Recorded course or live course: which to choose

Before you record a single lecture, there's a basic choice to make. Will students watch recorded lectures whenever they like, or will they meet you live at set times? Each format suits different topics, different audiences and different ways of working, and the choice affects everything from price to how much of your time the course takes.

Here is how the two compare, and how to decide.

What a recorded course gives you

You record the lectures once, and students watch them on their own schedule: at night, on the train, at double speed or twice over. You can sell the course at any time, without planning dates, and a new student can join today without waiting for the next round.

• It works across time zones and busy calendars.
• Your time doesn't grow with each student. The work is mostly up front.
• Each lecture can be planned, edited and redone until it's clear.
• Students can go back to a lecture whenever they need it.

The downside is distance. Nobody is waiting for the student at a set time, so it's easy to put the course off. Questions come by email, if at all. And because the course sits there unchanged, it can age if your field moves fast.

What a live course gives you

In a live course, you meet the group at fixed times, usually weekly, and teach in a webinar. Students ask questions as they come up, hear each other's questions, and feel part of a group.

• A fixed date creates commitment. Students show up because the session is happening now.
• You can adjust to the group: slow down, go back, answer what they actually ask.
• The material is always current, because you teach it fresh each time.
• Students often value personal contact and are willing to pay more for it.

The cost is your time and the calendar. Every round means sessions you have to be at, and students who can't make the time slot can't join. Someone who misses a session needs a recording to catch up anyway.

Questions that help you decide

1. What does the student need to succeed? If it's information and clear steps, recorded works well. If it's practice, feedback and correction, live helps more.
2. Who is your audience? Busy professionals in different time zones lean toward recorded. A group that wants support and a sense of community leans toward live.
3. How much time do you want to give? A recorded course frees your time after launch. A live course takes the same time each round.
4. How stable is the material? Topics that change often fit live teaching, or at least regular updates. Basics that don't change fit a recording.
5. How will you sell? A recorded course can be sold any day. A live one is usually sold toward a start date, which creates a natural deadline.

The middle way: recorded lectures with live sessions

Many courses end up combining the two, and it often works best. Students watch the recorded lectures on their own, and once a week or once a month there's a live session for questions, examples and feedback.

That gives the student flexibility and a fixed point to come back to. Students who know a live session is coming tend to watch the lectures before it, so they can ask their questions. It's one of the more practical tools for getting students to finish the course. And for you, the live sessions take an hour or two, not a full course's worth of teaching each time.

Some practical tips for the mixed format:

• Make the live sessions open only to the course's students, so they feel like a group and not a public event.
• Record each session and add it to the course, for those who couldn't make it.
• Ask for questions in advance, so the session has a plan even if few people show up.
• Keep the session to an hour. If more questions come up, you have next week.

Starting live and moving to recorded

Another path is to start live and turn it into a recorded course. You teach the first round live, see what students ask and where they get stuck, and record as you go. Then you edit the recordings into a course, fixing the places that didn't work.

That way the recorded course is built on real questions from real students, not on what you guessed they'd ask. It also lets you start selling sooner, before every lecture is ready. We wrote about this path in how to turn a webinar into a course.

Price and format

The format affects the price, but not in a fixed way. Live contact and personal feedback usually justify a higher price, because they cost you time and give students something a recording can't. A recorded course can sell at a lower price to more people. There is no right ratio; follow the method in how to price an online course, and price the live part by what it gives the student.

A short summary

Choose recorded when the material is stable, the audience is busy and you want your time free after launch. Choose live when students need feedback and a group, and you're willing to show up each round. And if you're unsure, recorded lectures with a regular live session is a good place to start, because it lets you see which side your students actually use more.

Try it without committing

Kolcast has courses and webinars in the same account, under the same brand. A webinar's recording can become a course lecture in one click, and you can make a webinar invite-only and put the course's students on the invite list. To see how each side looks, visit the courses page and the webinars page, or try the live demo broadcast.