How To Boost Online Course Success Rates With 4 Easy Steps

Apr 13, 2022

Averagely, just 5-15% of students complete an entire course. These four tactics can help increase the number of students who complete your class, turning students into enthusiastic supporters.

If you're able to come up with a few ideas and a willingness to roll up your sleeves you've successfully created and launched your first class. You see the student enrolment increasing and you feels well... until you realize that only a handful of students successfully complete the course.

As disappointing as this may be, don't worry, you're not alone.

Completion rates for any kind of online courses, from learning an art called clowning, to earning a degree at Columbia University, are low. A very low percentage. Averagely, between 5 and 15 percentage of students successfully complete an entire course.

There are lots of reasons why students may not complete the course. For example:

  • The course may be long, difficult or perhaps too simple
  • Students are too busy and forgot about it
  • Students got what they needed within a few modules
  • They aren't able to comprehend the instructions
  • The benefit of taking the entire course isn't obvious enough

Students who don't complete your class aren't likely to enroll in another of your classes. Worse, they're more likely to ask for the refund, and then write an unsatisfactory evaluation.

On the flip side, students who complete the course are likely to recommend your course to a friend, take an additional course, give positive feedback and leave an overwhelmingly positive review. Each of these results helps you grow and nurture your business.

What can you do to improve your rate of completion? It's much simpler than you think!

  In this piece we will share 4 strategies that you can implement quickly to increase the number of students that complete your class, turning them to raving fans.  

Invite your students collaborate in groups

If you allow your students to join teams, the results are amazing. But don't believe us. it. Based on research, students with this experience are five times more engaged and 16 times more likely to successfully complete the course online. That's right. Sixteen times! Additionally, they form meaningful connections with their peers and hold one another accountable, creating a supportive environment throughout.

Here's an example of this live with instructor Tracy Phillips from Video Script Success.

Once students have been in her class, Tracy invites them to the "Video Playground" where they get to meet each other and form groups. Students ask each other questions and give constructive feedback to assignments along the way. They're also not just learning better, but they're building relationships that will outlast the course in the end.

By encouraging students to interact and help the other students, Tracy has achieved a astounding 80% success rate, which is practically unheard-of!

Tracy Phillips Example

Make it more mysterious with drip content

The famous film director JJ Abrams once said "Mystery is more valuable than knowing." Believe it or that, the same principle applies to online courses.

When an online course immediately provides students with access to all materials, such as worksheets, videos, downloads as well as assignments Students may be confused or believe that the materials are all important lessons from the course. Additionally, there are lots of students who will start a course, and then never remember they were registered for it.

Dripping course content can be an effective method when it comes to increasing course completion rates. Instead of releasing all the material at once, you can lock the course content and then unlock it in accordance with the degree of completion. In the end, students are feeling FOMO about the lessons that they haven't unlocked yet, and have greater motivation to get through "just one more class" in order to get to the next and another until they're all done!

Create a custom video to motivate students

The idea of sending your students a welcoming video as well as a sequence of check-in video is a fantastic way to build a sense of the community, and increase their enthusiasm to take on the challenge. By using the Bonjoro software, course instructors are able to easily deliver personalized videos straight to their students' inboxes within minutes.

The procedure is easy Once a course designer installs Bonjoro, their Bonjoro dashboard will show a list of their students. You can select which they would like to send a short greeting or motivational video to or perhaps give it to a different member of their team for some friendly competition on seeing which student is the most supportive. Within the Bonjoro dashboard, course creators create a video of themselves sending a short inspirational message, and the video is instantly sent to the student. Students may then respond via text or video to the creator's message.

The idea of sending a Bonjoro is an ideal opportunity to encourage and reward students at important moments so that they can complete the course and leave that glowing review you're dreaming of! (Plus Bonjorospan customers can get 15% off)% off Bonjoro ).

Use learning enablement tools to help students

If a student begins taking an online course, they're highly motivated. But the truth is that a lot of students might not be equipped with adequate tools that will help them achieve success. Unorganized notespads or multiple windows will only result in a distraction during learning, reducing the likelihood that they'll complete a course.

Beastnotes, a note taking tool designed specifically for instructors and their students, is a powerful asset for increasing the rate of completion for courses. This seamless application overlays right on top of a video course for students to keep track of their notes and information they want to retain.

Course creators are also able to create notebook templates for students to use. This way, the instructor gives students an extra leg up for taking clear and helpful notes that students can use frequently for the future.

Wrapping Up

With the four tactics above it is possible to be sure that you're making sure that your students are engaged, supported and enthused during their educational journey. Remember, don't be afraid to try something different! Your students are the best. If you're already soliciting feedback from them along the way, make sure that you fully understand the context they're referring to and do not be afraid to speak to them one-on one to learn more.

      Do these strategies help you? Share with a co-creator of your course!