If there’s a comprehensive, dependable, and easy-to-use learning management system on WordPress, it’s LearnDash. LearnDash makes it simple for educators to create and manage their online courses. It’s the perfect solution when you’re an individual instructor.
But to create a corporate training portal, an online university, or simply a multi-instructor website, you’ll need to extend the LMS.
How can Multiple Instructors or Teachers Help
As your online learning business grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage all tasks. You have to take care of keeping existing content updated, add new courses, answer student queries, among other things.
By adding instructors you can offload some activities to them, and manage your LMS effectively without compromising on the learning experience.
Instructors can help to:
- Increase the number of courses offered on your LearnDash website by bringing in their expertise (a great way to increase student sign-ups)
- Manage courses they’ve created, freeing up your time for other activities
- Take away the burden of student evaluation for their courses
- Offer students one-on-one feedback since they are dedicated to teach
- Speed up communication with students when needed… and more.
But onboarding additional course authors, teachers, or instructors might not be as ideal as you’d expect. Unless you have people willing to contribute, you’ll have to reach out to subject matter experts, sign them up on LearnDash, and let them create content without messing up any options on your website.
Let’s tackle the small fish.
How to Find Multiple Instructors or Guest Lecturers
If you don’t have a network already, finding instructors can be a challenge but not an impossibility. You’ll have to put in some time and approach verified teachers and convince them to contribute to your platform.
Some options include:
Reaching out to people on Udemy or Coursera
Course marketplaces are a great source of independent course authors who don’t have their own platform or are willing to contribute to other platforms. Such instructors would be willing to come on board and understand commission-based income too.
Contacting individual course creators
Searching for related courses on Google can provide you topics along with their authors. You can contact these instructors and request them to add some courses on your website.
Finding experts on YouTube
YouTube is a great source of content creators. There are all kinds of subject matter specialists on YouTube. Getting them on board could be easy too, as they could use existing videos they’ve created as part of their courses.
Tapping into your network
Asking friends, colleagues, fellow course instructors to recommend connects can help. Ask around.
Letting ex-students contribute
Think about it. Students who’ve performed well on higher grade courses can help you manage and evaluate lower-level courses. You could have a screening test before letting students turn into instructors.
Onboarding freelancers as teachers
Freelancers are looking to establish themselves as experts. Reaching out to trusted freelancers and opening up a contribution opportunity can help you get good content easily.
Running a Guest Instructor program
You could simultaneously open up instructor registrations on your LearnDash site, run paid ads for the same, or put up job postings. Interested teachers might approach you and sign up without you having to do much.
While you’re looking to get good course authors for your website, you also have to think about the technical aspect of adding them to your LearnDash LMS ecosystem.
So now, over to the big fish.
How to Securely Add Multiple Instructors on LearnDash
The thing about LearnDash is that the base platform allows only WordPress administrators to create course content. What you need is a way to get guest authors to create content without allowing them access to sensitive WordPress settings.
The way to do this is to extend the LearnDash LMS with the Multiple Instructors plugin. Once you install the plugin on your LearnDash website, you have the option to add users as “Instructors”.
Instructors can:
- Create courses, lessons, topics, quizzes, and manage content on LearnDash without having admin capabilities
- Evaluate student performance and assignments for courses they’ve created
- Use an intuitive dashboard that contains shortcuts to create content efficiently, and get an overview of student activity
- Communicate with students on a one-to-one basis
- Earn commissions on the courses they sell
As the admin, you still have control over the content that goes out, and the flexibility to add and remove instructors.
Let’s take a look at using the plugin on a step-by-step basis.
1. Create a new user as an “Instructor”
When adding a course author, teacher, or instructor, set the User Role to “Instructor”.
2. Control content being published
As the admin, you can check the “Save as Draft” option to disallow Instructors to publish content automatically. This gives you the option to review courses being created and publish them manually.
3. Set instructor commissions
You can set percentage commissions that instructors can earn every time their course is sold. The multi-instructor plugin keeps track of commissions each instructor earns. It, however, doesn’t make the payments. You can use a preferred system of choice for the same.
4. Benefit from the instructor dashboard
The good part of the plugin is that instructors get a personalized dashboard to work with LearnDash and WordPress. The simple interface makes it easy for instructors who do not have WordPress knowledge to use the platform.
5. Create paid products for instructor courses
If you’re using WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads to sell paid courses, the multi-instructor plugin integrates with these e-commerce extensions to let you add a price and sell instructor courses.
6. Allow instructors to work independently
Instructors can be given the freedom to build courses and course hierarchies based on their requirements. They can create quizzes, score attempts and evaluate assignments. You don’t need to be involved at every step. Freeing up your time to market your website and other activities.
Your Turn
Getting instructors on your LearnDash website to create more courses and manage students is an efficient way to grow your training business.
The multi-instructor plugin is easy to use, seamless and can transform LearnDash into a thriving teaching community. What are your thoughts?
It’s time now to upgrade your LMS and enjoy the benefits it has to offer.
Disclosure: WP Mayor is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our website we may earn an affiliate commission at no added cost to you. This does not influence our recommendations – we always recommend the best products and services available.
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