Cohort-Based Online Courses: A WordPress Group Learning Guide

Individual online courses often lead to waning motivation, resulting in skipped lessons, stagnant discussions, and incomplete modules.

Group learning is gaining popularity because it builds momentum and combats those issues.

Collaborative learning fosters mutual support and increases the likelihood of course completion.

When building a course on WordPress, you’ll find that certain tools facilitate collaborative learning. After extensive testing of many LMS plugins,MemberPress and AccessAllyproved to be outstanding due to their robust features designed to support group learning.

This guide will detail how to design a cohort-based learning environment that maintains student engagement throughout the course. 🧑‍🎓

What Exactly are Cohort-Based Online Courses, and What are the Benefits of Offering Them?

Cohort-based online courses, also called group learning, are a structured way to deliver learning to multiple students. Participants progress through the course together as a group, often with set start and end dates.

Here’s an example of a cohort-based online course by WordPress.org:

This type of online course nurtures a sense of community and promotes accountability among learners. Students benefit from interacting with instructors and peers, enhancing engagement and collaboration.

Offering a group course comes with several advantages:

• It’s ideally suited for learners who flourish in a group setting and appreciate the structure of a schedule.
• A more intimate learning setting can be fostered, leading to individualized assistance and improved student connections.
• Student motivation is boosted by group dynamics, maximizing their course benefits.

Why Use WordPress to Offer Group Learning?

To deliver a distinctive group course that fosters a robust learning community, selecting the right platform is essential.

We recommend WordPress.

WordPress excels as a platform for creating and overseeing group learning courses, providing comprehensive tools and flexibility for tailored course design.

Using WordPress, you can utilize robust LMS plugins such as MemberPress or AccessAlly to configure courses, manage student enrollment, and develop engaging lessons.

Furthermore, you maintain complete control over your content and income. WordPress, unlike other platforms, does not take a portion of your profits or place restrictions on your course administration.

Another significant advantage is customization.

WordPress simplifies the process of tailoring your site to meet the specific requirements of your group learning environment, enabling the integration of discussion boards, private messaging systems, or live video conferences.

How Do You Make a Cohort Syllabus?

When crafting a syllabus for cohort-based online courses, prioritize activities that foster teamwork. In contrast to self-directed study, this learning approach depends on collective participation.

Begin by defining the primary learning outcomes for the cohort. Consider incorporating tasks like collaborative projects or peer assessments to promote student interaction and mutual feedback.

Consistent opportunities for discussion, such as live workshops, online forums, or group messaging, also keep students involved and connected with each other.

Keeping those points in mind, we will now demonstrate methods for setting up group learning using WordPress on your website.

Use the provided quick links to navigate directly to your preferred method.

Let’s get started!

Method 1: Offer WordPress Group Learning Using MemberPress CoachKit™ (Best for Coaches and Small Businesses)

If you want to create group learning with a central hub for live discussions and membership access control, then MemberPress with the CoachKit™ addon is a great choice.

With MemberPress, you get everything you need to create, sell, and manage any type of membership program. We trust it to run our own popular free video membership site here at CanadaCreate.

It’s the best, all-in-one membership and LMS plugin that simplifies the process. For details, you can check out our in-depth MemberPress review.

The CoachKit™ addon takes it a step further by letting you create unlimited group coaching programs on WordPress. You can set milestones and habits to track your learners’ progress and host live discussions or consultations, too.

Creating Memberships using MemberPress

To start, let’s install and activate MemberPress. If you need help, then you can see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you just need to follow the setup wizard.

Then, the first thing you’ll need to do is set up your payment methods. To do this, you can head over to MemberPress » Settings and select the ‘Payments’ tab.

From here, you’ll want to click the ‘+ Add Payment Method’ button to add your preferred payment gateway.

MemberPress lets you connect to PayPal and Stripe. This also means that you can easily accept credit card payments for your WordPress group learning programs.

To complete the setup, simply enter your payment gateway account details. When you’re done, don’t forget to click the ‘Update Options’ button.

Next, you’ll need to establish membership plans, the subscriptions students purchase for course access.

