Course Creators Weekly #36 🗓 March 1st, 2021 - The Rise of Cohort-based Courses

"There's no way universities can keep up. What you need is an institution or a program that's more nimble and flexible. A cohort is a perfect place to do that."

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  CBCs are on the rise thanks to improved video tech, and accelerated by COVID
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  Be aware of your expert biases and try to adopt a beginner's mindset
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  Get clear on your course's value proposition and ROI for students
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  Think beyond professional development—what hobbies could you teach?
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  Be prepared to work hard and wear lots of different hats—it's a business venture

This one's almost verbatim from Julia's mini-essay. It's short, but too good not to share!

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  Hand-select the students who are most likely to succeed
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  Let your prospects sell themselves—find out about their goals
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  Answer questions—find areas for improvement in your marketing
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  Keep the quality of your course community high by selecting best-fit students
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  Avoid impulse buyers—reduce the risk of dropouts and refunds
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  Add an element of exclusivity—like scarcity, it makes people want it even more

I'd like to add a 7th reason!

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  Get students to set their intentions from the get-go + feel more motivated to succeed

3 common reasons you might hit a wall…

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  Creating your course is taking longer than you expected
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  Other important obligations are draining your time and energy
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  You're dissatisfied with the quality of the course material

What to do…

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  Accept that your estimates are probably off, especially your first—you'll get better
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  Consider outsourcing mundane tasks or anything that doesn't require your expertise
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  Adjust your expectations and try to focus on making incremental progress
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  Acknowledge this: your first few courses will suck (my own twist on Brian's words)
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  Find the gaps in quality, assess if they'll affect student satisfaction, let 'em go if not
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  Seek feedback to validate your assumptions and find improvement areas
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  Take breaks, don't sacrifice your health, and celebrate progress with small rewards
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  Ship fast—don't wait until you have all the materials before you launch
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  Be prepared to pivot, if you discover that's what you need to do