The traditional face-to-face college course is a cohort-based course and has a fixed number of students who progress together to complete the course, and they're led by an instructor who guides them and provides feedback and assessments.
Online courses are very similar. The only difference is that there are more ways to communicate with each other, since you're working in an online environment and the students may be working together for one class or a series of classes.
The main characteristics of instructor-led cohort-based courses include the following:
A common start and end date
A fixed timeline that keeps all students working together
Communication with the instructor, who provides guidance and feedback
Student interaction and collaboration, with a focus on communication
Assessments with instructor guidance and feedback
It is an interesting fact that most online courses in U.S. higher education are cohort based, and they are regularly...