Low course engagement is the culprit behind one of the main issues faced by course-creators which is high attrition or churn rate which means people leave the course without even completing it most of the time.
We have already talked about making constructing a successful course here. In this article, we will be providing our recommendations based on the course structure and its different features.
Story Telling
We all have seen the pictures of drawings in ancient caves, through which early humans used to learn and teach.
AARON BARTH (President of Dialectic) also views that storytelling accelerates the time required to get expertise on a given task as it stimulates the way, we learn through experience. It also makes the process easy to understand in a fun way. Teaching with scenarios and examples makes it easy to learn complex problems.
Storytelling enhances the learning experience as well as builds a personal connection.
When your story has a character whose needs, wants, problems and desires are the same as your learner, the learner can feel a bond with that character and realizes that you actually know your students and their aspirations.
That is why, your character should not be a perfect, unbelievable personality. Rather, it should be more relatable to your real-life students.
Include Video
A direct video lesson is far better than a presentation with a voice-over. It is easier to make presentations on PowerPoint or Keynote with your audio. It may work for a short time but it is recommended for an entire lengthy course.
If you are camera-shy or low on budget, you may find it strenuous to record a video but believe us, it works much better.
Through video lessons, students feel they are in direct contact with their teacher/ coach. If you turn them into mere spectators of your presentations, they are more likely to indulge in something else.
You may have awesome course content, but how you deliver it really matters. Some people can generate double the revenue just by going from audio to video.
Even if you do not have the budget for highly professional video making, a simple, clear video can also do the job for you. Using a tripod and microphone which hardly cost $50, you can make fine videos with your smartphone.
Use Interactive Tools
Learning Management Systems like Learndash offer multiple tools to enhance the interaction of the students with the course content.
A simple quiz at the end of each lesson can help to clarify any doubts and revise the learning. Similarly, you can add a progress bar showing the completion rate of each lesson as well.
Providing badges and scores at the end of quizzes also helps to boost course engagement. The availability of auto responders also assists in gaining the attention of the learners.
If a person has not logged in for several days, a personalized email is sent asking about how they are doing. After 14 days, an email is sent to the administrator as well. If you are using the drip-feed technique, these email sequences can be designed to inform the students about the availability of the next lesson as well.
Go Live
There is nothing better than a live Q&A session to boost the morale of your students. Use your social media platforms to do these live sessions and make sure to inform the students about these sessions and request them to join. Answer their ambiguities and problems if they have any.
Some course providers go to the extent where they do a live classroom every day as it helps a lot to boost students’ course engagement and build a personal connection with them.
You can also do a live session at the end of the lesson to answer queries of learners, which are moving to the next lesson.
Community Thrives
A learning community is an integral part of a thriving learning process. You can include the community feature in your LMS using BuddyPress, which is used by many membership sites as well.
You can simply include a discussion forum where students can ask each other or provide their opinions. Another way is to include all the students in a Facebook group.
There are many successful course sellers, who started just by creating a Facebook group for general discussions and to provide valuable advice. Later users asked them to provide courses for structured learning and they successfully did it because they actually wanted to help and build a community to solve each other’s problems.
In normal classroom settings, students often make study groups connect and talk about the lessons. You can provide the same experience by creating a breakout room in zoom where students can discuss things after each lesson.
Diverse Content
There is not just a single type of human. Some people like to read articles, while others find videos more engaging. Some may want to see more presentations and chat box communications while others may prefer live sessions. Try to provide multiple types of content to engage each type of learner in your course while delivering the optimum level of comfort, expertise and assistance.
Short Learning Modules:
We have been wrongly convinced by traditional classroom settings that a 45 to 60 min class is necessary for seeking attention. Research has now shown that the average attention span is around 20 minutes. In the case of online learning, it is more difficult to retain attention as students have a close button.
If the content is too boring or too lengthy, they will just close the tab and engage in something else.
We suggest keeping your lessons short, not more than 15 minutes. Some may go for a bit longer while some may keep it shorter. The actual thing is to divide the whole module into smaller chunks to make it more appealing and increasing your course engagement.
Increased Course Engagement and Lower Churn Rate
Students’ course engagement leads to greater course success and a lower churn rate. Even if the course content is great, its delivery and structure can have a huge impact on your revenue. Just by altering a few things, you can double your profit. Give us a thumbs up if you have applied our tips in your online course.
