Pedagogy for instructors and curious learners

Knowing a subject well does not automatically make it easy to explain. Experts often skip steps that feel obvious to them but stop a beginner in their tracks. Good pedagogy fills those gaps: it starts from what the learner already knows and adds one layer at a time.

Online, this matters even more. Nobody can raise a hand in the middle of a video, so the course itself has to anticipate questions, give examples and offer moments to practise.

Whatever your subject, a few principles make lessons easier to follow:

• Open each lesson with what the learner will be able to do at the end.
• Explain, show an example, then let people try.
• Keep one main idea per lesson and link it to the previous one.
• Add frequent, low-stakes checks such as short quizzes.
• Close each section with a brief recap of the key points.

Before releasing a course, look at it through a beginner's eyes. Does each lesson have a clear purpose? Do learners practise enough, or do they mostly listen? Would someone who missed one video still understand the next one? Asking a colleague or a first learner to test a section often reveals what you no longer notice.

Two mistakes come up again and again. The first is to pack too much into the opening lessons, when learners need early wins to stay engaged. The second is to read slides aloud: your voice should add the explanations and examples that the screen does not show.

The Mudey course studio lets you arrange content into sections and lessons, with videos, downloadable resources and quizzes: the building blocks of a sound pedagogy. The 7-step guide to creating a course walks you through the editor, and the become an instructor page explains how to begin, free of charge.

To go deeper, our articles on micro-learning, game mechanics and course videos each look at one format in detail.