Plan your course before you build it
The biggest mistake course creators make is jumping straight into recording. You open your screen recorder, start talking, and three hours later you have footage that does not quite hang together the way you imagined.
Deckko fixes that. It gives you a place to map out your entire course — module by module, lesson by lesson — before you ever open your slide tool or hit record. When your plan is solid, everything downstream gets easier.
The workflow
- Create a board per module — Each module in your course gets its own board. This keeps things manageable and lets you work on one module at a time.
- Pick a course planning template — Start with Backward Design if you want to design around outcomes, ADDIE if you need a full build process, or Merrill's First Principles if your course is hands-on and skill-based.
- Map your lessons as frames — Each frame represents one lesson. Add the lesson objective in the Notes field, the talking points or script in Voice / Transcript, and any reference images or diagrams in the image area.
- Use labels to categorize lessons — Create labels like Teach, Practice, Feedback, and Assessment so you can see your course structure at a glance.
- Review the full arc — Step back and look at all your frames together. Does the sequence make sense? Does each lesson build on the last? Reorder until it flows.
Templates to explore
- Backward Design — Start with the outcome and work backward. Great for results-focused courses.
- ADDIE — The industry-standard full course build process.
- Merrill's First Principles — For hands-on, skill-based courses where learners need to DO, not just watch.
- Gagné's 9 Events — Perfect for planning individual lesson videos within a course.
Deckko will not build your course for you — but it will make sure you know exactly what you are building before you start.