In this text, I will write about the basic conditions that every online course should meet.
Although there are various versions of knowledge transfer via the Internet, online courses are only one type of online learning.
When creating them, every instructional designer should keep in mind the following items, which will be described below. Of course, these are just the key points. Perhaps with the development of technology and new theories of learning, these key points will go down in history or be contextually expanded.
You will have the opportunity to learn something new or to remember previous knowledge. I hope you enjoy.

1. Simple work environment

In order for a participant to feel safe in an online work environment, that work environment must have a good user interface. What it means? In short, you need to make sure that the participant learns what is intended, without having to study the platform on which he is learning for too long. If the participant first has to master the platform on which he is learning, and only then move on to specific content, his motivation to learn will greatly decrease. The worst case scenario is that the participant spends more time navigating the platform than on the content of the course itself.

Most educators first need to decide which learning platform to use. The technical solution means the choice of the platform, i.e. LMS (Learning Management System) software that will be used for the distribution of courses.
There are many of them on the market, and before you make a decision which one to use, you must research them well, that is, test the trial versions.
The most important thing for the participant is that the work environment is not too complicated. This means that:
• is easy to register or apply for an online course,
• there is a simple guide for participants on how the platform works.

2. Quality and clear course content

We can say that a course has quality if  the course can serve to improve and expand knowledge, and then to apply that knowledge in practice. A good online course always offers specific knowledge that you can use in everyday life.
In order for a course to be considered quality, it must meet the following conditions:
• that it is clearly written;
• that it is well didactically structured;
• has elements of narration (or “tells a story”);
• content goes from easy to hard;
• It is written in an easy to understand way, but it also has an expert review of the content.

The length of the content must be in line with the topic covered in the online course. It should not be too short and superficially processed, because in that case the participants will not have the acquired knowledge after completing the course. Also, one should not exaggerate and be too extensive, popularly speaking, it is necessary to have a measure.

3. Interactive content

The content of the course must not be boring for the participants.
If you only see lines and lines of text in the course, without any multimedia content to enrich it, you are actually reading a PDF document. In order for some content not to be boring for the participants, it is best to enrich it with exercises, examples, scenarios, tests, tasks, simulations, dialogues, case studies, links, manuals, presentations, etc.
The quality of the online course will increase significantly if you make it interactive and give participants the opportunity to be active participants in the learning process.
Depending on what you want to achieve, you will use a program or web tool to create exercises for participants.

Pay attention!
When using interactivity in an online course, care should be taken that the elements of interactivity are justifiably embedded in the content.
The following should be taken into account:
• not to add animations, sound or colors if it is not necessary or didactically justified;
• not to overdo the amount of interactive exercises.
Interactive content does not serve to visually enhance the course, but to encourage participants to take action.

4. Online course communication

Many creators of online courses neglect this important segment, and even many of them consider it completely unnecessary.
However, just like when a participant learns live, he should get some feedback about his work, about his progress, but also someone when he can ask for an opinion, suggestion or if there are any ambiguities. Also, exchanging opinions and ideas with other participants and working in groups also encourage the provision of knowledge to the participants.
A characteristic of online courses is the lack of personal contact of the lecturer with the participant. However, this shortcoming can be overcome in two ways:
• discussion platforms within the learning platform;
• direct communication with the author / lecturer of the course.

As in live communication, similar rules apply in online communication. If you are a course instructor / moderator, try to:
• respond regularly to incoming messages from participants;
• admit if you overlooked or made a mistake;
• be kind and friendly when replying to messages;
• to help participants master the content of the course as well as possible.

In this way, you will provide your students with good and quality feedback and you will be able to overcome the lack of personal contact.

5. And what happens after the course?

Many courses do not have a clear outcome for participants after completing the course. Therefore, at the beginning it is very important to well define the goals and outcomes of the course, as well as the competencies that the participant will acquire at the end of the course.
In order to be able to say that an online course is of good quality, it must ultimately have a final product. The end product is actually what the course participant created independently, but with the help of the knowledge he acquired in the course.
You do not want to go to a course after which you have the feeling that you have learned something new, but you have no idea how to implement it in practice.
This brings us back to the story of well-edited content, which is important to enrich with real-life or business examples.

Suggestions for ensuring the knowledge of participants after the course are:

• Post-course activities – make sure your participants try out the knowledge they have acquired in the course in real life. Give them real-life opportunities and advise them on how they can use their knowledge.
• Social networking – allow participants to connect with each other. Refer them to groups, forums, a community where they can find similar people with whom they will be able to share knowledge and experience and thus expand existing knowledge.