3 strategies to drive learner engagement
Written by: Brian Prentice, Director, Digital Learning
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Expectations for digital learning experiences are high, but the attention spans of learners are short. Keeping learners engaged and inspired while customizing courses to fit your company’s needs is an important aspect of learning, but you need more than that to keep learners interested.
Here are three strategies to keep learners engaged.
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Act on data
Data helps inform decisions in every aspect of business, and learning is no different. Your learning platform should help you understand how users are interacting with the courses and content. It should also show where you can implement changes for the benefit of your users.
BI WORLDWIDE partners with a major automotive company to help them ensure their employees are completing their training and verifying their competencies. They created their training modules in our proprietary Chameleon platform, and data from the analytics dashboard shows the client when employees are taking courses. The client uses this improved data and works with BIW to send targeted emails and mission-based assignments to encourage learners to complete their courses throughout the year.
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Ask for real-time feedback
Feedback is important, and many times, feedback only comes at the end of a learning course or in a follow-up email after the course. But the real magic of feedback comes from receiving it in real time. A learning platform that has an opinion poll or feedback options that allows other participants to see how their peers are answering questions and feeling in the course provides clients with actionable feedback. Instead of having to wait for responses from learners, clients can monitor and collect consolidated feedback to update courses and make changes to improve their course effectiveness.
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Evolve with learners
The way people learn and engage is always changing, so learning platforms need to evolve as well. Sometimes learners don’t want or need a full course to get their learning needs fulfilled. Sometimes what they need is a series of small learning courses over a specific time period. One of BIW’s healthcare clients uses short Chameleon courses to teach their members how to navigate their system and access information. They pair that with the analytics campaign feature that shows them which delivery method is the most effective at driving engagement, and they’re able to use that information to maximize audience reach.
But learners don’t just learn from the courses they take with their companies. Learning happens even after courses are completed. Take a beauty client, for example. They have Chameleon training that teaches trends in makeup application and skincare. Once learners finish the courses, they are encouraged to recreate the trends on their social media using specific hashtags. The learners who post on social media have the opportunity to be selected as a favorite look and receive recognition across the field and earn reward points. The motivation of reward points gets more social media posts and brand recognition for the client, but the learners receive recognition, reward points and an opportunity to learn from each other in the process.
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As learning evolves, strategy needs to evolve with it. By closely tracking data, feedback and learning outcomes, clients are able to adjust their tactics quickly and easily to remain confident in the effectiveness of the program. Continuing to evolve the learning course and strategy alongside the learners will keep them engaged and inspired.
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The best way to get started is to get in touch.
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