Navigate to MemberPress » Memberships and select ‘Add New’ to begin.

On the subsequent screen, input a title and relevant information for the membership.

Configure pricing, billing frequency, and plan duration in the ‘Membership Terms’ section.

Additional customization settings are available further down the editor.

Within the ‘Price Box’ tab, for instance, you can enrich your pricing page with a headline and a summary of plan benefits.

Consult our comprehensive membership site guide for detailed instructions.

Creating Your Online Courses

With your membership plans configured, it’s time to develop your course content.

In this phase, you’ll utilize the MemberPress Courses add-on to build and store your courses; this simplifies resource integration within CoachKit™.

Begin by visiting the MemberPress » Courses page. Activate the Courses Addon using the provided button.

Upon activation, you will be directed to the course builder, which leverages the WordPress block editor for ease of course creation.

Initiate the process by selecting ‘Add New.’

On the ‘Course Page,’ start by entering the course title and a descriptive overview in the designated fields.

Within the ‘Curriculum’ tab, select ‘Add Section’ to define a new course section. Note that a section represents a module within your course.

Below each section, select the ‘Add Lesson’ button. Add as many lessons as needed, ensuring they align with the section’s topic.

To modify a lesson, hover over it and select ‘Edit’.

This action opens the lesson editor, enabling you to incorporate learning resources for that specific lesson.

Leverage the Quizzes and Assignments add-ons in MemberPress Courses to assess understanding and foster engagement in each lesson. Student progress tracking is streamlined within the Gradebook.

For a comprehensive walkthrough, consult our guide on building and selling online courses.

Installing and Configuring the CoachKit™ Addon

Proceed to install the CoachKit™ add-on by navigating toMemberPress » CoachKit™.

You’ll then see the button to install and activate the addon. Go ahead and give it a click.

This will add an ‘MP CoachKit™’ menu item to your WordPress dashboard.

Before creating your initial WordPress group learning programs, adjust the necessary settings.

MemberPress creates a ‘Coaching’ page automatically for client management and progress monitoring. To access this, go toMemberPress » Settings and navigate to the ‘Pages’ tab.

In the ‘MemberPress Coaching Page*’ field, you’ll find that ‘Auto Create New Page’ is selected by default in the dropdown menu.

Next, select the option to generate the page. Be sure to select the ‘Update Option’ button, typically found at the bottom of the interface.

After creating the page, you’ll be able to see the ‘Edit’ and ‘View’ buttons for your MemberPress coaching page, similar to the example shown.

Following this step, navigate to the ‘CoachKit™’ tab to configure its settings.

Consider enabling the live chat ‘Messaging’ feature. This allows direct communication between you and the learners on your site.

The system supports both private and group messaging. Use private messages for individual feedback and group messages for general announcements and motivation.

Offering Client Consultations (Optional)

Before developing your group learning course, consider allowing clients to book private sessions. This is particularly useful if you intend to provide individual support.

The simplest method is to use WPForms, a leading form builder. It’s used across the Awesome Motive network for contact forms, surveys, and opt-ins. For details, refer to our WPForms review.

Begin by installing the WPForms plugin. If needed, our guide on installing WordPress plugins can assist you.

After activating the plugin, proceed toWPForms » Add New.

On the subsequent screen, input the form’s title and specify your preferred form-building approach.

If you need a quick solution, utilize WPForms’ AI Form Builder. Simply describe your requirements, such as “appointment booking form for group learning,” to generate a ready-made form rapidly.

In this guide, we will opt for a pre-designed template.

Given WPForms’ extensive library of over 2000 templates, consider using the search function to narrow your choices. In this instance, we’ll use the term ‘Appointment.’

After locating a suitable template, hover over it and select ‘Use Template.’

This action redirects you to the drag-and-drop editor interface.

Within the editor, you can modify form fields and customize various settings.

When finished, click ‘Embed’ to integrate the form into an existing or newly created page. We’ll publish ours on a fresh page, which is advisable since we’ll require the URL later.

Consult our comprehensive guide for step-by-step instructions on creating a booking form.

