Online Course Creation Glossary

An instructional design framework consisting of five phases: Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate.

A mode of education where students access materials and complete activities on their own schedule, without real-time interaction.

A curriculum design approach that starts with defining desired outcomes before planning assessments and instruction.

An initial release of a course to a small group of students for testing, feedback, and refinement before a full public launch.

A hierarchical classification of cognitive learning objectives: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create.

Breaking instructional content into small, focused segments to reduce cognitive load and improve retention.

A theory that working memory has limited capacity, and instructional design should manage the amount of information processed simultaneously.

A course model where a group of students begins and progresses through the material together on a set schedule.

The percentage of enrolled students who finish all required course content and assessments.

The process of testing market demand for a course topic before committing to full production.

A content release strategy where materials become available to students on a predetermined schedule.

A course that remains continuously available for enrollment and whose content stays relevant without frequent updates.

Low-stakes evaluations conducted during the learning process to check understanding and provide feedback.

The systematic practice of creating effective and engaging educational experiences based on learning science.

A free resource offered in exchange for contact information, used to build an email list of potential course students.

A software application for creating, delivering, managing, and tracking educational courses and training programs.

Clear, measurable statements of what students will be able to do upon completing a lesson, module, or course.

An approach that delivers content in small, highly focused bursts, typically under 10 minutes, designed for specific learning outcomes.

A course launched with the minimum content necessary to deliver value and validate demand before full production.

A marketing model mapping the journey from initial awareness to course purchase through stages of increasing commitment.

Sharable Content Object Reference Model, a set of technical standards for e-learning software products that enables interoperability between different LMS platforms.

Evidence that other people have purchased and benefited from a course, used to build trust with prospective students.

An evaluation administered at the end of a learning period to measure overall achievement of learning objectives.

Real-time educational interaction where instructor and students participate simultaneously, such as live video sessions.

A clear articulation of the specific result or change a student will achieve by completing the course.