55 terms for creating, teaching and selling online courses, each defined in one sentence. 35 terms have a full page with examples.
By Abe Crystal, PhD · Updated
An accountability partner is a fellow learner you check in with on a set schedule to share goals, report progress, and help each other follow through.
Pairing students up is a light way to add peer contact to a course without running more live calls. It works best when check-ins are short, scheduled and tied to a specific lesson or task. On Ruzuku, partners can message each other privately from the course's People directory, as long as you leave chat switched on.
Also called: accountability buddy
Related: Mastermind, Learning community, Cohort-based course
Accreditation is formal approval by an independent body confirming that a school, program or education provider meets that body's published standards.
For course creators, accreditation usually means becoming an approved provider with a professional body so your courses can award continuing education credit. A course platform can't accredit you; it can issue the certificates and keep the completion records an approver asks for.
Related: Continuing education credits (CEUs), Course certification
An affiliate program is an arrangement where other people promote your course with a tracked link or code and earn a commission on each sale they refer.
Affiliates work best when they already serve your students and can vouch for the course from experience. Ruzuku has no built-in affiliate program: creators give each affiliate their own coupon code or checkout link to see which sales they referred, then calculate and pay commissions themselves.
Also called: affiliate marketing, referral program, partner program
Related: Coupon code, Course launch, Sales page
Asynchronous learning is online teaching in which students work through lessons, videos and discussions on their own time, within any deadlines the instructor sets, without anyone needing to be online at the same time.
Most online courses are mostly asynchronous, which makes them easy to fit around work and family. The risk is isolation: on Ruzuku, courses with lesson-level discussions, an asynchronous way for students to respond to each other, complete at 50.9% against 37.3% for courses without them.
Also called: async learning, asynchronous instruction
Related: Synchronous learning, Self-paced course, Lesson-level discussion
A breakout room is a smaller, separate space that a host opens during a live video session so participants can talk or work in small groups before rejoining the main room.
Breakouts turn a large call into the small-group conversation where most practice happens. Ruzuku's built-in meetings include breakout rooms in conference mode, for up to 60 people, with no Zoom account needed.
Also called: breakout session, breakout group
Related: Live session, Synchronous learning, Cohort-based course
A chargeback is a reversal of a card payment that the buyer starts through their bank or card issuer, rather than by asking the seller for a refund.
The seller loses the sale amount while the dispute is open and usually pays a dispute fee to the payment processor on top. A clear refund policy and a recognizable name on the buyer's card statement prevent many chargebacks.
Also called: payment dispute, dispute
Related: Refund policy, Merchant of record
A cohort-based course is an online course in which a group of students starts on the same date and moves through the lessons together on a shared schedule.
Also called: cohort course, CBC, group course, scheduled course
Related: Self-paced course, Hybrid course, Live session, Lesson-level discussion
A community platform is software built around ongoing member conversation, such as feeds, groups, and events, rather than structured lessons with a beginning and an end.
Course creators often weigh one against a course platform, which puts lessons and student progress first. The deciding question is whether members come mainly for the conversation or for a structured outcome. Ruzuku is a course platform with a discussion built into each lesson.
Also called: online community platform
Related: Learning community, Membership site, Course platform vs LMS
Completion rate is the percentage of enrolled students who finish a course: the number who completed, divided by the number who enrolled, times 100.
Also called: course completion rate
Related: First-week engagement, Lesson-level discussion, Cohort-based course, Student engagement
Continuing education credits are units of approved learning that licensed professionals earn to keep a license current, counted in contact hours or CEUs.
Also called: CEUs, CE credits, CPD, continuing education units, CE hours
Related: Course certification, Accreditation, Course assessment
A coupon code is a word or string of characters a buyer enters at checkout to get a discount, either a fixed amount or a percentage off the price.
Creators use coupons for launch pricing, past students, and partners. Ruzuku coupons can be a fixed amount or a percentage off, with a redemption limit and an expiration date. Ruzuku has no built-in affiliate program, so many creators give each partner their own code to see which sales that partner referred.
