Technology Essentials in Education Episode 28:
The Behind-the-Scenes of Hosting Self-Paced Courses

Hello there and welcome to Technology Essentials in Education. My name is Monica Burns and I am so glad you are joining today for this conversation with Dr. Desiree Alexander.

I've known Desiree for a while now. The last time I saw her face-to-face was sitting in one of her sessions at the TCEA conference. She's a favorite when I see her listed as a speaker, and I always want to make sure to get to her sessions at a conference if I can.

Today we're talking about a topic that might be interesting to you if you are supporting learners in your community at any level, but particularly colleagues who are learning about something related to their own professional development. Desiree talks about self-paced courses, a topic that often generates some questions if you have never been behind the scenes of a self-paced course. Desiree takes us through that together.

She supports educational leaders, teachers, and lots of people connected to the world of education as the deputy director of an educational nonprofit in Louisiana and the founder and CEO of Educator Alexander Consulting. Whether you've participated in a self-paced course as a student or have been behind the scenes creating courses for colleagues, this is a fantastic episode with lots of great insight to share.

This episode is brought to you by Jotform. Jotform provides an all-in-one solution to streamline administrative tasks, enhance community engagement, and foster innovation. Using their no-code drag-and-drop forms and workflows, your teams can securely collect and store data, automate tasks, and collaborate on team resources. Educational institutions are also eligible for a 30% discount on Jotform Enterprise. Head to their website to learn more at Jotform.com slash enterprise slash education.

Welcome to the podcast. I am so excited to chat with you today about all things self-paced courses, which I know is a topic that educators may have participated in courses or thought about running a course. But before we jump in, can you share a bit about your role in education? What does your day-to-day look like?

Sure. My day-to-day is not a day-to-day. Everything is different every day, and even though I plan for things, I try to get through them. But if a phone call comes in or an email or someone needs support or I need to go to a school, then that's what I do. I am the Deputy Director for an educational non-profit in Louisiana and the Founder CEO of Educator Alexander Consulting. I have an S on my chest. I'm support for anything and everything: educational leaders, teachers, secretaries, whoever and whatever. If you're dealing with education, I am support.

I think that is such a huge part of your role at the non-profit and through the consulting work. I've seen you present, and we were just chatting about how the last time we were face-to-face together was at a conference where I got to sit in one of your sessions. You do a lot of live presentations and workshops for people who are right there sharing a room with you, but you also offer other kinds of professional learning, which is what we're talking about today. So what drew you to creating self-paced courses for educators?

I think the first self-paced course I created was for educational leadership certification. The test is called S-L-L-A, and it's taken in about half of the United States to become certified in educational leadership. I was doing in-person classes that were six hours long, then seven, then eight hours because content kept being added. It just wasn't sustainable. People would ask for it in different states and cities, and I tried to accommodate it, but it became overwhelming. I realized there had to be a better way to get this content out because it was mainly six to eight hours of lecture with lots of information and little interaction. Because of that, it lent itself well to a self-paced class. That was my first self-paced class, and that's where my passion and love for self-paced classes came from.

That's interesting to think about that process. You mentioned having a course that's really lecture-based, even if you're all together, it's a lot of information, particularly for things around compliance or test prep for leaders. So that's one factor, but how do you decide whether a topic is better suited for a live workshop versus a self-paced format?

That is the number one question: is it completely lecture-based or not? I also have Google certifications, level one and two, as self-paced classes, and those are more hands-on. When I teach those live, it's very much like, 'Hey, click while I'm clicking.' I wasn't sure if that would lend itself to self-paced, but it does because the topics are clearly segmented, like Google Slides, Gmail, etc. That organization lends itself well to self-paced classes because you know how to organize the class. You have to decide how to handle the clicking component, mainly saying, 'Hey, it's self-paced for a reason, so have a different device here and click with me.' The benefit of self-paced classes is you can pause, rewind, and rewatch, unlike in-person classes where once you're done, you're done. For example, if I'm teaching a class on Jotform live, once it's done, it's done. But with self-paced, you can go back and watch the videos. You have to think about your audience: is this a topic where they would appreciate stopping and watching five minutes every day? If yes, it's good for an online class.

