Everyone has something that they could share.
The emergence of udemy, coursera, and many other online learning platforms prove that there will be a strong movement to sharing knowledge online. Today, I wanted to try and build a course in 30 minutes using fedora.
I failed. It took me 54 minutes to do it. Still not too bad.
In this post I want to share my initial impressions about using the system, when it might be best to give it a try, and any special quirks that I didn’t particularly like.
What is fedora?
Fedora is an online platform that helps independent course builders quickly create courses that can be sold online. They handle the hosting and payment processing so that you don’t have to worry about it. This can be a real time-saver if you are not familiar with how to do all this. It is an easy way to get an online school started without spending a lot of time worrying about the technical aspects.
Who else uses fedora?
I’ve created a test course here if you want to check it out. Other examples include Stack Social, Ryan Leslie, and Charlie Hoehn.
What I like about fedora.
I like the simplicity that fedora brings to its system.
The user interface is clean and intuitive overall. Users will be able to find their course tasks very easy without fumbling around too much. Teachers will be able to upload their course materials without worrying about messing things up.
Easy to make changes with content.
As a teacher it is extremely easy to upload content and put it in the right order. When I first started creating courses I did not make separate sections. I just jumped right in and started making “lectures,” as they call it. When I finished uploading the content I realized that I wanted to separate the lessons into 3-4 groups. It was really easy to do this with some drag and drop.
They have a free plan.
A free plan is perfect for someone that is getting started and doesn’t have a website. You will have to handover 10% per sale though.
Coupons and Memberships.
This is a good feature for those that want to hold special discounts and create recurring subscriptions.
The site is fast.
Even using the site in China it is still relatively fast.
I can expand it into a multi-teacher school.
I like the idea of being able to scale and grow the school that I create on fedora.
What I don’t like about fedora.
It doesn’t have the marketing appeal of udemy.
This can be a turn off if you are just starting out and want to build an audience with your courses.
Paying 10%+$1 per transaction for a course enrollment.
They have to pay the bills. I get it. However a large percentage cut for hosting my content always makes me want to think of a future exit strategy.
Discussions.
Discussions are currently limited to Disqus. I would rather have had a built in discussion system. Sometimes users don’t want to have their lesson discussions shared all over.
Quizzing.
The quiz tools on the free plan are really weak. I hope they are better in the upgraded versions.
Who should use fedora?
People with an audience. If you already have an audience, this platform will make it super easy to get on online course setup and make it available to your clan. Without an audience you will be spending much more money and effort trying to drive traffic to your courses. This may lead to your profit margins being eaten away by the hosting monsters.
Someone without a primary site. If you are just starting out and don’t want to go down the road of installing wordpress and yadda yadda stuff. This will be an easy way to get started and have a presence online. You could use the fedora blog or start blogging on linkedin and medium to drive people to your site full of wonderful course goodness.
Confused about where to begin?
There are many online course delivery platforms out there. Knowing which one to start with and how to get your course going can take some time. I’ve been playing around with different systems for years. Contact me if you want some guidance about where to begin.