Creating Your First WordPress Group Learning Course

In this phase, you’ll set up your group learning course, complete with interactive elements such as collaborative projects, peer evaluations, and group discussions.

To begin, navigate to MP CoachKit™ » Programs and then click the ‘Add New Program’ button.

Begin by naming your program on the subsequent screen. In this guide, we will create a basic cohort-based course titled ‘Art for Beginners’.

Next, you will proceed to add a new cohort to your program.

In the ‘Cohorts’ area, to the right side of the ‘Milestones/Habits’ tabs, select the ‘New Cohort’ button.

In the resulting popup, input the name of the cohort. We have named ours ‘Program: Art,’ for instance.

Beneath the name field, you’ll find a setting that allows you to restrict the number of participants.

If you wish to impose a limit, check the box next to ‘Enrollment Cap.’ After doing so, input the desired number into the ‘Client Limit’ field.

After that, you’ll choose the cohort type: ‘Dynamic’ or ‘Fixed.’

• By choosing dynamic, you give participants the flexibility to enroll at any time, with their program commencing on their enrollment date.
• The fixed option requires you to input specific start and end dates, allowing participants to adhere to a structured schedule. This ensures participants are aware of when new content such as lessons, activities, and milestones will be released, fostering accountability and dedication.

Given that the primary goal of a cohort-based course is to encourage shared learning at the same pace, it’s advisable to select the fixed type.

Go ahead and enter the start and end dates in the available fields.

Then, the ‘Status’ dropdown allows you to control whether the cohort is open or closed for enrollment.

Here, you’ll want to choose ‘Open’ to make the course accessible. If the start date is still in the future, you can select ‘Close’ instead and set a reminder to open the course closer to the start date.

To the left, you’ll see an option to select the coach. Simply click on the dropdown to select from one of your registered users.

Finally, by checking the ‘Allow Client Appointments’ box, you can attach a link to your client appointment form.

Don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button to store your configuration.

When creating programs with CoachKit™, you’ll have options to add milestones and habits. Here’s a simple explanation of each:

• Milestones are time-based goals for each program that help track progress. You can set as many milestones as needed in a specific order, each with a due date.
• Habits are tasks that repeat regularly, and you can track them over time. These tasks are added on specific dates based on how often they repeat, and they fit within the timeframe of the milestones you’ve set.

Let’s start with milestones. To create one, just click the ‘+ New Milestones’ button.

After that, you can start filling out the milestone goal name and due.

For example, we named our first milestone ‘Introduction to Art Basics,’ and the goal is to have it completed 7 days after learners start the program.

Then, enabling the ‘Check-In’ feature will trigger milestone or habit reminder emails. These emails are sent when a client misses a milestone or habit deadline.

If you enable ‘Check In’, a ‘Client Question’ field will appear, allowing you to create a customized subject line for the email.

Next, you’ll want to open the ‘Add New’ dropdown menu. This is where you can add the online course you created using the Courses add-on.

A popup will then show a list of your courses. Select the box next to the course you want and then select ‘Add Course.’

To include additional milestones, select the ‘+’ icon and repeat the steps.

Once milestones are configured, navigate to the ‘Habits’ tab and select ‘+ New Habit’ to begin adding habits.

Next, specify the habit’s name and configure its conditions.

Here’s an example:

This means that clients will have to repeat practicing line work, shading, and proportions daily or every 3 days if the day is Monday or Friday.

Finally, select the ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ button.

Enrolling Clients Through a Membership Program

With your WordPress group learning courses set up, it’s time for client enrollment, which can be done via your membership programs.

To begin, go to MemberPress » Memberships and hover over the membership you want to add your program(s) to.

For example, in this step, we’ll select the ‘Gold’ membership to include in the courses program. So, we’ll hover over it and click ‘Edit’ to open its settings.

In the ‘Membership Options’ section down the page, you’ll need to switch to the ‘CoachKit’ tab.

Next, choose the specific program that this membership will grant access to.

To include additional programs in this membership offering, select the ‘Add New’ button and repeat the steps outlined above.

When finished, select either the ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ button to save your changes.

Subsequently, every new member signing up for that membership gains immediate access to all associated programs.

