How to create educational content students will love

Creating educational content that truly resonates with students isn’t just about adding relevant text information and images on a page. Whether you’re a teacher working on learning materials or a university marketer trying to attract prospective students, the secret lies in understanding what makes content both educational and engaging.

In this guide, we will explore two different types of educational content, examine real-world examples and share practical strategies for creating content that students will find interesting. Let’s discover how to align your educational content with learning objectives while keeping it simple, understandable and exciting.

Two types of educational content

Not all educational content serves the same purpose. Understanding the key differences between educational content for teaching and content for marketing in higher education will help you create more targeted and effective materials.

Educational content for teaching and learning

This type focuses on direct knowledge sharing and skill development. It’s designed with specific learning outcomes in mind and follows pedagogical principles to help students understand and apply new theoretical concepts and notions.

Teaching-focused content typically includes structured lessons, step-by-step tutorials and guides, practice exercises and assessment tasks. It’s built around curriculum standards and learning objectives.

The main purpose here is educational achievement. Success is measured by how well students understand new concepts and apply their knowledge in real-world situations.

Educational content for marketing in higher education

Marketing-focused educational content is created with a different purpose in mind. While it still provides value and teaches something useful, its ultimate goal is to attract and engage prospective students while supporting the current ones.

This content type includes campus tours, program highlights, student success stories and informational resources about student life. It’s designed to showcase the institutional strengths and benefits of a specific university or college while addressing questions and concerns potential students might have.

Educational content for marketing also supports current students by providing them with news about their educational institution, new educational opportunities and courses, and the achievements of other students, which they can be proud of. In this regard, marketing content helps build trust and a strong relationship between the educational institution and its students, especially on social media.

To cut it short, with content marketing for education, the focus shifts from pure education to relationship building. Success is measured by engagement metrics, lead generation and the number of enrolled students.

What’s the difference between the two?

The key difference lies in purpose and audience. Content for teaching prioritizes learning outcomes for students, while marketing content is all about grabbing the attention of prospective students.

Examples of educational content

Let’s take a look at some examples to see how these two types of content work in practice.

Content for teaching and learning

These are the most common types of what a teacher can create for their students:

• Interactive simulations work particularly well for complex concepts. For example, a chemistry professor might use a virtual lab where students manipulate molecular structures to see how different compounds react. This practical approach helps students understand abstract concepts through direct experimentation.
• Video tutorials with embedded quizzes keep students engaged while providing immediate feedback. For example, a mathematics teacher can break down complex equations into short video segments, with practice problems appearing at key points.
• Case study assignments connect theoretical knowledge to real-world applications. Business students might analyze actual company strategies, while psychology students examine real patient scenarios.
• Collaborative projects leverage peer learning. Students working together on research presentations or group problem-solving exercises learn from each other while developing teamwork skills.
• Infographics are designed to present complex information in a visual way by breaking it into easy-to-understand components.

Content for marketing and student engagement

When it comes to content marketing for education, the following types are widely used:

• Virtual campus tours let prospective students explore facilities online. These immersive experiences create emotional connections that traditional paper brochures simply can’t match.
• Student spotlight series featuring real graduates sharing their career journeys and success stories provide authentic testimonials while showcasing program outcomes.
• Behind-the-scenes content showing faculty research, campus events and student life activities creates transparency and builds trust.
• Interactive program finders help potential students identify courses that meet their interests and career goals. These tools provide personalized recommendations while collecting valuable lead information.

How to create educational content students will love (for teaching and learning)

Creating high-quality educational content requires balancing creativity with engagement. Here’s how to achieve that balance.

Align content with student needs and curricular goals

As a teacher, you need to start by understanding your students’ current knowledge level and learning preferences. Survey your class or analyze past performance data to identify common knowledge gaps and challenges.

After that, map your content directly to learning objectives, but present it in ways that address students’ real-world concerns. If you’re teaching statistics, don’t just explain formulas but show how statistical analysis applies to their future careers or current interests.

Don’t forget to pay attention to diverse learning styles by offering content in multiple formats. Some students learn best through visual diagrams and infographics, while others learn through hands-on activities or written explanations.

Make it interactive and engaging

Boring content leads to poor interaction. You can make your educational content more interactive and engaging by including clickable diagrams, drag-and-drop exercises or discussion prompts that encourage active participation.

Gamification elements like point systems, badges or leaderboards can also motivate students to study better without trivializing the learning experience. The key is ensuring these elements support rather than distract from educational goals.

Real-time polling and questions during lectures or online sessions keep students engaged while providing you with immediate feedback about comprehension levels.

Use storytelling

Due to the peculiarities of human nature, educational content becomes more memorable when presented as a storyline that shows cause and effect relationships.

You can also use relatable characters and scenarios to illustrate abstract concepts. For example, an economics lesson about supply and demand becomes more engaging when you tell your students the story of a local coffee shop addressing market changes and competition.

Finally, personal anecdotes and real-world examples can make your students connect new information to their existing knowledge and experiences.

