Ontwikkelpad

"Are you hesitant to create or develop an online training? Just do it, because it's incredibly fun!"

During the 2020 aNewSpring Awards, Agaat Poorts demonstrated that as a solo trainer, you can create excellent online training.

With her learning journey, Agaat Poorts from Ontwikkelpad shows that you don't need to be a large organisation to develop effective training. During the aNewSpring Awards, Agaat gave attendees a glimpse into her created learning journey and shared tips on how to create your own journey without a large budget.

A piece of advice from her is to structure the training and add sections. Another tipis to utilise as many resources as a learning platform provides.

The result

In her training, learners learn adaptively and receive a practical assignment after each module to apply the learnt material.

Agaat shared practical tips with the audience on how to elevate their learning journey, even with limited resources. It was wonderful to see her infectious enthusiasm.

How did you find students for your course?

"When people approach me for training in didactic skills, I point them towards my online course. To be honest, I find the commercial aspect of the job quite challenging. I'm not someone who picks up the phone and starts calling companies. I rely on contacts from people I already know. Many opportunities come my way through word-of-mouth. That's how I got my first group of eight people to take the online training."

Is a professional sound studio necessary to create a good e-learning course or can you record with a basic camera?

"You can go a long way with a basic camera. I've also made a few videos with my own camera. Since videos are an essential part of my e-learning, I also hired a professional. She helped me with editing the videos because she's much better at playing with light and sound than I am."

How often do you update your course?

"So far, I haven't done that. I am considering which modules I can add to make the course more extensive and interesting."

For what ratio did you opt regarding the pricing of your physical and online products?

"I struggled a lot with what to charge for the online training. I looked at the prices of other agencies and asked a few companies how they determine their prices. Most agencies base their pricing on the number of hours learners spend on creating the online training. That's how I came up with my pricing.

When I provide group training, the group pays a half-day rate. It doesn't matter if there are two people or ten. For my online training, you pay per person."

Can you share some insights into the costs and benefits of an online course?

"I'm not getting rich from it at the moment. But I always said: I make it in my own time, and if it doesn't sell, I don't lose much. If you look at the investment I've made in terms of money and what I've sold, I'm roughly breaking even. Moreover, I've had a lot of fun creating the course. I loved participating in the aNewSpring Awards, and I also enjoy doing this interview. These are all new challenges for me."