That's a great way to help someone make a decision about whether this will work in that format. This past year, I've done a few pre-recorded things, and I was with a group in Oregon where there was one pre-recorded session per month for five months. Some could join live, but most watched the recording. I had to think differently than a webinar where I might say, 'Jump into the chat' or 'Let's put on a timer.' I had to say, 'If you're watching this on recording, pause and take your time. Ignore the timer the live group is doing.' This is your opportunity to slow down if you want to.

It's interesting to think about a live workshop where you hand someone resources and an interactive document or collaborative space with links. It's not the same as hitting pause or rewinding like you would in a book. You mentioned sectioning and knowing something might fit because of that. What does your process look like when you map out a new self-paced course from scratch without a live workshop to model after?

This is all about setting up systems and organization. The first thing you need to think about is your audience: what's going to benefit them versus yourself? Also, it has to be something you can have fun with and be passionate about because nobody wants to listen to something for an hour if you're not passionate. It has to be a topic you can talk to yourself about and still have fun.

When sectioning it out, think about your audience. My first class was very much, 'Here's the five hours, pause when you want, have a good day.' But I had to think about my audience because a lot of people want it sectioned. Even though they can pause anytime, I had to think about when it makes sense to pause or change sections. What's going to make sense for your audience? Because once you do it, it's done, though you may need to update sections later. Put the work into making it what it needs to be for your audience first, then section out the rest.

For example, if you have a 10-minute video, can you break it into two five-minute videos? You could just do one 10-minute video, but what's best for your audience? Maybe after five minutes you're introducing something new and their eyes glaze over, so separate that into two. That will make a world of difference when organizing.

Then think about support. How much support are you giving live? How much support on any platform where they can talk to each other? Consider and work that out ahead of time. I use different platforms; one has a comment feature. People ask questions there, but I'm not always looking at those comments. I had to put it in my class that if you have a question, email me because I might not see comments for weeks. Understanding that and making organizational systems for what's best for your audience is important.

Knowing your audience and enthusiasm is key. The energy of a live room is very different than recording ahead of time. Being proactive about what support looks like is important. Is it a community? Do people know about a live aspect once a month or whatever it might be? That may not be the same answer for every course or group. I love that example of setting everyone up for success by using comments or knowing where to go with questions because that might be an afterthought for some.

From a tech perspective, there are lots of ways to share material. What platforms or tools do you rely on to host and deliver your courses, and what made you pick them?

There are many options. I started this back in the day when Google Classroom was only for education accounts. I wanted a platform that was all-encompassing, handling payments and self-sufficient so I didn't have to click a button every time someone paid. I needed it to be safe so people couldn't download anything, though if people want it, they can record the screen or take it anyway. You have to be okay with that but be as safe as possible with your intellectual property.

I looked at Teachable and Kajabi and chose Teachable because I wanted a one-time payment. I'm very type A and didn't want per-sale payments. I preferred an upfront payment. I'm still with Teachable today. They have drip content and other features I don't use, but I like that it's available. They offer certificates now, and I like some of their features. Once I set it up and it's working, I don't change it.

I also use Teachable with a different online course, an educational leadership certification program for Louisiana as an alternative certification program. Educators get materials on Teachable and turn in materials on Google Drive. Some suggest Google Classroom, but I like my system. If it works, I use it. So I use Teachable with Google Drive and it works for us.

Besides video platforms and how to create videos, you want to consider if the payment system is only in that platform or if you can use Stripe and PayPal. Look at the entire system to see what platform is best for you. Those are the ones I use.

Those are great recommendations for someone creating something for a group or working within a system that has an LMS or learning management system. You mentioned the back and forth: is someone consuming information or submitting artifacts? What role do video, downloadable resources, and reflection activities play in your courses?

