Write out the course objectives. You need to know what the course is intended to teach and what the students should be able to do after completing the course. Writing the objectives first will guide the development of the course content.
Develop the course content. All your course development should focus on the course objectives. You will need things for the students to read, activities or projects for the students to complete and items for the students to discuss or think about.
Develop the multimedia for the course. The computer-based course can be all text-based, but adding multimedia will help engage the learner. Adobe Flash is a good tool for creating animations and Camtasia and Captivate are great tools for creating screen-capture videos and tutorials. You can also use audio software, like Audacity and GarageBand to create lectures and music.
Select the computer-based platform. The course will need a software system to run it. Director or Authorware are useful tools for creating the software for the course. With this software, you can build everything but interactive discussions. Both programs will export your work to a standalone file that can be run on any Microsoft Windows-based computer.
Develop the course communication tools. This can be as simple as using email or you can use discussion boards. Some computer-based courses do not use any sort of communication between the teacher and student or between the students. If your course doesn't require communication, you can skip this step. However, communication and discussion between the teacher and students and between the students aids learning.
Develop your assessment tools. Assessment and evaluation of how well the students met the learning objectives is important for you (the developer) and the student. Assessment will help you determine if the course needs alterations or enhancements and it will help students know if they learned what they were supposed to have learned. The assessment does not have to be elaborate, but it should objectively test the students' knowledge. For example, if the objective was to have the student successfully use a word processing program, you could assess them with an assignment that required the student to perform certain tasks using the software.
Test the course by watching someone go through it. Before sending the course to students, have someone take the course while watching what they do. Ask questions and have them ask you questions. This will help you identify areas in the course that need further development or clarification.