Thanks to the digital revolution, thousands of entrepreneurial businesses and individuals are discovering new opportunities to profit from in areas like online training and education.
Electronic training (eTraining) is is the digital equivalent of distance learning, where students do not interact face-to-face with the trainer or teacher.
The e-Training Industry Is Growing
e-Training course marketplaces like Udemy.com are indicative of the growth of the e-Training industry.
Udemy.com offers over 30,000 e-courses on every subject imaginable, from IT & software and personal development, to courses about creativity and making better lifestyle choices, etc …
(Udemy currently offers over 30,000 e-courses covering all topics!)
The fact that the e-Learning industry is growing is not only great for people looking to learn new skills, but also for businesses that have unique and valuable content that can help transform the lives of others.
Online Training – Benefits & Drawbacks
The digital medium provides benefits and opportunities for developing training courses online, but there are also many drawbacks and challenges.:
- Working out the,
- Employing familiar tools and technologies that don’t require investing additional effort, money or time in a new learning curve,
- Ensuring consistent standards are applied throughout content design, branding, etc.
- Measuring outcomes,
- Grading student performance,
- Providing useful reports, completion certificates
Additional factors include lack of face-to-face interaction, potential lack of motivation (e.g. boredom), distracting environments, etc.
eTraining – A World Of Possibilities
If you are a product creator, creating courses that teach commercial subjects in areas of high demand is a great way to attract new subscribers and monetize your website. Product creation is, after all, one of the best ways to attract new customers, establish authority and credibility online and position yourself as a leader in your niche or industry.
There’s a ton of opportunity. Almost anything can be turned into an ecourse.
(Got skills, knowledge or business interest in commercial photography, landscaping or writing sales copy? Turn it into an ecourse!)
The problem is that creating “how to” ebooks and training courses from scratch takes a lot of time. Chances are, however, that if you have been online for a while, you probably already have plenty of useful training content on your website or blog that can be leveraged into a digital product.
If your site is built with WordPress and you’re searching for an inexpensive way to develop online training products then let me introduce you to a great WP solution that you may want to download.
Announcing …
WPCourseware – Online Learning Management System Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
WP Courseware is a learning management system plugin for WordPress that lets you set up professional training courses and build e-learning products fast with WordPress.
(WP Courseware – Learning Management System Courseware Plugin For WordPress)
Over 7,000 sites have the WP Courseware plugin installed. WPCourseware makes creating courses in WordPress simple.
A course in WPCourseware comprises of modules and modules are built using course units, quizzes, etc.
WPCourseware fully integrates with any WordPress site. Once installed, the plugin adds its own menu section that lets you add new courses, add or edit modules and units, edit quizzes, edit settings, import/export data, create custom training certificates, access plugin documentation, etc …
(WPCourseware plugin menu)
WP Courseware also lets you include a sidebar widget, giving users access to information about how they are progressing in the course …
(WPCourseware Widget)
You can completely customize and configure all of your courses.
For example, you decide if course participants need to have completed a course section before they can progress through to the next unit …
(Course settings can be fully configured to suit your needs)
You can view details about all training courses ”at a glance” inside the WP dashboard and perform a range of actions (e.g. reorder modules, course units and quizzes) …
(View course details inside your dashboard)
If you have a basic understanding of how WordPress works, you can create training courses very quickly using familiar interfaces and functions.
For example, you can add and edit course titles and descriptions, set user access, customize messages and notifications, create certificates of completion for courses and fine tune other course settings simply by switching tabs, entering data into fields, checking radio buttons, selecting drop-down menu options, dragging and dropping elements around screens, etc …
(Edit your course options easily)
Adding modules and units is as easy as creating and editing a WordPress post. You can include text, images, videos, and any other kind of content that you would normally add to a post.
You can order your content by dragging and dropping units inside training modules inside the Ordering screen …
(Order Course Modules & Units screen)
When you have finished creating your unit, simply publish it like any other WordPress post or page.