It depends on the course. For educational leadership, it's me giving to you; I don't need anything back. But I have a course on Teachable called support time where you can book one-on-one time with me to go through what you want. That wasn't at the start, but people contacted me asking for feedback on responses, and I couldn't keep up. I used to do it until it became too much, like grading work again. That's where support time came from: if you want extra help or one-on-one, you can get that.

For the Educational Leadership Certification, called TEL, you have to have things to download, templates, and reflection, so Google Drive comes into play. I give it to you, you give it to me. That's where they get templates and resources and upload their work. For Google certification, you just take the test; no support time is needed. It depends on the course.

There's no one-size-fits-all. You might have an asynchronous self-paced course and want to offer something additional like office hours where everyone can jump in during a set time or a dedicated one-on-one component. You can customize the experience for your learners. There are lots of tech resources to help make that happen.

You mentioned back and forth like submitting something or taking a certification exam as an outcome. How do you measure success for a self-paced course beyond completion rate?

Honestly, I don't look at completion rates. It's up to you if you complete the course. I look at the final outcome: did you get certified? Did you pass the test? I ask for data and what happened after. It's like doing professional development in schools: you get an evaluation saying, 'I learned so much,' but that doesn't tell the real benefit. Did you take it back to your classroom and do it? How did it impact students?

I don't look at completion rates because it's like an evaluation: did you click through the buttons and learn anything? With support time, I help people start businesses and branding. Did you actually do it? Am I seeing something in six months from our conversation? That's more valuable than completion rates. That type of measurement gives important data beyond just yes or no.

When promoting, I can say I have a 93% passing rate. A 100% completion rate means nothing. Someone isn't trying to take a course just to complete it; they have their own goal for training.

If someone is helping educators earn certification or understand a new topic, what advice would you give an educator with a great idea who feels overwhelmed about where to start?

Start with the purpose of doing the online course. What is the benefit? If there's no benefit to the online course, maybe live sessions or webinars are better. Start with the purpose and what people will get from it. Then look at the right content and your organizational plan: how would you break it up?

Sometimes when you do the organizational plan, you realize you have a hundred videos to do, which can be overwhelming. You have to get over that and bite the bullet. Maybe do five videos a week or one video a day and set an end date for going public. Plan those videos out so you're not sweating for weeks and losing joy in your voice.

I bought Teachable in the summer but didn't push through my first course until February. I felt dumb paying for it and not using it, but it was good to give myself time to get everything done. When it launched, it took off. Give yourself grace and space unless you have a deadline. Be honest with yourself about your schedule and commitments so you can plan realistically.

The big thing is just get started with your planning and purpose.

I love anchoring in the vision and desired outcomes, then breaking it down.

This has been so useful unpacking what it means to have a self-paced course and what you need to be successful and connect with your audience.

For anyone curious about your work and wanting to learn more, where can people connect with you?

If you go to my website, you can get to me. If you've heard me speak before, I always say EducatorAlexander.com. There you can find my email, newsletter, YouTube channel, and my book, which came from the online class. Online classes can lead to other things like books.

You can find everything about self-paced classes on EducatorAlexander.com.

Thank you so much for your time today and for sharing these wonderful strategies with listeners.

Thank you for having me. I always love doing podcasts or working with you on any project. This was lots of fun.

It's always great catching up with friends in the ed tech community and talking about things we're passionate about. I'm sure you could hear Dr. Desiree Alexander's enthusiasm and my curiosity throughout our conversation.

Let's finish up with a few key points from the conversation. First, start by asking whether your content truly benefits from a self-paced format or if it's better suited for a live session.

Section your course content with your audience in mind, not based on what feels easiest for you.

Choose a platform that handles everything: payments, protects your content, fits your workflow, and more.

Measure success by real outcomes like certifications and career impact, not just completion rates.

Make sure to follow along with Dr. Desiree Alexander's work. She has many resources to explore around self-paced courses and ed tech.

A big thank you to Jotform, the presenter of today's episode. To learn more and get a 30% discount on Jotform Enterprise for educational institutions, head to Jotform.com slash enterprise slash education.