Would you like to greatly increase your global impact as an online instructor?
This checklist will enable you to influence even more people in more countries around the world, particularly in developing countries where your unique skills and talents are needed most.
Learn the top tips and simple tweaks you can apply to your courses so you can boost the learning experience for all your students by “internationalizing” your content while also adding to your student base.
I specialize in teaching students from every continent (except Antarctica), from all walks of life, both online and offline. Here are my top tips for going global as an online educator.
The Quick and Dirty Checklist
1.) Make Your Videos and Content Accessible to Those With Unreliable or Shaky Internet Connections
- Make videos and important text documents and resources downloadable. Many people around the world can only get Internet in short bursts. Therefore, it’s essential they can download the material and review the content later when offline. Be mindful that short videos take less time to download and also cost less for those charged data fees on their phones. (It’s also just good practice in general to stick to lessons that are around 2 to 5 minutes in length.)
2.) Make Sure All Text in Videos is Large and Legible
- Most online students in the developing world are accessing your course content on mobile phones and devices, not on a computer or tablet.
- If you have any text notes in your videos. Use a font that is large enough so it can be read on a phone’s screen. Test for yourself on your own phone as well.
- Make sure to use foreground and background colors with enough contrast so text can be easily read. In general, dark text on a light background is much easier to read than light text on a dark background.
3.) Use Simple and Clear Language in Your Videos When Speaking
- Avoid slang or words that are only understood in your own country or region.
- If you do use an expression or make a reference that could be confusing to someone living outside your home country, add a brief explanation and move on. (Example: “Simon Says” is a popular children’s game in the US and UK.)
- Speak clearly, pronounce your words with care, and don’t speak too fast. This will make life easier for those whose first language is not the one you are teaching in.
4.) Create or Get Closed Captioning for Your Videos in English and in Other Languages
- Udemy will soon be rolling out a cool new “auto-captioning” feature. At the moment it’s in the beta testing phase on a select number of courses. You can also upload your videos to Youtube and use their tools to generate an easy auto-capture.*Please be aware that anything auto-captured is bound to have mistakes, so check and edit as needed.*To check on and edit your CC files in Udemy, 1.) Go to Curriculum and open up the first lesson. 2.) Download the auto-generated CC file. 3.) Open it up in TextEdit or any simple text editing program. 4.) Tweak, fix, and save under a new name (for your own sanity later.) 5.) Re-upload 6.) Repeat for all lessons.
- Consider joining Udemy’s new pilot program and get started making translated and dubbed versions of your courses in different languages. Here is the link: bit.ly/Udemy-Pilot
- Having your lectures and entire courses with closed captioning makes life much easier for those whose first language is different than the one you are teaching in. You can also hire someone to “cc” your videos for you. Have a look at the gigs on Fiverr.com
5.) Provide Free and Low-Cost Alternative Resources for Software You Are Demonstrating
- If you are teaching a course on Photoshop (for example), make sure to let people know they can get a 30-day free download of Photoshop from Adobe. You might also let them know about Gimp, (a freeware Photoshop alternative) and even offer bonus lessons in the free program *Another example from my web design courses: I always provide links to free and low cost web hosting/domain options. People in developing as well as developed countries always appreciate the chance to know about ways to succeed on a budget.
- Always provide lots of resources in the form of a downloadable PDF or links to free books, helpful articles, additional tutorials, etc.
Thanks! I hope you found these suggestions helpful. Did I forget something? Please add your own suggestions to the comments below.
PS.) New Udemy instructors may also like my posts, 8 Things I Learned Teaching Online That Will Make You a Better Udemy Instructor and 7 Productivity Hacks That Will Make You a Better Udemy Instructor.
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If you have any questions, please contact me at https://kpalana.com where you can shoot me a message or connect via social media.
