E-learning is becoming more popular as technology improves and organizations look for ways to make training easier. One of the biggest challenges with e-learning is increasing completion rates. Although the courses can be available at any time and taken at each person’s pace, many students never finish them.
A course’s success is linked to several factors: Is it of sufficient quality? Is it useful? Is the learning format engaging? Is the content interesting? Is it the right length? Here are some tips to ensure employees actually complete the courses.
Following up
Following up with those who don’t complete the course is just as important as recognizing those who do. Find out why they didn’t complete the training and ask them to commit to a different timeframe. Some students may not realize the importance of completing the training. Knowing that they have your support can be an important motivating factor. In this way, organizations can do a lot to improve the completion rates of the online courses they offer. Completing the course has more to do with how the training is delivered and communicated than anything else.
Gamelearn’s platform, for example, in addition to offering a wide range of training video games, allows companies to monitor students’ progress and see the impact the training has had on them.
Rewarding and recognizing
Recognizing the work of those who have completed the program is essential. Some organizations offer prizes to the first ten people to complete the course, others send out emails to reward them (and inspire others). Whether rewards and recognition are formal or informal, they play an important role in achieving a sense of well-being and promoting good quality work.
Setting aside time on the calendar
Prioritizing online learning can be challenging. It’s easy to forget about it with all of a workday’s competing priorities. Getting students to book time on their calendars is a good way to avoid this. Use email campaigns to ask students to add a reminder to their calendars to complete the course. 100% of people who do this say that it has helped them finish courses on time.
Breaking courses into smaller chunks
A long course can be daunting and difficult to complete. The best way to tackle it is to break it down into smaller blocks with regular deadlines. For example, with a 24-hour certification course, you can break it down on a weekly basis and do three hours per week. Three hours a week seems much more feasible than 24 hours. This provides participants with a plan and a clear path to success. It’s especially important for courses that are longer than five hours.
Communicating
Communication plays an important role in encouraging students to attend courses. Emails with deadlines, plans for the week, and information on the value the training has for the organization can help increase completion rates. Formal communication such as emails, newsletters, and other internal communications, is powerful, but so is informal communication. Mention the importance of training in team meetings. Create communication and encouragement at as many touchpoints as possible. Set a deadline and a path to complete the training. Then, send out reminders to keep the team focused.
Having clear ideas
A basic motivation is essential to successfully complete a training program. Why is it important that the student take the training? Getting participants to start the program by sharing why the training is important to them increases completion rates. In the case of corporate training, the reason may come from the organization’s leadership. For example, a high-level leader may share the importance of the program for the organization and set expectations for the team.
Providing an innovative format
The game-based learning methodology, for example, applied to the business world, is mainly based on serious games. These are video games that aim to improve employees’ and managers’ skills. Gamification offers an attractive, dynamic, and fun course in which we can interact with different environments. Serious games have proven to be the natural evolution of e-learning and a guaranteed success, as they motivate students and make them want to continue their training.
