Course Completion Rates
When you put together a training programme for a client, the success of that programme comes down to the completion rates of their employees, particularly for eLearning.
With attention spans becoming shorter than ever, how do you ensure that your learners are getting what they need from your course before clicking away?
1. Make it personal
Learners are more likely to disengage from the educational process if they feel like they are only engaging with a machine.
If a lot of your courses are delivered virtually, this is a particular problem you’ll probably want to avoid.
That’s where incorporating personality and personalisation into your training programmes comes it.
This can come in the form of providing learners with recommendations, links and resources to further solidify their learned based on where they are in the process. Training is not a one-size fits all exercise, and when you demonstrate that you are actively interested in that learners progress, they’re much more likely to continue with the training.
2. Offer mobile support
It’s no secret that everyone has a smartphone these days. And your learners will too.
If you offer online training or an electronic space for learning – make sure it is accessible from a cellphone or a tablet.
By offering this kind of flexibility, learners can work your training into their busy everyday lives more easily, therefore increasing their likelihood of engaging.
3. Gamify their learning
Creating a bit of competition in the classroom can be just the thing your learners need to really get stuck in to their course.
A really easy way of doing this is to create leaderboards for each of your classes.
Not only does this allow your learners to tap into their competitive spirit, it also offers than a visual representation of where they are in terms of others and the progress they’re making.
Leaderboards may be the key to giving students a much-needed kick to move them closer to their goal and give them the motivation they need to engage and complete key elements of their course.
It is worth noting that doing this doesn’t always hit the spot for all of your learners, but there are a huge variety of ways that you can gamify your content without creating bad feeling or a too serious sense of competition.
4. Community counts
Communities of learning boost accountability and make your learners feel that are a part of something bigger.
By setting up forums for your learners and introducing an element of collaboration, students can share their experiences, successes and challenges in a safe and supportive space.
By doing this you can also encourage a sense of peer assessment, where your learners reach out to one another for support and teach each other.
Communities can be formed both on and offline, and in sharing their journeys and pooling their knowledge, students are much more likely to complete their courses and not go AWOL.
5. Answer questions
Q&A sessions are effective in allowing you to engage with your learners and encourage them to engage with your training content.
The key to an effective Q&A session is to keep it informal and assure all of those partaking that they can share their honest thoughts and feelings without consequence.
This may highlight aspects of the course that aren’t working so well and allow you to adjust. Or show you where a lot of your students may be struggling when it comes to the content.
Q&A sessions also feed into allowing you to reflect on your sessions and shows your learners that you’re invested in their progress, and willing to listen to them.
6. Offer rewards
We all like working to a target or achieving an incentive, and your learners are no exception.
Chunk up your training courses into smaller segments and set clear goals for your students. Tying a reward to each goal, no matter how big or small, can be incredibly motivating and allow them to really understand when a target has been reached.
Rewards make their learning and progress tangible, as well as re-inforcing positive behaviours.
Of course, this tip is entirely dependent on you having the ability to offer rewards, however, this could be something as simple as a half-day or promising the class that they can partake in an activity they enjoy when the goal has been reached. Just be sure that the rewards don’t become the be all and end all to your courses – this can detract from the process of learning.
So there you have it, 6 easy steps to boost your engagement and completion rates. Like anything, these tips aren’t a one size fits all solution and you know your classes and your platforms better than anyone. But by deploying just a few of this tips it’s entirely possible that you can start to see better results in the future.