You can view a list of all of your course units in the “Course Units” section …
(Course Units table)
Placing your course and modules into pages is simple. You can use a range of built-in shortcodes to insert courses and module information into pages …
(WPCourseware shortcodes)
After publishing your page, your course will display to users with all the options and settings you have added …
(Creating professional-looking training courses with WPCourseware)
Once your e-course is published, members must log in and have permission to access your training content …
(Users must log in and have permission to view your training content)
Learn more here: WP Courseware
Benefits Of Using WPCourseware
Below are just a few of the benefits of using WPCourseware to create courses online on your WordPress site:
Quick And Easy Installation
WPCourseware is quite easy to install. Just upload a zip file that contains the plugin to your Plugin folder via your admin user login and activate.
Create Training Courses In Minutes
As mentioned earlier, if you already understand the way WordPress works, you can create courses quickly 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 organize the course and create a course outline using the plugin’s shortcodes or widget.
Unlimited Expandability
WP Courseware lets you add unlimited courses, modules, lessons, quizzes, surveys and students.
Add Any Kind Of Content
A course unit uses WordPress custom types, which lets you add anything you would typically add to a WordPress post or pageWordPress pages or posts besides text, such as audio, videos, graphic elements, hyperlinks, file downloads, etc.
(Add any type of content you want to create your training courses)
Additional benefits include the following:
- Works on all WP themes: The plugin works with all WordPress themes.
- Works on all devices: The plugin allows you to deliver content across multiple devices.
WP Courseware Features
WP Courseware offers a number of features to WP users. Here are some:
Course Outlines
You can create a course outline and course progress page via shortcodes. The course progress shortcode is dynamic and displays all the courses students have enrolled in while also displaying their current progress.
Progress-Tracking Features
Students can also navigate through your courses with a dynamic custom sidebar widget.
As a course administrator, you can also track students as they progress through courses inside your dashboard …
(Track course progress)
Automatic Enrollment
You can set up courses to allow automatic enrollment of new participants.
Customized Training Course Certificates
Provide course participants with certificates. You can add a custom background, logo, and signature …
(Training certificates)
Import/Export Functionality
The import/export function allows you to set up training courses on other WP sites.
Email Messages
WPCourseware lets you set up custom email messages to congratulate course participants after completing modules or courses and for communicating other administrative matters. You can also customize quiz result emails to congratulate students who successfully complete a quiz. You can also send out mass emails trainees with their final course grade with a single click …
(WP Courseware – Custom Notifications)
Add Quizzes And Surveys
You can add quizzes and surveys to your course content …
(Quizzes & Surveys)
- Depending on how you decide to build the course, you can add course progress blocking or non-blocking quizzes.
- Quizzes can be timed, paginated, and include customized feedback based on question tags.
- Quiz results can be downloaded in PDF format. Surveys allow you to download CSV files with survey results.
- The course grade book helps you track how students are doing …
(WP Courseware – Edit Quiz/Survey Screen)
Integrates With WordPress eCommerce & Membership Plugins
WPCourseware works with leading WordPress e-commerce and membership plugins …
(Membership Site & e-Commerce Plugin Integration)
User Testimonials
Below are a few of the testimonials plugin users have published about 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
***
“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 loads of great content on your website or blog that can be leveraged into a digital training product.
WPCourseware allows you to convert any post or page on your site into a course unit, so if you have published lots of great “how to” content like step-by-step tutorials.
Support
WPCourseware is well-supported and backed by a risk-free, 30 day, full money-back guarantee. Users get free access to all integrations and one year of support and upgrades with their purchase.
The plugin’s “Documentation” screen inside the plugin’s options and settings area provides examples of the shortcodes …
(WPCourseware Documentation – Shortcodes)
And access to 15+ ”how-to” videos …
(WPCourseware Documentation – Plugin Video Tutorials)
Plugin Cost
WPCourseware is available in the following options:
- 2-Site License Edition – This license lets you install WPCourseware on a single site. Price includes one year of free upgrades and support. Cost = $99.00.
- 10-Site License – This edition lets you configure WP Courseware on ten WordPress web sites. Includes 1 year of free upgrades and support. Cost = $125.00.
- 25-Site Licensing – This allows you to set up WPCourseware on twenty-five sites. Includes one year of free upgrades and support. Price = $175.00.
Note: Current pricing for the WPCourseware software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the pricing when this review was published. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the software 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 information:
Additional Information
For a demo video of the plugin in action, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the WPCourseware website.
The Bottom Line
If you’re searching for an inexpensive way to create and sell e-courses, WP Courseware is a powerful courseware solution you may want to keep in mind.
For more information, visit the plugin website:
***
***