HOW TO CREATE ONLINE COURSES FOR ADHD STUDENTS AS A COURSE CREATOR
Learning is quite different for adults living with ADHD but most course creators seem to completely ignore the fact yet 5% of US population have ADHD. That’s 10,000,734. And with everything that has been happening in the world, a lot of people have jumped onto the online world meaning at any one given time, you have at least 50 people with ADHD in your course. That’s why most online courses don’t perform well because most courses are not designed for people with ADHD, or for any Neurodivergent, or different learning style.
That’s why a lot of course creators end up having a ton chargebacks, unhappy customers who haven’t seen any results, unfinished courses, and even negative reviews.
And that can really have a negative impact on course sales and their reputation.
That’s why I wrote this blog post so that I can help you be able to create, revise and understand how most ADHD students learn so that you can be able to create an all rounded online course.
In doing so, you will be able to:
Increase the number of students who end up finishing your course.
Double the number of students who see results.
Improve your course ratings for the long haul.
Increase Course sales.
In short, this post will cover:
How to create an online course for ADHD students.
What to include to ensure that your ADHD students are not overwhelmed but instead take action.
So let’s get into it.
HOW TO CREATE AN ONLINE COURSE FOR ADHD STUDENTS.
When you’re a coach, you think of the transformation your students will undergo.
If there’s a disconnect between the information you’re delivering and the transformation you want your students to go through, then it’ll really hurt their results and your reputation.
To avoid that, you have to be able to take into account the different learning styles that your audience might have.
Not only will it give them a great experience but it will also give them results (which is what you want)…
That takes us into the first point.
TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES.
As a coach/ teacher, it is crucial to figure out what learning styles are out there so that each person can benefit from your course if they happen to buy it.
There are 7 different learning styles that are extremely crucial in dictating how you will structure your course. They are visual, kinesthetic, aural, social, solitary, verbal/ writing & Logical.
Now, most online courses will cater to neurotypical students who learn through hearing (auditory) or when somebody speaks.
But ADHD adults do not learn in the same way or format.
Most people with ADHD need visuals (through graphs or visual representations), written content, or kinesthetics (doing the actions or mimicking somebody who is doing the action), otherwise they have a hard time processing the information and can easily get bored and distracted.
They either end up missing the point, getting confused, or simply lose interest if your course doesn’t offer any of these learning styles to engage their brain.
CREATE DIFFERENT SUPPORTING MATERIAL FOR ONE POINT.
What do I mean by this?
So let’s take for example that you’re a business coach who wants to teach about lead generation. Instead of just having a video with visual representations, add in:
Worksheets
Simple to-do-lists,
A video where students can follow along what you’re doing on your laptop (through the shoulder experience)
Then give a written version of it.
This makes it easier for adults with ADHD to go back to a specific place when they can’t remember a certain point. Or if they rather read than listen they can still consume your information.
Not only does it make it easier for them to remember but it also makes the learning process for them fun rather than frustrating when they can’t remember or find the information easily.
BREAK IT UP INTO SMALL CHUNKS.
If you have a full course that does not have modules, then you need to do that right away.
First, it gives a sense of accomplishment when your students finish a module and move to the next. That increases their momentum.
Two, it allows you to pack a lot of information that can easily be understood.
And the final thing is that it ensures that your students finish up the entire course.
Speaking of which that actually leads us to the next point.
MAKE IT SHORT.
Avoid having long videos or presentations within modules. The best thing you can do is break it up into 4 minute videos.
That way, you ensure that you have your student’s undivided attention. If it’s a long video, you stand to lose your students mid way.
In short, they never get around to finishing your course.
GO STRAIGHT TO THE POINT.
Understand that there is a reason why your audience paid for your course - (to go in-depth)
The problem with most course creators is that they dedicate two modules for the introduction when they should actually get to the point.
Statistics and continuous supporting texts should be cut out.
Stick to strategies that are involved to ensure that your student experience the transformations and the ways to execute the strategies,
The rest is fluff.
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COURSE MATERIAL
Now, it’s one thing to tell you how to create an online course for ADHD students but it’s another to actually tell you what to include in black and white so that you can be able to implement it in your own course.
Let’s jump in.
CAPTION YOUR MODULES.
As I said before, ADHD students are visual learners and love written stuff. Now, if you’re able to combine the both of them on your videos, you stand a better chance of keeping them hooked to your modules.
The captions keeps their ADHD brains active meaning they don’t easily get distracted because you’re engaging their brains in 3 different ways. They’re listening to you, seeing the visual representations, and reading the texts.
And you can even make your modules even better by doing it yourself and showing your students how you’re doing it so that they can mimic you. That will make them super engaged as they try to follow along with you.
ADD VIDEO SPEED CONTROLLER
Students with ADHD find it difficult to follow along especially if you talk super fast because most people with ADHD have auditory processing disorder. This is where a person has the inability to access the information/ sound that is coming into their ears.
That is why it is a great add on feature to have modules that have speed controller so that a person with ADHD can slow down the speed of the video to hear everything you’re saying. What’s the whole point of having a self paced online course if you can’t be able to tailor it to your own learning needs?
TEXT TRANSCRIPTS
ADHD adults love reading more than they like listening because of their auditory processing disorder and the fact that they tend to forget. And it’s easier to go back to a blurb of text than it is to go back an entire video looking for just o ne section.
That’s why it’s crucial to add in text transcripts of what was said in your video word for word. Do not omit, erase or try to shorten the written text transcripts as I’ve found it often distorts the message that is being relayed in the video.
Hope this was helpful in helping you review your course and the material you provide within your course. Help me share this post so that it can create more awareness for course creators to be able to create online education that is catered for all students - both neurotypical and neurodiversity students.
