Online education can only be effective once completed. Unfortunately, there is a high drop-off rate for online courses. According to Seth Godin, there is an 80% drop-off rate on his courses on Udemy and Skillshare. That means students are unable to complete the courses that they have applied to. Despite the increase in the registration for online classes, a huge bulk of students are unable to complete it. Without completion, we can hardly call elearning successful.
But what exactly is the reason for these drop-offs? More importantly, how can we encourage students to complete the elearning courses they have registered for?
There are many reasons why students fail to complete their online education but it all boils down to the learning experience. You need to provide students with an enjoyable, entertaining, and engaging experience while they are learning so they will stick to completing it.
There are two tips that you can use to ensure that students will stick around to complete the elearning course.
Be clear with expectations by preparing the students
First of all, you have to set things straight so students know what to expect. You need to be clear about the expectations to avoid disappointing them. Sometimes, students start okay but they lose interest because the lesson was not what they thought it would be. This is why you need to make sure that you prepare the students before the lesson starts.
So how can this be done? There are several ways for you to make this happen.
You can start by providing a clear description of what the course is all about. And try not to provide details that are prone to misinterpretation. It is also a good idea to highlight the value of the course. Will it help solve a problem and improve the daily lives of the students? Or is it a prerequisite for another online education that they need to take in the future? If students are aware of the value of the course for future use, it will motivate them to complete the course.
It is also a good idea to tell specific details like the length of the course. Sometimes, when the student is uncertain of how long the lesson will take, they start to feel uneasy. It can compromise the learning experience.
Provide guidance and pay attention to the needs of every student
At the start of the course, you have to take advantage of an orientation. This is when you are discussing the expectations of the students and making clarifications before the lesson actually begins. It is also where you will give the general directions and the rules that they have to follow while taking the course. Be clear about what your role is and that of the students. Sometimes, they rely too much on the instructor but in fact, they are expected to be more proactive with the learning experience.
During the course, you also have to make sure you can monitor what the students are going through. Make sure you have set up a tech support that can address difficulties that students might encounter. If they cannot solve these technical difficulties, it might make them give up on the whole course altogether. You have to monitor the comments of the students so they can feel that you are paying attention to them. Having a comment section can be very useful here.
You should also be careful to keep the students from feeling too overwhelmed. Give them enough breaks and time for reflection. This will help refresh their mind in time for a new set of lessons. Not only that, you have to make assessments manageable too. If it is long, you have to give them enough time to complete it.
Follow these two tips so you can ensure that the online education will be completed by every student. This will help make the course successful and improve the learning experience of the students.
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