Furthermore, upon enrollment, new clients are automatically assigned to cohorts within each program. CoachKit™ prioritizes cohorts with the most available slots.

As learners join, your ‘Coaching’ section will provide an overview of your clients and their respective program enrollments.

From the learner’s perspective, the ‘Clients’ area transforms into an ‘Enrollments’ hub, providing access to all relevant program milestones and habits.

Here’s what the learner dashboard looks like:

And that’s it!

You’ve successfully created and offered group learning online courses using MemberPress.

Method 2: Offer WordPress Group Learning Using AccessAlly (Best for Powerful Online Communities)

AccessAlly is another great choice for cohort-based learning. Its CommunityAlly feature creates a space where students can connect and collaborate.

Installing the AccessAlly Plugin

Since AccessAlly is a premium plugin, you’ll need to purchase a plan before creating your group learning. Keep in mind that if you want to create community and discussion groups for your group learning courses, then you’ll need the AccessAlly Community plan.

Simply click the ‘Get Started Today’ button in your chosen plan and follow the checkout process.

After purchasing, simply go to your AccessAlly account and click the ‘Download License’ button. If you’re using AccessAlly Pro, download the ProgressAlly.zip file as well.

Once downloaded, you can upload the AccessAlly.zip file to your WordPress site and activate the plugin as usual. If you need help, follow our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can connect your WordPress site to your AccesAlly account.

In the setup wizard, AccessAlly will ask for your registered email address and license key. Once you’ve filled out the fields, click ‘Next.’

On the next screen, you’ll need to choose a customer relationship manager (CRM) tool you want to integrate.

AccessAlly has several options, including ActiveCampaign, Kit, Drip, and the built-in AccessAlly Managed.

Simply click ‘Next’ to complete the CRM integration process.

After that, you’ll set up your payment processors. AccessAlly allows you to connect to Stripe, Paypal, or both.

• To use both, simply check the ‘Enable’ boxes for each.
• If you prefer to offer just one option, go ahead and check the ‘I don’t want to integrate with Stripe/PayPal’ box.

After deciding on your payment processing, you can hit the ‘Next’ button.

On the next screen, AccessAlly will ask you to connect your Stripe or PayPal account(s). You can just follow the process to finish the setup.

Once done, you’ll see a ‘Congratulations!’ message.

Here, you can choose to autogenerate key pages or manually configure them. For this tutorial, we’ll choose ‘Yes, please generate my site’s key pages for me. (Recommended)’ for an easier process.

AccessAlly will then auto-generate key pages, which include:

• Log-in page: This is where your members or students can log into your learning website using their credentials.
• The ‘Please login first before accessing the site’ page: If a visitor tries to access restricted content without logging in, they’ll be redirected here. It reminds them to log in before proceeding.
• Dashboard: The central hub for your users. It displays important information, such as progress tracking, available courses, and quick links to different sections of the site.
• My Account/Profile: A personalized page where users can update their profile information, change passwords, and manage account details.
• My Orders: This page has the user’s purchases, subscriptions, or transactions on your site.
• Insufficient Permissions: If someone tries to access the content they don’t have permission for, they’ll land here. This page explains why access is restricted and may include options to upgrade or purchase access.

For now, you can leave them as is. You can always adjust later.

If you scroll down the page, you’ll find the ‘What’s Next’ section where you can click ‘Go To Dashboard’ or ‘Re-run Onboarding Steps.’

With that done, you’ve successfully set up AccessAlly on your WordPress website.

Creating an Online Course Using AccessAlly

The next step is to develop your group learning course materials.

You can start by designing a clear curriculum that provides students with an overview and actionable content right from the beginning. Then, you’ll want to deliver your best materials to keep students engaged and make your course stand out.

To start adding your learning materials, let’s click ‘Go to Dashboard’ from the last screen.

Then, you can navigate to the ‘Offerings’ menu and click ‘Create.’

This will open the ‘Create Your Offering’ pop-up window, where you must choose an offering template.

We’ll use the ‘Drip Release Course’ model because it works best for group learning. By gradually releasing modules, you make sure students progress together within a specified time frame.

