In recent years, there have been rapid advances in technology which has truly transformed the way students learn. In South Africa, the enrollment in online courses is increasing at a very fast speed, even in the rural areas of South Africa where there is restricted access. If the trend continues, the global market for online learning will reach $331 billion by 2025 according to Global E-Learning Market Analysis and Trends report.
In another report titled The Africa Market for Self-paced e-Learning Products and Services: 2011-2016 forecast and analysis, by a US-based international research company Ambient Insight; it was found that the overall growth rate for self-paced e-learning in Africa was 15.2% while self-paced e-learning revenues in Africa hit US$250 million back in 2011 and tripled in 2016. The report also found that Africa has the highest growth rates in the world for 4 out of 5 self-paced e-learning services and products including custom content development services, packages content, learning platform services and installed learning platforms. The growth rate for cloud-based e-learning products in Africa is 38.6%.
These stats show e-learning and online courses in South Africa is on the rise and educators from all around the world are preparing online courses for people of South Africa in order to capture market share.
Steps should the instructors take to create a successful online course for South Africans:
Pick a Relevant Course Topic
The course topic must be relevant and in demand in South Africa. One way to figure this out is to look at Google analytics to see what course topics are being researched the most. This will ensure that the course topic will have a high market demand.
Create Compelling Learning Outcomes
Outlining and highlighting what the online course will actually do for the learner is an extremely important aspect. Nobody is willing to pay for an online course that does not have important learning outcomes and clearly defines HOW it will help them. Learning outcomes must explain with measurable verbs what the learner will learn and feel by the end of the course.
Gathering Course Content and Structuring Modules
If you’ve picked up a topic that has a large amount of information available, you may get overwhelmed. But instead of adding all the information, it is important to sift through and select only the relevant parts that explain your topic well enough. One way to do this is to first create an outline with headings and module names. This will help you create a flow in your entire content course and structure it really well.
Decide the Most Engaging Method for Delivery
There are different principles of adult learning and as an instructor, you have to make sure that your training is engaging and effective. You can decide whether adding videos, activities or audio content in your course will be the best option for your students. What visuals can you use? Are these relevant to your target audience in South Africa?
Recording, Editing and Filming Online Course
Now that you have the course plan, put it to action by writing the content, filming the videos, editing the activities and getting creative with lots of animation. You can also hire eLearning translation services at this point.
Decide the Price
Now you can strategize how and where your online course will fit in your overall business model. Will it be a permanent income stream? You also need to decide on a suitable price for the course before selling it online on various platforms.
These are the basic steps an instructor can take in order to prepare an online course. But there are many considerations to take in order to truly succeed in a foreign market like South Africa’s.
South African Market Research
You should consider which exact online courses are really popular in South Africa. As of now, the South African market is hot for courses as such Online TEFL Course, Business & Information technology, People Management, Economics & Banking, Enterprise Risk Management, Labor Relations, Ethics & Governance, and Financial Management. Then after that, you have to decide your area of expertise and how you will be pitching the course to your students’ segments.
Subtitling & Transcription Service
If your course has a lot of audio or video content then getting subtitling services is a good idea. Subtitles let the learners read the text on the screen which is being spoken by the narrative or a person in a video. It helps with learning and clear understanding especially if the language of the speaker is a little different than what the South Africans are used to. Subtitles are an accurate translation service of what is being said in any language and this service is offered by many subtitle translation agencies. Transcription service is another option you can go for. Transcription is the exact word-to-word caption of the dialogues being spoken in the same language.
Localizing Content
If you have created a global course, you may want to consider localizing it for the South African Market. Localizing a course calls for modifying the language, course structure, examples, case studies, date/time, currency, images, graphics, and animations according to the local market. If your course features examples of American companies and shows people in an American environment, it would not work in South Africa. In such a case, localizing your content to the South African market will be better as people would be able to relate. Localizing the course in the languages spoken in South Africa will increase the effectiveness of learning of the course as well.
Payment Methods
Lastly, you should consider which payment methods are popular in South Africa. Also, consider if giving multiple options for payment methods is a good idea.
It is extremely important to have the right and accurate localization services in order to reach more students in South Africa. AfroLingo is a leading localization company that has experience in localizing hundreds of online courses for South Africa and offers eLearning translation services. We can help you succeed with your course because of our localization capabilities and a talented team that has linguistic authority and understand the South African market.