AI-powered tools for content-based education

When creating educational content, teachers can use artificial intelligence to personalize learning experiences. Let’s take a quick look at some popular tools:

• Adaptive learning platforms adjust content difficulty based on individual student progress, ensuring everyone is appropriately challenged.
• AI-powered chatbots can provide 24/7 support for common questions, allowing you to focus on more complex interactions.
• Automated feedback systems can provide immediate responses to student submissions, helping them learn from mistakes quickly rather than waiting for graded assignments.
• Content generation tools can help create practice problems, quiz questions or supplementary materials, though human oversight remains essential for quality and accuracy.
• AI-powered office software makes it possible to create educational content of various types without switching between different apps. A great example is ONLYOFFICE Docs, an online office suite for text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDF files and diagrams. Its built-in AI assistant allows teachers to connect their favourite AI tools (ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Mistral AI, Claude Sonnet, to name a few) and use their capabilities to create content right in the editor — questionnaires, tests, exercises, infographics, stories and more.

How to create educational content students will love (for marketing and engagement)

Content marketing for education requires different strategies that prioritize accessibility and appeal.

Building trust with students

Authenticity is of paramount importance in educational marketing. Students can quickly spot overly promotional content. That’s why you should focus on providing genuine value through your marketing materials.

Transparency about outcomes, costs and experiences builds trust with prospective students. That’s why sharing both successes and challenges honestly, positioning your institution as a partner in their educational journey rather than just a service provider, might be a good idea.

Higher education content marketing strategies

The following strategies work well for content marketing for education:

• SEO-optimized blog content addressing common student questions can attract organic traffic from people researching educational options.
• Email nurture sequences guide prospects through the decision-making process with relevant content delivered at appropriate intervals. This approach maintains engagement without being overly aggressive.
• Webinar series featuring faculty experts or successful alumni provide high-value content while showcasing institutional strengths. These formats also allow for real-time interaction with prospective students.
• Partnership content with industry leaders or other educational institutions can expand your reach while providing additional value to your audience.

Social media and TikTok

Short-form video content works particularly well for capturing attention and explaining concepts quickly. TikTok’s algorithm can help educational content reach students who might not actively seek out your institution. This is what might work:

• Behind-the-scenes content showing campus life, research activities or faculty personalities humanizes your institution and creates emotional connections with prospects.
• User-generated content campaigns encourage students to share their experiences using specific hashtags, creating original promotional content.
• Live streaming events like virtual office hours, campus tours or guest lectures provide real-time engagement opportunities that feel more personal than pre-recorded content.

Using AI in education content marketing

For educational content marketing, the following tools with AI come in handy:

• Website and social media chatbots can qualify leads and answer basic questions, providing immediate responses that improve user experience.
• Predictive analytics tools help identify which prospective students are most likely to enroll, allowing for more targeted and efficient marketing efforts.
• Content optimization tools make it possible to create content for the target audience.
• AI-powered office suites, like ONLYOFFICE Docs, allow marketing teams in universities to collaborate on articles, blog posts, promotional materials and other types of educational content in real time. Various co-editing modes, version history, comments, flexible access permissions and other collaboration features make this process easier, while the integrated AI assistants can help marketing specialists improve their writing, create new text content and optimize it for SEO purposes directly in their documents.

Bringing it together: a unified educational content strategy

Effective educational content, regardless of its primary purpose, always starts with understanding your audience’s needs, challenges and goals. Whether you’re helping current students master calculus or showing prospects why your program is right for them, success comes from genuinely caring about their experience and outcomes. The key secret lies in creating content that provides real value, respects your audience’s time and needs, and helps them achieve their goals.

No matter what kind of content you usually work on, the right software tools can make things easier. ONLYOFFICE Docs is an ideal choice for both teachers creating learning materials and marketing professionals preparing informational resources for their educational centre. This open-source office suite easily integrates into any modern LMS, such as Moodle and Chamilo, and provides educators and marketers with a full set of editing and formatting tools to create whatever they need:

• step-by-step tutorials and practice exercises in text documents;
• questionnaires and assignments in fillable PDF forms;
• reports and data analysis in spreadsheets;
• informative slides in presentations;
• infographics and visual data representation in diagrams;
• e-books and more.

The built-in collaboration tools in ONLYOFFICE Docs, such as version history, two-coediting modes, audio and video calls via third-party plugins, comments, user mentions and chatting, make the process of content creation easier and less time-consuming as several educators can simultaneously work on the same file from different locations.

Finally, ONLYOFFICE Docs lets educators and marketing professionals use their favourite AI tools while creating educational content. Compatible with all popular AI chatbots and even with local models, the ONLYOFFICE AI plugin can simplify routine tasks, such as grammar checking and SEO optimization, allowing for more creativity.

Try ONLYOFFICE office suite and create learning materials for your students or promotional content for your educational institution online by creating a free DocSpace account or offline by downloading the free desktop app for Windows, Linux and macOS:

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