Power Up Your Course: My Top Tools, Platforms & Software for Course Creation
Feb 28, 2022
This is a value-packed post you may want to bookmark for later because I’m sharing all of my favorite tools, platforms, and software for course creation. People tend to get freaked out by using technology for course creation, but in reality, it’s one of the simplest parts of the process. So, let me break it down for you!
But before we dive right in, welcome! You’ve now entered into The Dreamer’s Lounge! I’m Ariel Schiffer, and I have made it my mission to take out the digital trash one bad course at a time. I am the creator of The Course Alchemist, Industrial Organizational Psychologist, and Curriculum and course design expert.
This podcast is for entrepreneurs who are looking to elevate their digital product suite so their offers speak for themselves. Nothing is worse than being oversold into something that under-delivers just like an overpriced bottle of wine. So, if you’re ready to develop high-quality offers, bring in consistent revenue, and have a business with long-term results for you AND your clients, grab your drink and join us inside…
These are the essentials that you need and my top recommendations in the space.
The Technology Basics
People still need a word processor. There’s Microsoft Word, but we prefer using the Google Suite with Google Sheets, Google Docs, and so on. For slide creation, we use Canva. It’s easy to use and great for aesthetics and is wonderful with templates.
For recording, there are a few things you need. We recommend Loom for screen sharing. For speaking over slides, I tend to recommend Zoom. It’s easy to use and has a lot of functionality.
Then, for face to camera video, I actually recommend using your phone. Use a tripod and use a BlueTooth clicker to hit record and stop. Videos using this will come out incredible as long as you have natural light and a neutral background. You may want to invest in a ring light for those times that natural light is hard to come by.
A microphone is something you need for course creation. I like the Blue Yeti Nano small microphone. I also think a lapel mic is a sound investment and is great to use if you’re going to be on video speaking during any of your courses.
For this, we use wave.video because it has an open captioning feature. We use Rev for closed-captioning, and they have a quick turnaround as well as very high accuracy.
Additional Tech Tools & Software
If you want to create animated videos, I use Vyond for this. As for course platforms, these are always changing and evolving, so we’re always open to something new.
But, I really love Kajabi as far as a course platform goes. They have a lot all in one place, so check out their features and see how many of them you’d be using to see if this is right for you.
If you’re looking to just host a course, Thinkific is a good option. A free platform for this that I’d recommend is MemberVault. It’s pretty basic in nature, but especially if you’re just getting started it could work well for you.
For gamification and engagement features and tools, there are a couple of platforms I recommend. They’re a bit pricier, but definitely could be worth it depending on your goals.
Xperiencify is one and LearnWorlds is another. They both have interesting features and are big on gamification and integrating psychology into courses.
To empower you to foster a sense of community, there are a few options I’d recommend. Facebook groups are good, but they have their pros and cons of course. Circle is something that is well built out and is very customizable. Mighty Networks is another good one, it has great community features that are worth checking out.
For gamification, there are a ton of tools you can use, but I want to shout out two of them. Kahoot! is a great one - it’s almost like a game show environment to get people excited about learning. People can use their phones to vote with it.
Another platform called MindStamp is a way to integrate engagement features into your videos. It turns regular videos into customized content that makes things more interactive and fun for your audience.
Don’t Let the Technology Overwhelm You: The Bottom Line
People tend to let the technology of course creation freak them out, but it doesn’t have to! You really just need something to plan out your thoughts, make your slides, and make your resources. From there, you just need to record your videos and a place to store them. That’s a great start and can put you on a wonderful path to course creation in itself.
If you’d like to connect with other Dreamers in our community, join The Dreamer’s Society. And if you’re interested in learning more about working with the Dreampro team, check out our website!
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See you next week!
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