OptiLearn

Tip

New to course creation? Try the Guided Course Builder — it walks you through designing an effective course in 6 steps with built-in templates and learning objectives.

A course in OptiLearn is organized into modules (sections) and each module contains lessons. A lesson can be a video, text, PDF, quiz, assignment, embed, live session, or SCORM package.

The Course Lifecycle

Every course goes through these states:

Draft

Invisible to students. You can edit freely.

In Review

Submitted for review. Still not visible to students.

Published

Visible in the catalogue. Students can enroll.

Archived

Hidden from catalogue but preserved. Can be unarchived.

For the full details on each state, validation rules, side effects, and what doesn't happen on publish, see the Publishing Workflow guide.

Step 1: Create the Course

Go to Courses → + New Course. Fill in:

Title (required) — e.g. "Introduction to Physics"
Short Description — One-line summary (shows on course cards)
Full Description — Detailed overview
Category — Pick from your existing categories or create a new one
Level — Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or All Levels
Language — Primary language of the course

Click Create & Build Curriculum. You'll land on the curriculum builder.

Step 2: Add Modules

Modules are sections. A typical course has 3-8 modules.

Click + Add Module
Enter a title (e.g. "Motion and Forces")
Press Enter or click Add

Step 3: Add Lessons

Click Add a lesson to this module inside any module. A form appears with a visual lesson type picker:

Type	Best For
Video	Lectures, demonstrations, interviews
Text	Readings, summaries, definitions
PDF	Study guides, worksheets, reference material
Quiz	Knowledge checks, assessments
Assignment	Projects, submissions for instructor grading
Embed	Google Slides, Canva presentations, external tools
Live	Scheduled live classes
SCORM	SCORM 1.2 or 2004 packages

Enter a title, pick a type, and click Add Lesson. The lesson appears in the module and you can click its edit icon to add actual content.

Tip

You can add many lessons first with just titles, then go back and fill in content. Helps when planning curriculum before writing.

Step 4: Upload Content

Video Lessons

The lesson editor has two tabs:

Upload File — Upload an MP4/WebM/MOV directly (up to 500 MB)
Video URL — Paste a YouTube, Vimeo, or direct link

Set the video duration in seconds for progress tracking.

Text Lessons

Rich text editor with:

Headings, bold, italic, strikethrough
Bullet and numbered lists
Blockquotes and horizontal rules
Images (paste URL)
Inline code

Understand Newton's laws of motion
Calculate work, energy, and power
Apply physics to real-world problems

Enrollment

Enrollment Open — Allow new enrollments
Free Course — No payment required (toggle off to set a price)
Max Enrollments — Cap the class size (leave empty for unlimited)
Featured Course — Show in the featured section of the catalogue

Step 6: Publish

On the course overview page, you'll see a button:

Submit for Review (from Draft) → changes status to Review
Publish (from Review) → makes it visible to students

Warning

Before publishing, make sure the course has at least one module and a description. Publishing will fail otherwise.

Tips for Good Courses

Start with learning objectives. What should students know after completing?
Keep modules focused. One topic per module, 3-7 lessons per module.
Mix media. Alternate video, text, and quizzes to keep engagement up.
Add previews. Mark the first lesson of each module as "Free Preview" so non-enrolled students can try before enrolling.
Include assessment. Every module should have at least one quiz.

Creating Courses