Thanks to the internet, thousands of entrepreneurial businesses and individuals are finding new niches to profit from in areas like providing online training and elearning.
Electronic training (eTraining) is based on the concept of distance learning, where students do not interact face-to-face with the trainer or teacher.
The eTraining Industry Is Growing
eTraining course marketplaces like Udemy.com are indicative of the explosive growth of the eTraining industry.
Udemy provides 30,000+ e-courses on every subject imaginable, from office productivity and personal skills, to stress management and improving memory & study skills, etc …
(Udemy.com offers 30,000+ online courses covering all topics!)
This is not only great for people looking to learn, but also for businesses that have unique educational content to share.
e-Courses – Opportunities And Challenges
Some of the drawbacks of planning, developing and implementing effective training courses online include:
- Working out the,
- Using familiar tools and technologies that students can instinctively use to access the training content,
- Ensuring consistent standards are used throughout the content, course branding, etc.
- Measuring outcomes,
- Assessing scores,
- Providing useful reports, certificates of completion
Additional factors include the lack of face-to-face interaction, boredom, distractions that cause loss of focus, etc.
Online Courses – A World Of Possibilities
If you are trying to grow your business online, creating products that help people gain new skills is a great way to grow a subscriber list and monetize your website. Product creation is one of the best ways to attract new customers, as well as establish authority and credibility and position yourself as an industry or niche leader.
There’s a ton of opportunity. Every topic where there is interest and demand to learn can be taught online.
(Got a business built around photography, horticulture or creative writing? Turn it into an e-course!)
The problem is that creating “how to” ebooks and training courses from scratch can take a lot of time. Chances are, however, you already have content on your blog or website that can be leveraged into a new digital training product.
If you’re searching for an inexpensive way to develop and sell elearning products and your website is built using WordPress, here’s a great courseware plugin that can help you.
Let’s Review …
WPCourseware – WordPress Course Management Plugin
Description
WPCourseware is the leading WordPress course management plugin.
(WPCourseware – WordPress Course Creation Plugin)
WP Courseware is currently being used on 7,000+ sites and makes creating courses in WordPress simple.
A course in WP Courseware comprises of training modules and training modules contain units, surveys, etc.
WPCourseware integrates fully with WordPress. Once installed, the plugin adds its own menu section that lets you create new training courses, add or edit existing course modules and units, add quizzes and surveys, edit plugin, import/export your training content, modify certificates, access plugin documentation, etc …
(WP Courseware options menu)
WP Courseware also lets you add a sidebar widget, allowing users to view their own progress …
(WPCourseware Sidebar Widget)
The courses you add can be fully customized and configured.
For example, you can decide whether learners must complete a course section before they can progress to the next unit …
(Course settings can be fully customized to suit your needs)
You can view training course information “at a glance” and perform various types of actions (e.g. edit course settings) …
(View course details inside your admin dashboard)
If you are already familiar with the way WordPress works, you can create courses quickly using familiar WordPress interfaces and functionality.
For example, you can easily add and edit your course title and description, set user access, customize user messages and notifications, issue certificates of completion for courses and fine tune other course settings simply by clicking tabs, entering data into fields, checking radio buttons, choosing drop-down menu options, dragging and dropping elements around screens, etc …
(”Edit Course” section)
Adding modules and course units is as easy as creating and editing WordPress posts. You can easily include text, images, videos, and any other type of content that you would normally add to a post.
You can order your units inside training modules using drag and drop inside the ”Order Course” screen …
(Order Course Modules & Units screen)
When you are done adding content to your unit, simply publish it like any other WordPress post or page.
Your course units will be listed in a table in the “Course Units” section …
(Course Units table)
Placing your course and modules into pages is simple. You can use the plugin’s built-in shortcodes to insert course and module information into pages …
(WP Courseware shortcodes)
After publishing your page, your training course will display to users with all the content you have configured …
(Training course created with WP Courseware)
After publishing your e-course, it can be viewed by logged in registered users …
(Users must log in and have permission to access your training content)
Go here to learn more about the plugin: WP Courseware
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using WPCourseware to create training courses online on your WordPress web site:
Really Easy To Install
WPCourseware is very easy to install. Simply upload a zip folder that contains the plugin to your Plugins folder via your admin user account and activate.
Create Training Courses Quickly
As mentioned earlier, if you are already familiar with how WordPress works, you can create training courses in minutes using familiar interfaces and functionality.
