Why Is Your Course Needed?

So, either you are thinking of creating an online or blended course, or you have been tasked to do it. Before you jump right into it, have you thought about why your course is needed?

• Could it be because it is part of a training or education program?
• Could it be because it will address a performance issue?
• Could it be because it will address specific knowledge or skill gaps?
• Could it be because a new system or technology has been introduced in your organisation?

Knowing why your course is needed will help you make decisions about what content to cover and to what extent it needs to be covered. It may also provide you with some clues to determine when the course is needed, who are the stakeholders involved in the project and whether or not some resources already exist.

Gathering information on why your course is needed is part of what we call a needs analysis. In simple terms, you try to find out as much background information about the need for your course as possible.

Gathering the Data

To be able to analyse why your course is needed you may:

• gather up existing data through reports, minutes of meetings, or any other available internal documents related to the course creation;
• chat with anyone who may have an interest in the project; this can be a chat with your peers, managers, colleagues in other departments, colleagues in partner institutions;
• gather up your own observations as to why the course is needed.

The process of gathering data for a needs analysis can be very formal, extensive and time consuming, requiring the use of complex survey instruments; or it can be informal, narrowly focused and quick, requiring only informal conversations. It depends on the scope of the project and the institutional requirements.