Also called: discount code, promo code, coupon
Related: Order bump, Free trial
A course assessment is any task that checks what students have learned, such as a quiz, a submitted assignment, or a project the instructor reviews.
Also called: assessment, knowledge check
Related: Learning objective, Completion rate, Course certification, Student engagement
Course bundling is selling two or more courses or digital products together at one price, usually less than buying each one separately.
Also called: course bundle, bundle pricing, course package
Related: Order bump, Upsell, Membership site
A course certification is a credential a creator awards to students who meet stated requirements, such as passing an assessment or showing a skill.
Also called: certification program, professional certification
Related: Continuing education credits (CEUs), Accreditation, Course assessment
A course creator is someone who turns their own expertise into an online course that they design, teach and sell, often alongside client work.
Also called: online course creator, course author, online instructor
Related: Pilot course, Course platform vs LMS, Course outline, Learning objective
A course launch is a planned marketing push that opens enrollment for a set window, usually about a week, and closes it on a stated deadline.
Also called: online course launch, live launch, launch window
Related: Evergreen vs live launch, Open and closed cart, Waitlist, Webinar funnel
A course marketplace is a site like Udemy or Skillshare that lists many instructors' courses in one catalog and controls price, promotion and payout.
Also called: online course marketplace, course marketplace platform
Related: Transaction fees, Course platform vs LMS, Merchant of record
A course module is a section of an online course that groups related lessons around one milestone, so students move through the course in clear stages.
Also called: course unit, course section
Related: Course outline, Learning objective, Drip content
A course outline is an ordered list of a course's modules and lessons that shows what students will learn and do at each step toward the course outcome.
Also called: class outline, module outline, lesson outline, course overview, curriculum outline, course structure
Related: Course module, Learning objective, Course assessment
Course platform vs LMS is the choice between software that sells courses to people who choose to enroll and software that assigns and tracks training.
Also called: LMS vs course platform, course platform or LMS
Related: Learning management system (LMS), SCORM, Community platform, Course marketplace
A custom domain is a web address you own, such as courses.yourname.com, connected to your course platform so students reach your school at your address.
Also called: course domain, branded domain
Related: White label, Sales page, Membership site
Drip content is course material released to students in stages, on set dates or a set number of days after enrollment, instead of all at once.
Also called: drip feed, drip scheduling, dripped content, content dripping, scheduled release
Related: Self-paced course, Course module, Cohort-based course
Evergreen vs live launch is the choice between keeping a course open all year (evergreen) and opening enrollment only in windows that close on a deadline.
Also called: evergreen course, evergreen funnel, launch vs evergreen
Related: Course launch, Open and closed cart, Self-paced course, Cohort-based course
First-week engagement is whether a new student completes a lesson within seven days of joining a course, an early signal of who is likely to finish.
Also called: week-one engagement, early engagement
Related: Completion rate, Student engagement, Lesson-level discussion, Cohort-based course
A free trial is a set number of days of free access before the first charge on a subscription or payment plan, usually with the buyer's card collected at signup.
A trial lets a student see the course or community before paying, which suits memberships more than short courses. On Ruzuku, payment plan and subscription prices can include a free trial, through Stripe only; Stripe collects the card at signup and charges it automatically when the trial ends.
Also called: trial period
Related: Subscription pricing, Payment plan
A group coaching program is a paid program in which one coach works with a small group over several weeks, combining live calls, shared practice, and peer support toward a common goal.
It sits between a cohort course and one-on-one coaching: more personal attention than a course, at a lower price than private sessions. Ruzuku has no dedicated group coaching template; creators run these programs by combining scheduled cohorts, built-in live meetings and discussions.
Also called: group coaching
Related: Mastermind, Cohort-based course, Learning community
A hybrid course is an online course that pairs recorded lessons students take on their own time with scheduled live sessions and a shared discussion space.