Simply create a new course, module, or course unit with content, and optional quiz or survey. Drag and drop to arrange the course and create a course outline using the plugin’s shortcodes or widget.
Unlimited Capacity
WPCourseware lets you create unlimited courses, modules, lessons, surveys, quizzes and add an unlimited number of users to courses.
Use Different Content Formats
A course unit uses WordPress custom types, which lets you add any type of content you would normally insert into a WordPress post or pageWordPress pages or posts besides text, such as embedded media, graphic elements, hyperlinks, downloadable files, etc.
(Use different types of content in your training courses)
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Compatible with all WP themes: The plugin works with all WordPress themes.
- Compatible with all devices: The plugin deliver content that can be viewed on all devices.
Plugin Features
WPCourseware provides a number of features to WordPress users. Here are just some of those:
Course Outline & Progress Page
You can create a course outline or course progress page using shortcodes. The course progress shortcode is dynamic and displays the courses students have enrolled in as well as displaying their current progress.
Progress-Tracking Features
Students can also view their course progress using a dynamic custom sidebar widget.
As a course administrator, you can also track students as they progress through courses inside the dashboard …
(Progress-tracking features)
Enroll New Participants Automatically
Set up courses to allow automatic enrollment of new participants.
Course Certificate Distribution
Students who successfully complete courses can receive a customized training certificate. You can add a custom background, logo, and signature to certificates of completion …
(Customized course certificates)
Import/Export Functionality
The import/export feature allows you to transfer your course to other sites.
Custom Notifications
WPCourseware allows you to set up custom email messages to congratulate trainees after completing modules and courses and for communicating other administrative matters. You can also customize quiz result emails to congratulate students who successfully complete training quizzes. Additionally, you can also send out mass emails to students with their final course grades with just one click …
(Email Notifications – WP Courseware)
Add Quizzes And Surveys
Add a quiz or survey to your course content …
(Add Quizzes & Surveys)
- Depending on your needs, you can use course progress blocking or non-blocking quizzes.
- Quizzes can be timed, paginated, and include customized feedback based on question tags.
- Results can be downloaded in PDF format. Surveys allow you to download CSV files with the survey results.
- The course grade book will help track how your students are progressing in a course …
(WP Courseware – Edit Quiz/Survey Settings Area)
eCommerce And Membership Site Plugin Integration
WP Courseware can be used with many ecommerce and membership plugins …
(Works With WordPress Membership & e-Commerce Sites)
User Feedback
Here are a couple of the testimonials plugin users have submitted regarding the WPCourseware plugin:
“No e-learning solution for WordPress compares to the ease and speed that WP Courseware offers people when setting up online courses.” Chris Lema, Author, Speaker, and E-Learning Expert
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“Nate contacted me about checking out WP Courseware. I did… and I was impressed. Today, I have WP Courseware integrated into the delivery side of Blog Marketing Academy itself.” David Risley
Useful Tips
As mentioned earlier, if you have been online for a while, you already have the building blocks of great training content on your blog or website that can be leveraged into a digital product.
WP Courseware allows you to convert any any WordPress post or page into a course unit, so if you have published a number of great “how to” articles and step-by-step tutorials.
Plugin Support
WPCourseware is very well-supported and backed by a no-risk, 30 day, complete refund guarantee. Users get free access to all integrations and 1 year of support and upgrades with their purchase.
The plugin’s “Documentation” screen inside the plugin’s options and settings area explains how to use the shortcodes …
(WPCourseware Documentation – Shortcodes)
And access to a complete set of ”how-to” videos …
(WPCourseware Documentation – Plugin Video Tutorials)
Product Pricing
WPCourseware is available in the following options:
- 2-Site License – This enables you to install WPCourseware on a single WordPress website. Cost includes one year of free upgrades and support. Price = $99.00.
- 10-Site License Edition – This lets you activate WP Courseware on ten WordPress web sites. Includes 1 year of free upgrades and support. Cost = $125.00.
- 25-Site Licensing – This lets you configure WPCourseware on 25 websites. Includes one year of free upgrades and support. Cost = $175.00.
Please Note: The price of this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the software is being retailed for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin author when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details:
Additional Plugin Info
For demo videos showing plugin usage, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the WPCourseware website.
In Conclusion
If you want to develop e-courses, WPCourseware is an inexpensive and professional plugin you may want to consider.
To learn more, check out the plugin here:
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