A good online course requires a few things to make it worth the investment of time, effort, and money people are willing to invest in themselves and improving their skills.
Ultimately, an online course needs to provide value to the student and this comes in a variety of forms.
Online courses need to be providing useful information in a timely and effective manner, they need to be engaging and encouraging to increase student interest and progression and they also need to be well structured and well taught by a knowledgeable instructor or tutor.
All of these are important elements that form the bedrock of a valuable and successful online course, that brings opportunities and improvement to the life of the students who undertake them.
Additionally important to these foundations are a few other things, however.
The promotion of students agency and independence is the best way to ensure that students have the confidence to put their new skills to the test, while present and active tutors will help give your students peace of mind that they are being actively tutored and are not simply being processed, which is a feeling that many students tend to sometimes feel and can lead to hugely unsatisfactory results for both tutors and students.
Its something that even traditional academic environments are struggling with, so adding those personal touches makes a huge difference in building trust and understanding between teachers and students.