The number of students who study online is growing every year, both in university courses and in professional training and free courses.
In Spain, for example, according to the Ministry of Education.
The increase in recent years shows the importance that has been given to professional qualification, which requires specialization and reliability in the issuance of the course certificate from those responsible for this modality.
If you have one and want to offer this document, this post is for you! We will explain how to issue the course certificate, what must be taken into account and the main precautions that must be taken.
Why should you issue an online course certificate?
The are considered proof of learning obtained in a course.
If a person needs to prove their knowledge of a certain subject in order to be hired for a position, this is the document that will be decisive, separating the candidates who have it from those who did not obtain it.
However, the benefits of this issue are not restricted to people who take a course, but also extend to creators of online courses.
Learn more about the reasons for that below.
proficiency test
As much as they are not recognized by some official bodies, the certificates serve as a way to testify knowledge in a certain matter.
Therefore, those responsible for the courses who are concerned with the issuance of the document testify to its reliability before the public and the commitment to teaching.
People tend to choose a course precisely because they have that document as a guarantee. They are also inclined to better evaluate the courses that offer certification, with superior reliability in the market.
competitive spread
Imagine two that have the program content in common and are taught by competent and recognized professionals in their areas, but one offers a certificate and the other does not.
Which one would you choose? The one that’s accredited, right?
With this in mind, it is important to offer such a statement to students.
As we already mentioned, this will have a weight even when participating in a selection, since organizations appreciate the qualification of their collaborators and the course certificate is a differential. Consequently, the promoters of this teaching have more visibility in the market.
Incentive to complete the course
When you start a course and see that there is no certification, how many people drop out of the classes?
The course certificate works as a guarantee and becomes an extra incentive for the person to complete the classes, because it contributes to their motivation.
On the other hand, the level of commitment grows to the extent that the person knows that their effort has a direct impact on obtaining a document that proves their knowledge. This builds authority for whoever is offering the offers.
How to issue certificates for courses?
The course certificate is an accreditation, so you need to bring essential information. Before issuing it, you have to pay attention to some details.
Data
The first step is to think about all the important data when creating a course certificate. Some cannot be missing and give credibility to the document, such as:
- student’s name:
- institution that offered the course;
- course certification;
- date of realization
- number of hours;
- document issue date;
- the signature of the person responsible for the course / institution;
Visual
The template of a course certificate must also be taken into account, because it is what will be presented to third parties and it needs to have a visual that favors it, with emphasis on the main information requested by the market.
Ideally, it should be clear, clean and organized.
The first word that should appear is “certificate”, as that serves to help in identification.
As for the colors, choose those that are in your brand and place the logo so that the person who analyzes it knows where the course was held.
Beyond this, worry about leaving the information in order, to allow a dynamic reading and highlight the most relevant data in bold.
What care must be taken when issuing certificates?
The data and the appearance of the templates are the main points to be attended in the issuance of a course certificate.
However, in addition to taking care of these elements, it is essential to worry about how you will deliver it and the format of the broadcast itself, as we will see below.
Choose the most suitable broadcast format
There are two types of issuance: manual and facilitated, each with its specificities:
- Manual – in this type of certificate, the file is created in an editable way in the program of your choice (Word, , PowerPoint). Thus, you will have to fill in the name of each of the students who took the course;
- Provided – that format is already done with autocomplete. There are specific programs for that, you just have to register the class data and that’s it.
If the course has many students, the facilitated issue is the most appropriate, since the volume of certificates will be high. In addition, the option avoids the occurrence of errors, since the students themselves are responsible for the information that is transferred.
remember the signature
The signature must also be present on this document.
In the event that they usually send the certificates by e-mail or generate them on the platform itself, it is necessary to have the digital signature modality.
To do this, it is necessary for the instructor or course manager to scan their signature and insert it into the certificate template. Otherwise, the manual signature must be done, and the certificate must be sent by post.
be careful with shipping
For those who opt for the issue in the institution itself, the shipment will be made to the address of each participating student.
If the format is digital, it is necessary to have some options, such as sending the certificate in PDF and also access through the .
You can also choose only one of these options, but it is good to offer both to bring more security.
If possible, let them know when the document is available.
Control all participants
An important and commonly overlooked issue is the control of course participants.
It is essential to have a list of students both for the organization and for the guarantee of participation. It is necessary to know how the development of each student is and if, in fact, they finished the course.
If you haven’t completed it and receive the certificate due to automation, this can create bad impressions for your brand. Therefore, it constantly updates this list.
Why is it important to be vigilant when issuing a certificate?
As much as the initiative of free courses is not yet regulated by some official bodies, there are laws that testify and reaffirm that they are part of a right of the consumer who buys the course.
This being the case, care must be taken, especially with regard to the issuance of a certificate, since it is a document.
Precisely for this reason, throughout this post, we highlight initiatives such as the insertion of the correct data, the signature of the person in charge and the care with the shipment.
Despite the fact that free online courses are a non-formal modality of , the market values and recognizes them. In that sense, maintain the processing of the course certificate in a reliable way and take care of the veracity of the information that is written there.
After reading about this topic, have you been interested in learning more about selling online courses? , the ideal EAD platform for those who want to earn money online by sharing their knowledge with the world.
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