How to Design a Course for Different Skill Levels
Everybody’s convinced that their audience experience level is too varied for just one course, so they build separate tracks for each audience (or they burn out trying to). Nobody is stopping to ask “is it really a skill issue? Is that really where my audience is different?”
My last podcast guest, Tim, came in with the same misfire question. He was stuck on how to structure a course for people at different stages of knowledge. Tim makes IT work for you, not you for it. He's always been the go-to tech person, and he's building a course called Technophobics R Us.
Listen for the full episode:
AND the BS Breakthrough (where I break down how this all applies to you)
Ultimately, we need to address whether it was even possible to design a course like this…
Short version? Yes, you can build one course for different skill levels. But probably not the way you think. Most people assume different skill levels means different tracks or pathways. Usually it doesn't. If the skill you're teaching is the same for everyone, you build one course and let people apply it to their own context. The separate tracks are a trap. We’ll use my chat with Tim as an example.
The Course Design “Stuck” Questions
Being stuck on the structure is common, especially if you think you might have clients that come in at different skill levels. It can be hard to create a course outline when you think you need a million branches or side quests or an entirely different course so you can meet people where they are.
Tim’s goal is to get people comfortable learning new technology so they can be self-sufficient. He doesn't want them to need him, and he came in thinking structure was the key. The different levels we chatted through were:
college kids who grew up using iPhones, but can't actually attach a file to an email
folks that just want to pay their gas bill on their phone, but don’t want to feel like they're a burden on their kids or grandkids for asking them how to do this.
everyone in between.
Feel familiar? Ever tried to design a course you thought was for everyone?
It begs the question:
How do you (or CAN you even) build one course for all the skill levels?
To even begin answering that, we need to start identifying what we’re talking about when we say “skill level.”
What IS Their Skill Level?
If you’re designing a course for a bunch of different skill levels, really digging to what those levels are describing will help you answer that question. Because sometimes we find that it’s not a skill issue (no matter what the kids say). And if it is? There are strategies for differentiated instruction. That means we can make changes for situations that are just a bit different.
So, when Tim was describing his students, he kept talking about their technology starting points. So this person knows how to use an iPhone. This person knows how to use Windows 10.
Those are not different knowledge levels. Those are different contexts.
And so that means that the skill Tim is teaching, how to learn a new technology, is the same for all of them. They can be learning how to use the gas app on their phone OR learning how to use Adobe Premiere Pro the steps that you're going to take to learn a technology are going to be the same because the technology is the only thing that is changing.
It doesn't really matter what context they're in. The skills to be able to do that are going to be the same.
That means we weren't actually talking about different stages of knowledge at all because they all have the same skill gap.
The college kid that's great with their phone still doesn't know how to learn that office software. And the person who's been using Windows, but doesn't know how to use the phone, still has the same first step and still needs to learn the same thing. They're just applying it to different technologies.
Tim didn’t need to build like all these different tracks for different levels. He just needed to see that he really was just teaching one skill.
When you have folks with different contexts learning the same way, the way that you teach that skill is by letting people practice it on the technology that's actually relevant to them. And that's the thing that's going to help make it stick, anyway.
And when you think about it that way, it actually becomes so much easier to do. So it really is critical to understand if it’s a context concern or a skill level concern.
What Do They Need the Course Design to Do?
Once you identify the overall goal, you can start figuring out the course outline or structure. In Tim’s case, none of his potential students know how to learn a new technology without someone holding their hand. But how DO you take care of that seemingly drastic context issue?
All those little small details that are relevant to each little technology don’t matter because the skill is learning the process. So then the structure of the course becomes asking learners to pick a technology, pick a task, figure out where you are, build your own steps, and troubleshoot when you get stuck.
And that structure works, whether you're learning something like Excel or you're learning Instagram, or you're learning LinkedIn because the skill is the same. We're learning how to get in there and start clicking on buttons and finding what we need.
Three things I want you to take from this one
IF you’re creating a course (or you have one and it’s not working the way you hoped) AND you serve different audiences or think your clients will start your course at different levels, there are three top points to take away from all this learning science stuff.
Different starting point same skill gap
And this is one of those things that trips people up all the time.
You have students coming in and their backgrounds might be wildly different; your gut reaction is “well, I need different tracks or I need different pathways.”
But if the skill you're teaching is the same for everyone, you don't necessarily need different pathways. You need one course that lets people apply that skill to their own context.
So if you're stuck on how to serve people at different levels, first ask, are they actually at different levels or are they just starting from different places in the same skill gap?
Let them bring their own context.
I think sometimes this can make course creators nervous because you are giving up some control, but when you're teaching a skill that applies across contexts, the best thing you can do is let people practice in their own space in their own context.
So Tim isn't picking the technology for folks. They are because the learner who needs to learn how to switch from windows to a smartphone doesn't actually care about moving from a Mac to a PC.
If you're teaching something that applies across multiple contexts, don't try to teach every context. If trying to do so is going to drive you a little bonkers, make sure that you are teaching this skill and then letting people apply it to the context that matters most to them.
That's really how to teach across contexts: teach the skill, let them bring the context They’re going to be more successful that way. And so are you.
Build troubleshooting into the structure and not as an afterthought.
If you’re creating a self-paced course, then identifying where people get stuck and getting ahead of it is going to be the best way to get them success.
For Tim’s clients, we identified two potential roadblocks.
they're trying to follow their steps and it's not working.
the technology changes on them. Updates happen (buttons moving, the interface getting overhauled, etc.)
And so they need different troubleshooting steps in each of these situations. So instead of just saying, “reach out if you get stuck,” you build decision trees into the course.
Are you stuck?
What kind of stuck?
Here's what to try.
And this is how it becomes a curated learning experience and not a dump of things to do, because it’s part of the structure and not an afterthought.
If you’re teaching something where people are going to get stuck, I know I do, don't just tell them to email you. Build the troubleshooting into the course and make it part of the learning process.
How to Apply This When You Design YOUR Course
Step one, look at your students.
Are they really different at the knowledge level or are they starting from different places in the same skill gap?
And so if it's the second one, you don't need different pathways or tracks. You just need one course that lets them apply the skill to their own spaces and places.
Step two, if you're teaching something where people are going to get stuck,
map out where they're most likely to hit a wall.
build the troubleshooting directly into the structure.
That can look a lot of different ways, but basically it should be a here's what to try when this specific thing goes wrong or when this specific thing becomes a barrier or whatever happens to be. Or one I use a lot is this spot is sticky.
Folks, typically have trouble with this, this, and this. These are ways that you can work through it. If you can't work through it on your own, here are your options.
Lay it out directly so that if and when people get stuck, they know exactly what to do to keep moving.
If you’re struggling with identifying the real gaps, grab a strategy session and I’ll get you going on your next right step.
About Tim Maile
Tim Maile is the owner and operator of TKM PM and IT Solutions, where he makes IT work for people, not the other way around. With over 20 years of on-the-ground experience as the unofficial IT person in the room, Tim specializes in solving tech problems and building genuine confidence in the people who use technology every day.
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