Simply click the ‘Use Template’ button in the relevant box.

On the next screen, you’ll name your offering in the ‘What would you like to call this offering?’ field. You’ll want to make sure the name is clear, as your potential students will see this on the front end.

For example, we named ours ‘Group-Learning: WordPress for Beginners’

After that, you’ll choose your payment option.

AccessAlly offers various options, including a one-time fee, recurring payment, and a payment plan with a free trial, among others.

For this tutorial, we’ll choose the one-time fee method.

In the screenshot below, we set the price for our course in the ‘Amount’ field.

In this final step, you’ll either go to the content editor or leave it for later.

Let’s select the ‘Yes, I’m ready to add my content’ to start developing your group learning online courses.

This will take you to the ‘Content’ page.

Once inside, you’ll see that AccessAlly has generated the entire course structure for you. You can go through each section one by one and click the brush icon to edit.

For example, we’ll click the brush icon to edit the ‘Base Module’ section.

You’ll then be redirected to the WordPress content editor.

Here, you can start by converting to the block editor if you want.

After that, go ahead and add your content.

For the base module, you might want to write the course description so potential students know what to expect from this course.

You can also add a featured image so it looks more put together.

You can then preview and publish the post if everything looks good already.

With that done, it’s time to add your learning materials.

You can go through each of the 5-week course outlines and update the content. Just click the brush icon to access the content editor.

Inside the content editor, you can add descriptions, activities, or instructions – anything that’s necessary for the course.

You can also upload multimedia or embed videos to improve the learning experience.

Simply hit the ‘Publish’ button when you’re happy with everything.

You can now repeat this process for all your courses.

Once everything is set, you’ll see the green ‘Published’ label on your dashboard like this:

To see what it looks like on your site’s front end, simply click on the ‘Preview’ icon.

Here’s what our course looks like on our demo site:

Building Your Cohort Enrollment Page

The next step is to set up the group learning enrollment page.

But first, you’ll need to decide how you want to manage enrollments. For example, you can set specific start and end dates as well as limit the number of students per cohort.

Then, you can switch to the ‘Forms’ page and click on the ‘+ Add’ button to start.

In the popup that appears, you’ll see a lot of templates for your AccessAlly course. These templates vary from payment and coupon codes to those related to course enrollment.

But the one you’ll need is ‘Enrollment Limit.’

On the popup that appears, you’ll see 2 tabs: ‘Settings’ and ‘Order form message.’

In the ‘Settings’ tab, you can add the cohort name, specify the course enrollment time frame, and limit the number of participants.

Setting the ‘Enrollment capacity’ means that once the cohort limit is reached, your order form will automatically turn into a waiting list page.

This automation helps you collect emails from those who missed the current cohort so that you can invite them to the next one.

Next, you can switch to the ‘Order form message’ tab.

Here, you can see that AccessAlly has a ready-made order form message for you.

If you want to create a custom one, then you can take advantage of the available placeholders to add to your message. These placeholders allow you to automate details such as:

• Countdown timer: Add a live timer to show how much time is left before registration closes.
• Total capacity: Display the maximum number of spots available in your course or program.
• Current enrollment count: Automatically show how many people have already signed up.
• Remaining capacity: Highlight the number of spots still open to create urgency for potential signups.

If you scroll down the popup, you can find a preview.

Go ahead and click ‘Save’ to close the window.

Now, if you go to the ‘Forms’ page in your AccessAlly dashboard, you’ll see that your settings are saved under the ‘Enrollment Limit’ section.

And because we set the enrollment capacity, AccessAlly has automatically created the ‘Waitlists‘ settings for you.

Don’t forget to click ‘Save’ in the top right corner to store your settings.

Setting Up a Community for Group Discussions

Finally, you can create a private space for your students using CommunityAlly.

Setting up a community for group discussion is a great way to boost students’ engagement and make learning more interactive. It gives your participants a place to ask questions, share ideas, and support each other.

Plus, as the course organizer, you can easily spot where people might need extra help or clarification.

Let’s get started by installing and activating the CommunityAlly plugin.