Also called: blended course, hybrid online course
Related: Self-paced course, Cohort-based course, Live session, Asynchronous learning
Instructional design is the practice of planning a learning experience, from outcomes and activities to assessments and sequence, so that students reliably gain a skill or understanding.
In corporate training it's a job title; for most independent course creators it's a set of decisions made while outlining a course. Backward design, which starts from the outcome and works back to the lessons, is a practical place to begin.
Also called: learning design, instructional systems design, ISD, curriculum design
Related: Course outline, Learning objective, Course assessment
A landing page is a single web page built for one action, such as joining an email list or registering for a webinar, with little else on it to click.
A sales page is one kind of landing page, where the action is buying. Most landing pages ask for something smaller, like an email address for a free mini-course, so they can be much shorter than a sales page.
Also called: opt-in page, squeeze page, registration page
Related: Sales page, Lead magnet course, Webinar funnel
A lead magnet course is a short free course that solves one small problem, so prospective students can try your teaching and join your email list.
Also called: free mini-course, mini-course
Related: Pilot course, Course launch, Landing page
A learning community is a group of people who learn together toward a shared goal, building understanding through discussion, feedback, and shared work.
Also called: online learning community
Related: Lesson-level discussion, Community platform, Cohort-based course, Student engagement
A learning management system (LMS) is software that delivers online courses, enrolls learners and records each person's progress and completion.
Also called: LMS, learning management software
Related: Course platform vs LMS, SCORM, Completion rate, Course marketplace
A learning objective is a statement of what a student will be able to do after a lesson or course, written with a verb you can observe and check.
Also called: learning outcome, learning goal, performance objective
Related: Course outline, Course assessment, Course module, Instructional design
A lesson-level discussion is a comment thread attached to one lesson, so students respond to that lesson's content in place, not in one general forum.
Also called: in-lesson discussion, lesson comments
Related: Learning community, Completion rate, First-week engagement, Student engagement
A live session is a scheduled real-time class in an online course, where the instructor and enrolled students meet by video to teach and answer questions.
Also called: live class, live call, group call
Related: Synchronous learning, Breakout room, Hybrid course, Webinar funnel
A mastermind is a small group of peers at a similar stage who meet regularly to bring problems, advise each other, and hold one another accountable.
The difference from a group coaching program is where the expertise sits. In a mastermind, members advise each other and the facilitator mainly keeps the format running; in group coaching, the coach leads the teaching.
Also called: mastermind group
Related: Group coaching program, Accountability partner, Learning community
A membership site is an online program where members pay a recurring fee for ongoing access to content, community, or both, rather than a one-time course.
Also called: membership, online membership, membership program, paid community
Related: Subscription pricing, Community platform, Course bundling
A merchant of record is the business legally responsible for a sale: it takes the payment and handles refunds, chargebacks, and sales tax or VAT on it.
Also called: MoR, seller of record
Related: Transaction fees, Chargeback, Refund policy
Microlearning is an approach to teaching that delivers material in short, focused units, often a few minutes long, each covering a single idea or skill.
Short lessons make it easier for busy students to start and to pick up where they left off. Make the first lesson the shortest. On Ruzuku, students who complete a lesson in their first week finish at 78.2%, against 17.2% for those who don't (observational).
Also called: micro-learning, bite-sized learning
Related: Course module, Asynchronous learning, Completion rate
Open and closed cart is a launch pattern where a course can be bought only between a set opening date and closing date, and enrollment is shut the rest of the time.
The closing date gives buyers a reason to decide, so it only works if the cart really closes when you say it will. On Ruzuku, a single price point can have its own dates when it opens and closes, and its own seat cap, such as 25 early-bird places.
Also called: cart open, cart close, enrollment window
Related: Course launch, Evergreen vs live launch, Waitlist
An order bump is an extra offer shown on the checkout page, such as a related course at a special price, that a buyer can add before paying.
Because it appears while the buyer is already paying, a small, closely related add-on works best. On Ruzuku you can add another course, a bundle, or a digital product to Stripe checkout this way on Core (up to 3 upsells) or Pro (no limit), not Free. There are no post-purchase one-click offers.
