How do you handle 'lifetime access'?

[PH5000]

Hi everyone,

I'm getting ready to build my first course, but I have a question. Udemy offers students 'lifetime access' to the course. Are we as instructors expected to continue to reply to emails and posts about the course for years? What about 10 years later? Or more?

How do you handle your courses years after their creation? Do you intend to continue to support them forever? Or is there a reasonable timeframe that you support them, and afterwards just leave them alone?

Thanks in advance,

-Patrick

[Mobile_Faculty]

Patrick, it's been my experience that only a few students continue to contact me after completing my courses - even though I encourage them to do so! Since starting with Udemy almost all of my students who choose to ask me questions do so while in the course, or in a brief comment afterwards. 

I sometimes go back and add bonus material or update a portion of my courses and re-send the notification announcements as well as new course promotions to all 1.5k+ students. I expect a flood of responses, but generally receive one or two. 

It's interesting because I've had some of the same students in three of four of my courses, but other than the course rating / review, they don't contact me. 

Bottom line, you can develop a course that creates community, which could increase communication after the students complete the training...or not. It really is up to you. 

Hope that helps

-

[PH5000]

Thank you very much! This is very helpful, and it reassures me that I won't necessarily have thousands of questions per day. 🙂

I certainly want to develop a community of learners that help each other and ultimately help me make the course better. I just didn't want to be obligated to do this forever. 🙂

Thanks again!

[FrankKane]

Udemy doesn't require you to respond to Q&A or to direct messages; they just rely on the community to rate courses where the instructor is unresponsive lower.

So, if you were to decide someday that you just don't want to do this anymore, you could un-publish your course which means it won't be offered for sale to new students, but students who bought it will continue to have access to it. That should stop the flow of new students and their questions. If someone who already bought your course decides to start taking it 10 years later and posts a question, well, they simply won't get an answer. It's not a great experience for the student, but you wouldn't be violating any terms or contracts - and it's a pretty unlikely situation anyhow.

Of course this assumes that Udemy will still exist in its current form 10 years from now. The tech world changes quickly.

[PH5000]

It is very reassuring to have a plan for its lifecycle before I embark on my first course! Build, promote, support, maintain, and then sunset. And it is nice to know that this can happen (more or less) on my own timeframe, as long as I am willing to accept the effects it may have on my rating.

Thank you for your response! 🙂