of the course that includes learning objectives/goals?
  
  
• Do you already have the tools and technologies to build this online course?
  
  
• Will this course have assessments?
  
  
• Will an evaluation be used in this course?
  
  
• Will this course offer a certificate of completion?
  
  
• Will this course qualify for continuing education credits?
  
  
• What will the opening and closing dates be for your course?
  
  
• Will your course be free, or will there be a cost associated with it?

Ready to start the development process? Use these steps:

STEP 1: Complete Online Course Form 

Fill out an online course submission form.

STEP 2: Consulting & Share Content 

After submitting your online course submission form, the online learning manager will contact you shortly. You will receive an email to share a box folder where course materials can be uploaded. Please feel free to upload material as you create them. Also, please be advised that your course will need to be accessible for all learners. *See accessibility section below.

STEP 3: Create Course Shell

You will be notified once the course shell has been created, and you can begin adding content inside the course. Ashley Henderson or Armenta Lockhart will assist you with this process. Ashley will make sure all of the settings for quizzes, certificates, etc., are accurate based on your needs. When the settings are complete and functionality has been reviewed, you will need to allow 3-5 business days for content review, settings updates, and general functionality.

STEP 4: Pilot Testing 

When the settings are complete and functionality has been reviewed, you will need to collect 3-5 pilot testers at a minimum to complete the entire course as students, including obtaining the course certificate. The pilot testers should be asked to provide feedback about their course experience. This process will take approximately 2-3 weeks, depending on the availability of your testers. Suppose changes are needed based on the testers' feedback. In that case, you will need to allow 2-3 business days after you make the necessary changes for a final review by Ashley Henderson to make sure all settings are still correct before the course can go live. 

STEP 5: Launch Course

Congratulations, your course is now ready for your learning audience! While building your course, think about how you want students to be able to enroll in your course. Do you want anyone to be able to self-enroll in your course? Does your content need to be limited to a specific audience? Suppose it needs to be limited to a particular audience (or has a cost associated with it). In that case, you can work with Ashley Henderson to set up an enrollment key for your external courses to limit those who can access your material.

*Accessibility- Courses going forward will be required to be fully accessible to comply with ADA standards.

Information on making your course accessible can be found at uada.edu/accessibility. You can also contact our Accessibility Specialist, Ashi Franke, for further assistance.