Online learning is the new norm for acquiring new skills. Be it a student wanting to understand a concept better, a baker trying to learn a new recipe, or an employee wanting to grow in their career – online courses provide a rich learning experience regardless of the learner’s location.
It is now easier than ever to create engaging online courses with the help of eLearning authoring tools. These courses can then be deployed and delivered through Learning Management System(LMS). A LMS not only makes it easy to manage the online courses but also helps in tracking learner progress.
A lot of business owners feel LMSs are a huge investment. The truth is, in fact, quite the opposite. You can easily find various LMS options in your budget with just basic research.
Despite the ease of creation, there are still many courses that fail to deliver what learners need and do not make the expected impact. With this article, we aim to help you enhance the effectiveness of your online learning program and take it up a notch. Read on to find out how.
1. Know your audience
Without knowing your audience’s learning objectives, it’s pointless to create a course for fulfilling those objectives. No matter how much time you put into developing the course, it won’t be effective if it’s not relevant for your audience.
Make sure to research well and seek learner feedback on what they need to learn. Your course structure should be in alignment with their learning goals. Moreover, it should fill gaps that other course creators are not able to fill.
2. Make them visual
The courses built solely on text are never going to appeal to any audience. Make use of infographics, videos, animation, etc to make the course more lively and visual.
Visual elements help them in understanding the concepts better without investing hours reading about a concept. This helps in enhancing learner engagement as they are able to connect better with it.
3. Make it visually consistent
When an online course has a clear and consistent structure, it becomes easy for learners to navigate through the course material. Consistency in design can provide your course an effective navigational structure.
Visual consistency makes an online course look professional. It also makes learners feel familiar with the course and helps them feel comfortable while learning from it. This boosts the adoption and effectiveness of the course.
4. Don’t beat around the bush
When L&D pros have a wealth of information and include it all in the course, it can make the course a snoozefest. Putting too much vague information in an online learning program can reduce its effectiveness.
Research well and include only those parts that are relevant to the learner. The content should be well tied in together and provide the learner a simplified learning solution. It should be on-point and explain concepts without beating around the bush.
5. Create micro-modules
Online learning modules should be structured in a way that is easy to consume. They should be focused on one topic at a time to ensure the learner stays engaged.
The content should be crisp and delivered in short bursts keeping in mind the attention span of the learner. Such short modules are called micro-modules and can be consumed during breaks or transit times, increasing the adoption of the course.
6. Provide multilingual support
A multilingual course is very effective in capturing the interest of learners with different native languages. It makes it easy for them to consume content by selecting a language they are comfortable with within the LMS.
Multilingual support leads to a better understanding of concepts and high retention of information. By removing language barriers, you can prevent learners from getting stuck on any topic.
7. Host live webinars
One of the best ways to enhance the impact of an online course is to host live webinars with subject matter experts. It allows learners to discuss the course and get clarity of difficult topics.
Through live webinars, learners get to ask questions and share their opinions with a live audience. This not only leads to the repetition of content but also creates a sense of community.
8. Connect with your audience
People usually remember stuff that they can easily relate to. This makes it vital for online course creators to use relatable real-life scenarios to explain the concepts.
Using storytelling to elaborate on a topic helps in capturing the learner’s attention and drills the message more powerfully. You can use animated graphics to recite these stories as they are powerful in relaying the message.
9. Make it mobile-compatible
An online course that can be accessed on a mobile device becomes more accessible than a course that can only be accessed on a computer. Today, almost everyone possesses a smartphone. This makes it easier for them to log in to the course on their phone and start learning.
Using responsive design, you can ensure your course looks as good on a mobile screen as on a computer. This enhances the overall learning experience of the learner. It also gives them the flexibility to learn on the go.
10. Use gamification
A very efficient way to elevate the online training experience is to make use of game-like mechanics to deliver learning. With elements like badges, reward points, leaderboards, etc the online learning programs become more appealing.
With the help of gamification-based learning, you can foster collaboration between- learners. This leads to a better understanding of concepts. It also encourages innovation and allows learners to think of out-of-the-box solutions.
Conclusion
With everyone migrating towards online learning, it has become necessary to provide learning solutions that are relevant and engaging. Online courses help in providing a variety of learning elements with a mix of text, audio, and visuals. This makes it a really powerful learning medium. Keeping in mind the above-mentioned tips will help you enhance the effectiveness of your online course.