You can download the .zip file directly from your AccessAlly dashboard and then upload it to your site. If you need a little help along the way, you can check out our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can go to the ‘Content’ page and click ‘+ Add.’

This will open the ‘Add New Content’ popup.

From here, you can click on ‘Group’ to select it.

On the next screen, CommunityAlly will ask you to create the group name. Simply add the name to the relevant field and click ‘Create Group.’

And that’s it!

CommunityAlly will auto-generate the page for you – hassle-free.

Now, if you visit your ‘Content Pages’ section, you’ll see the CommunityAlly group you just created.

Go ahead and click the ‘Save’ button to publish the group.

After that, you can click the ‘Preview’ icon to preview it on your front end, where you’ll find 3 buttons:

• Star: This button lets you mark a group or discussion as a favorite, making it easier to find later.
• Message: This button opens a chat where you can send messages directly to group members or admins.
• Notifications: This button lets you manage your notifications for updates, new messages, or group activities.

Then, if you scroll down the page, you’ll find a few tabs.

The ‘Feed’ tab is where you’ll see all the latest posts and updates from your group members, including discussions, announcements, and shared content.

Then, there’s the ‘Discussion’ tab.

Here, you can provide discussion prompts and set up smaller groups or projects to spark deeper interactions.

The ‘Members’ tab shows a list of all the members in the group. This allows you to connect and see their profiles.

In the ‘Settings’ tab, you can edit the group name and description. You can also upload a cover image to personalize the look of your group page.

And that’s all! You have now successfully created a group learning platform with powerful community discussion features.

Bonus Tip: Host Live Q&A Sessions to Boost Engagement

One of the best ways to make your group course feel alive and personal is by scheduling regular live “Office Hours” or Q&A sessions. This gives students direct access to you and helps them feel like part of a real community.

You can use simple conference tools like Zoom or YouTube Live to host these sessions.

Just share the link on your site’s homepage, inside the course dashboard, or in the community area ahead of time so everyone knows when to join.

These live calls are fantastic for answering questions in real-time, clarifying difficult topics, and getting valuable feedback. It’s a small effort that makes a huge difference in student success and satisfaction. 🙌

Want to take your virtual classroom even further? Check out our guide on how to run a virtual class with WordPress.

Cohort-Based Online Courses / WordPress Group Learning FAQs

If you’re considering starting a WordPress group learning website, then here are some common questions and answers that can help guide your journey.

What is group learning?

Group learning is when a group of students moves through a course together, often with set schedules, assignments, and regular interaction with instructors and peers. This method helps keep everyone on track and encourages teamwork and accountability.

How do you create a group learning course?

To create a group learning course, you can start by choosing the right learning management system (LMS), like MemberPress or AccessAlly, that supports cohorts.

Then, you’ll need to plan your course with a clear start and end date, break it up into modules, and add activities like group discussions or projects to get everyone involved.

When is the best time of year to start a group learning course?

The best time to launch your group learning course really depends on your audience. Many course creators find that starting in January after the new year or in the fall works well since people are often more motivated during these times.

Make sure to consider when your target learners are most likely to engage.

What are the main features of LMS for group learning courses?

When using an LMS for group-based courses, you’ll want features like scheduled content releases, progress tracking, group management, communication tools for interaction, and automatic reminders.

These features help keep students on track and make the course experience more interactive.

What is the best platform to upload my group learning online courses?

WordPress, with LMS plugins like MemberPress or AccessAlly, is the perfect platform for uploading group learning courses. These tools can give you all the features you need to create and manage courses while keeping everything organized and easy for students to track.

Additional Resources for Your Online Courses

We hope this guide has helped you learn how to set up engaging group learning courses in WordPress. To further grow your online education business, you might find these articles helpful:

• How to Add a Learning Management System in WordPress
• How to Create an eLearning Website
• How to Start an Online Coaching Business
• How to Market Your Online Course
• How to Run Members-Only Events in WordPress
• Teachable vs Skillshare vs MemberPress: Which is the Best?
• Best WordPress LMS Plugins Compared (Pros and Cons)

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