Learner engagement starts with a great user experience. To provide a fantastic learner experience, training programs need to meet their learners’ unique needs.
To optimize your training program for learner engagement, ask yourself these questions: What kind of learner are they? What are their goals? Are they low-stakes learners (such as Duolingo participants) or high-stakes learners (for instance, those prepping for a credentialing exam)? By keeping your learners’ needs in mind, you will be able to use the following techniques to improve their experience and raise learner engagement.
Great Content Isn’t Enough
Modern learners are often distracted and great content isn’t enough to keep learners engaged. ProLiteracy, an adult nonprofit literacy organization, found that participants who received reminder text messages attended class 25 percent more often than those who did not.Organizations can also use email to engage learners by sending welcome messages, progress reports and re-engagement offers.
Another strategy to keep learners engaged is to gamify attendance by incorporating digital badging or awarding attendance trophies. Gamification does not need to be complicated to be effective.
Learner Competence Isn’t Enough
Learner confidence is just as important as competency and can be used to improve learner engagement. The more confident a learner is, the more likely they’ll engage. BenchPrep's data shows that learners in the 75th percentile for confidence answered 36 percent more questions than those at the 25th percentile. The top 10 percent of confident learners answered five times as many questions. By spending more time on the platform, more confident users will become more proficient users.By informing learners of their proficiency levels, training platforms can promote learner confidence and help learners focus on any weak areas. Ideally, platforms will create personalized learning plans that readjust assessments based on the learner’s current proficiency level rather than simply tracking errors. The personalized learning plan then provides remediation options for further study. In this way, learners receive psychological wins to promote confidence and keep them engaged and learning.
Personalized Learning Isn’t Enough
Social learning is another important component when it comes to your learning program. When a platform encourages interaction, it leverages social learning and improves learner engagement. Employees with mentors are six times more likely to receive a promotion and 20 percent more likely to receive a raise. These statistics underscore the importance of giving learners the opportunity to interact with a more knowledgeable individual to fully reach their potential.The average discussion participant is 15 percent more active than a non-discussion participant. Learners also engage in the material more deeply when allowed the opportunity to discuss the content with others.
Improve User experience, Improve Learner Engagement
Great content cannot ensure learner engagement because it comes from the user experience. Fortunately, changing user experience is often easier than revising content.Learning management systems (LMSs) often include digital badging, online discussion boards, confidence levels, and more. An LMS can send learners emails, create personal learning pathways, and provide a social learning platform. Once you have these systems in place that improve user experience, you will see a rise in learner engagement. If your existing platform doesn't offer these core functionalities or you're not seeing engagement, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate your platform options.
For more information on this topic, please check out the full webcast.