Also called: checkout bump, checkout add-on
Related: Upsell, Course bundling
A payment plan is a way to sell a course at a fixed total split into a set number of installments, charged automatically until the full price is paid.
Also called: installment plan, installments, multi-pay, split pay
Related: Subscription pricing, Free trial, Chargeback
A pilot course is a small first run of a course, taught live to a few paying students to test the idea before you build the full version.
Also called: course pilot, founding cohort
Related: Cohort-based course, Course launch, Live session
A refund policy is the published set of rules for when and how a buyer can get their money back, such as a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
A clear policy on the sales page lowers the risk of buying and cuts down on chargebacks, because buyers know there is an easier way to get their money back. When you are the merchant of record, the refund comes out of your own Stripe or PayPal account, and you can issue one from your payment history in Ruzuku.
Also called: money-back guarantee, refund terms
Related: Chargeback, Merchant of record
A sales page is one web page that shows a prospective student what a course will change for them, who it's for and what it costs, and asks them to enroll.
Also called: course sales page, long-form sales page, enrollment page
Related: Landing page, Course launch, Lead magnet course
SCORM is a set of technical standards that lets an e-learning course package run in any compatible LMS and report each learner's progress and score.
Also called: Sharable Content Object Reference Model, SCORM package, SCORM compliant
Related: Learning management system (LMS), Course platform vs LMS, Completion rate
A self-paced course is an online course students can start at any time and work through on their own schedule, with every lesson open from enrollment.
Also called: self-guided course
Related: Cohort-based course, Drip content, Hybrid course, Completion rate
Student engagement is how fully students take part in a course: what they do, how hard they think, and how they feel about the subject and the group.
Also called: learner engagement
Related: First-week engagement, Lesson-level discussion, Completion rate, Learning community
Subscription pricing is a billing model where students pay a recurring fee, usually monthly or yearly, for continued access until they cancel.
Also called: recurring billing, recurring pricing, subscription billing, monthly pricing
Related: Membership site, Payment plan, Free trial
Synchronous learning is teaching in which the instructor and students take part at the same time, such as a live class, workshop or video call, wherever each person is.
Live time gives students real-time answers and a fixed appointment to show up for, but it's harder to schedule across time zones. Many course creators pair recorded, asynchronous lessons with one live session a week.
Also called: live learning, real-time learning, sync learning
Related: Asynchronous learning, Live session, Breakout room, Cohort-based course
Transaction fees are the cut a course platform takes from each sale, charged on top of the payment processor's own fee for handling the card payment.
Also called: platform fees, platform transaction fees, gateway fees
Related: Merchant of record, Payment plan, Course platform vs LMS
An upsell is an offer of a bigger or additional product made to someone who is buying, or has just bought, to raise the value of each sale.
An order bump is one kind of upsell, made on the checkout page before payment; other upsells come after purchase, on a thank-you page or by email. For course creators, the natural upsell is the next step in a student's path, like a cohort or coaching program after a self-paced course.
Also called: one-click upsell, post-purchase upsell
Related: Order bump, Course bundling
A waitlist is a list of people who ask to be told when a course opens for enrollment, collected while the course is closed, full or still being built.
A waitlist tells you how much demand there is before you build or relaunch, and it gives your most interested people first notice when enrollment opens. On Ruzuku, a course with a seat cap can show your own message once it's full, which is a natural place to link to a waitlist sign-up form in your email tool.
Also called: wait list, interest list, early access list
Related: Course launch, Open and closed cart, Pilot course
A webinar funnel is a marketing sequence that invites people to a free online presentation, teaches something useful, then offers attendees a paid course.
Also called: webinar launch, webinar sales funnel, masterclass funnel
Related: Live session, Landing page, Course launch
White label is a course platform setting that removes the platform's name and logo, so students see only your brand, colors and web address.
Also called: white labeling, white-label course platform, branded course platform
Related: Custom domain, Course platform vs LMS, Membership site