Although online learning offers a plethora of opportunities, internet users are experiencing fatigue, which can present a challenge for you and your learners. How do you keep employees engaged and motivated in this climate?
The answer lies in finding the right digital skills provider that focuses on cutting through the noise, offering new ways of learning and developing content that keeps learners engaged.
Are you looking for tips on how to engage the online learner? Let us take you through them.
1. Understand the learner's needs
You’ll never keep employees engaged if the learning isn’t relevant to them. Before you even choose the right digital learning platform, you’ll need to assess the needs and goals of your organization, teams and employees. You can do this by conducting a capability audit.
2. Tailored content...
After that, you’ll be able to provide the learnings relevant to your business goals and employees through tailored content. That’s the beauty of online learning — there are hardly any limits to the topics it covers, whereas in-person learning can be less specific.
The best online learning platforms will work with you to identify your needs and match them with the most appropriate and valuable content, increasing engagement levels in the process.
3. ...That's updated regularly
Learning content is changing all the time, particularly in the digital landscape. To ensure your employees aren’t left behind, your online training content will need updating regularly. That way, learners will always have their finger on the pulse of what’s happening, which is crucial in engaging online learners.
4. Engaging content
No matter how tailored and up-to-date your content is, you’ll never engage your learners if you don’t use the right techniques. Simplifying complex topics, animations, interactive learning and dynamic presenters are crucial to keeping learners interested and engaged.
5. Provide regular feedback
Feedback can be one of the biggest motivators. If learners don’t know how they’re performing, they might lose interest in the program. Build feedback into your L&D strategy, catch up with employees regularly and adjust their training plans accordingly. The more invested you are in their learning journey, the more engaged they will be.
6. Track progress
Similarly, tracking progress can help keep learners engaged and focused on the end goal. Tracking progress can be something as simple as a progress bar on your platform or regular catch-ups with managers or L&D teams. That way, you’ll be able to monitor progress, build a culture focused on learning and ensure your L&D strategies are working as they should.
7. Opportunities for self-assessment
In the same way that feedback can keep learners focused and engaged, so can self-assessment opportunities. Self-assessments give online learners the validation they need to progress, embeds the knowledge and identifies areas where there’s room for improvement.
8. Embed the knowledge
We’ve all experienced training sessions where we haven’t been engaged, the knowledge hasn’t stuck and it’s time and money wasted. The most effective online learning platforms have acknowledged this and focus on embedding the knowledge through follow-up workshops, extra tests and applying learnings to real-life scenarios.
9. Learning that's applicable in real life
To engage online learners, the knowledge needs to apply to their day-to-day roles, offering genuine, measurable value. If the content isn’t relevant to the learner or they can’t see how to use it in real-life scenarios, they’re more likely to switch off and disengage.
10. Gamification
Gamification is one of the biggest trends within the digital learning landscape. Gamification enhances traditional online learning techniques by creating similar experiences to those within games.
11. Ease of access
It’s simple — if the online platform is difficult to navigate, employees are less likely to use it. Consider factors such as LMS integration, translations and co-branding when looking for your digital skills provider. The easier it is for the learner to use it, the less of a chore it will be, increasing engagement.
12. Additional support
Some employees will take to learning better than others and it’s crucial that no one’s left behind. A learning culture will be a big contributor to this and additional support is a big part. As L&D representatives, you should offer support to those who need it, ensuring everyone gets the most out of your online learning program.
At the same time, you might need extra support from your digital training provider. The top platforms will come with dedicated support teams that are always on hand to help you drive your L&D strategies forward and succeed in the future.
Are you committed to improving learner engagement at your organization?
Learner engagement is the key to the success of your L&D goals. Without it, your programs and strategies will never have a meaningful impact on your organization and employees. But why is it so important? And how do you engage learners? Our learner engagement strategies resource page has the answers to these questions and more.
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