Software Classroom Course Development Steps

Courses are developed when a new product, or updated version, is to made available to others.

1. First step, a decision is made to create a new course or update a current course.
2. A course developer is assigned.
3. Interested parties meet for a kick-off where personnel and schedules are discussed.
4. The course developer does an audience analysis.
5. The course design document is created or updated.
6. The document is shared with interested parties. The document is updated based on feedback.
7. The course design document is finalized for content and schedule. Note, this may change during the material development stage.
8. A training development environment is created.
9. Course materials are developed, example: classroom slides and a lab exercise guide.
10. The materials are shared with people who give feedback.
11. Feedback is incorporated.
12. The finalized materials are submitted to production services who build the finalized product materials.
13. The training environment is made into a formal environment for the future instructor and students. Environment includes: hardware and operating system specification, application software, and training lab files.
14. An assigned person runs through the labs in a sample training environment. If needed, the lab document and the environment are updated.
15. A course description is written and posted to attract students.
16. The course is formally released.
17. The course is schedule, an instructor assigned, and the course is delivered to the students.

For special training events, course materials maybe quickly put together by an expert course developer. Before starting, the developer creates an course lesson module document, verses a detailed course design document. This document is shared via email with a few key persons who give high level feedback. The materials are developed, and often, because of time limitations, the only testing is the course developer's testing. The material are used, as is, from the developer. In this case, the course developer is often the instructor.