Learning Materials, Creating K-12

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.

Lesson 1
In our first lesson, we'll talk about the types of instructional aids you might consider developing. But more than that, I'll show you specific examples of actual aids I've developed and marketed in each category: printed book(lets), manipulatives, student activity kits, and more. Then, I'll introduce you to the power of the print-on-demand technology, a technology that allows you to produce book(lets) of the same quality and appearance as the books you find in book stores?and in only classroom quantities! It's a "wow" moment that will get you excited about the possibilities awaiting you.

Lesson 2
Is there a secret that will virtually guarantee your success in developing a winning instructional aid?one that increases student performance, the learning underlying that performance, and the probability it can be marketed successfully? You bet there is?it's called reverse engineering and it's the most exciting, most powerful concept in this course. In this lesson, we'll incorporate a fusion of reverse engineering with a 10-part developmental platform to help you align your product design with student performance standards.

Lesson 3
I hear you saying, "But Mike, can I really compete with the major educational publishers?" My answer will surprise you: the question isn't whether you can compete with them, but whether they can compete with you! You'll find that they can't. The future of educational publishing lies not with the major publishers, but with individual teachers?teachers just like you! I'll show you step by step how to market the instructional aid you develop through huge educational product distributors. I'll do something for you that your district can't: I'll show you how to profit financially from your great ideas!

Lesson 4
In this lesson, we'll take an in-depth look at the heart of designing printed instructional aids. From page layout, to nonvolatile student response materials, to my 20-part checklist for organizing the development of your product?we'll get you on the fast track to success in a hurry.

Lesson 5
Today we'll explore student activity kits. I'll give you a developmental platform to organize your progress, and then we'll move on to covering safety issues, locating the components you need, and developing a bill of materials. Then we'll look at specific examples of student activity kits that I've developed and how you can build off of my ideas.

Lesson 6
The fun is just beginning! Manipulatives, models, and games?these are the topics today. There are benefits of turning your idea for a printed instructional aid into one of these products, too. These types of instructional aids can boost your profits if you plan on marketing your product, and they'll give students a hands-on aspect to their learning. Let's not forget?these products are just plain fun for kids to use!

Lesson 7
Break out the director's chair?today we'll talk about developing video instructional products. "But Mike, I just want to develop a simple instructional booklet." Good for you, and that's exactly how I felt with my first few products. But in today's lesson, you'll learn exactly how I created over a dozen network-quality video learning products without spending a dime to do it. You'll learn how to develop quality video instructional aids using state of the art technologies, and do it for pennies. We'll discuss the development of a video aid I developed which turned into a product that now sells for over $1,000 in dozens of catalogs of the largest educational product developers around the world!

Lesson 8
In this lesson, I'll fully explain the education market and how to get your product into that market. How can you sell you product yourself? How can you get huge educational distributors to carry your product in their catalogs? When is the best time to promote your product? Who do you need to contact with your product? I'll answer all these questions and more today.

Lesson 9
Today we'll talk about the secret tools of the trade that self-published authors know about that help assure their success. I'll give you contacts for marketing your product, as well as tips for software to make your job easier.

Lesson 10
In this lesson, we'll address the question of standards, student performance, and the instructional aids you develop. We'll look at not only increasing specific student performances, but also at improving the actual learning underlying that performance.

Lesson 11
To boldly go where no one has gone before. Sounds like the opening line from a Star Trek movie, but this is exactly what this lesson is about. I not only want you to develop a winning product, I want you to promote that fact to your community. I want them to realize that you have done something special. So today, we'll look at how you can use the media?print, radio, and television?to promote what you've done to your community and beyond. I'll show you exactly how I've used these techniques to book author interviews for many of my own books on over 100 radio stations and television programs, like ABC's World News. I'll give you contacts, techniques, and tips on how you can do the same. I want to make you famous!

Lesson 12
In our last lesson, you'll find out how to incorporate what you've learned to help others in your own building. We'll discuss an infrastructure you can develop that will involve your peers in developing instructional aids, too! You'll become the focal point for reality-based change within your district!