If you took Choose Your Online Course Topic, you'll remember that the key to creating a successful online course is to provide a transformation. Students are looking for a shortcut to an outcome, and your course is the fast-track method they'll used to achieve their goal. So when you're thinking through your course content, it's always a good idea to start with the transformation.

Take a few minutes to describe the transformation that students will experience in your course. In Choose Your Online Course Topic, we cover exactly how to identify your course transformation using a simple before and after matrix that breaks down what students have, how they feel, and who they are—both before and after taking your course. Check it out to hone in on your course transformation in detail. But for now, finish this sentence with a few bullet points: "By the end of this course, students will be able to 'blank'"

For example, I'll share the transformation for this course. Before this course, students might have no outline for their course. Students could feel overwhelmed about creating course content. And students will be beginners when it comes to course creation. After this course, students will have a complete outline for their online course and a plan for creating every piece of content. Students will feel confident about creating content types, And students will be able to create professional-quality content, including PDFs, slide decks, screencasts, and video.

Something you might notice is that I've avoided using the word "understand." For example, I could have said, "Students will understand the course creation process." The problem with the word "understand" is that it's too vague. Does it mean that students will be able to explain the process? Will they be able to create a course outline? As a pro tip, I want to encourage you to get more specific, and to choose more actionable words than "understand" when you're describing your transformation.

As one last example, let's think about Karla. By the end of Karla's course on royal icing, students will have all the tools and recipes they need to create beautiful iced cookies at home, they'll feel confident about starting a cookie decorating project, and they'll be a go-to expert on making delicious, fun cookies. Now, it's your turn to refine your course transformation.