As opposed to the Live Classes account, which is designed for face-to-face teaching, the Online Courses account is specifically created to host asynchronous educational courses that students can complete at their own pace.
To get started, follow these steps to create and set up your course.
Create the course
Navigate to the Online Courses tab and click on the "Create an online course" button.
In the window that appears, enter the title and description of your course.
Upload a cover picture for your course.
Select the type of course. Currently, you have the options of 'Language learning' or 'Other'. Choosing 'Other' means that language learning features, such as the student's personal dictionary and vocabulary trainer, will not be available for that course.
Choose a Study mode
The Study mode determines how your students will access the lessons within the course.
Open: All lessons will be available to students at all times.
Open as you go: Students will need to complete lessons one at a time in order for the next lesson to become accessible.
By intervals: Specify a time interval for opening new lessons, such as daily or once every 3 days.
By days of the week: Select specific days of the week when lessons will become available.
Closed: All lessons are initially unavailable, and you will manually grant access to each lesson.
Delayed start
If you want to start your course at a specific date and time, you can activate the 'Delayed start' toggle. By enabling this option, students will be unable to access the lessons of the course until the designated start time arrives. This allows you to control the timing and availability of the course content, ensuring that students begin their learning journey at the intended time.
Review by a teacher
You can activate this toggle if you want to check the completed lessons. In some study modes you have the flexibility to choose when new lessons will open: you can set it up so that new lessons become available either after the teacher checks the lesson or after the student sends the lesson for review.
Classroom background
Switch the toggle to indicate that you want to replace the default background image. Then, upload your desired background image by clicking the "Upload your background" button. For optimal results, choose an image with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Once you have selected the desired settings for your online course, click on the "Save" button. This action will create the online course with the specified settings. It's important to note that you can always make changes to the settings later if needed.
Create lessons
To add lessons to your course, follow these steps:
Switch to the "Lessons" tab within the course interface.
Click on the "Add lessons" button.
Select the option to "Create a new lesson".
Enter the name and description for your lesson, and optionally upload a cover image.
Click on "Add a lesson" to proceed.
The preview and edit mode of the virtual classroom will open. From there, you can click on "Add an exercise" to select a template for your exercise. The process of building a lesson is similar to the one in the Live Classes account. For detailed instructions and further guidance, please refer to the corresponding section in the Help Center.
Once you have completed building your first lesson, you can click the 'Back' button. This will navigate you back to the list of lessons within your Online Course. From there, you can continue adding more lessons by following the same process. Feel free to add as many lessons as you need to create a comprehensive and engaging learning experience for your students.
Invite the students
Once you have completed building the materials for your online course, you are ready to invite students to join. Follow these steps to invite students to your course:
Navigate to the 'Students' tab within your course interface.
Click on 'Add a student'.
In the window that appears, type the email addresses of the students you wish to add. If you are adding multiple email addresses, separate them with commas.
Click on 'Add' to add the entered email addresses.
Double-check the email addresses to ensure they are correct. You can edit or delete them if necessary.
Click 'Next' to proceed to the payment section.
In the payment section, you will be prompted to select the language for the invitation letters that will be sent to the students. Take a moment to review all the entered data to ensure its accuracy.
Please note that adding one student to your course costs $2, but the first student you add is free of charge. If you have any bonuses, they will be automatically applied to provide a discount on the total cost. Students will receive access to your course for a duration of one year, and the platform does not charge them any additional fees.
Once you have confirmed that all the information is correct, click on "Continue" to proceed to the payment stage. Upon completion of the payment process, the student will receive an invitation to their email and gain access to your online course.
By following these steps, you can successfully invite students to your course and ensure they receive the necessary access to begin their learning journey.
