Ten Tips for Getting Learners to Take E-Courses
By Saul Carliner

Organizations need to invest in multiple tactics to realize an increase in usage in e-learning. A manufacturer developed an e-learning course to provide compliance training for its 2000 employees—and free up its trainers for other, more critical, projects. But no one used the courses.

This organization is not alone. One of the persistent problems with e-learning is getting people to actually use it. The problem arises whether the courses are off-the-shelf or custom-created or intended for voluntary use or mandatory for your organization.

But the manufacturer who developed the little-used course should not have been surprised by the situation. When asked, “What did you do to promote it?” the training manager’s face fell a bit, and replied, “Maybe that’s why no one used it.”

Anyone who has experience with traditional classroom courses knows that they require extensive promotion and a bit of arm-twisting to get people to attend, so why should e-learning require any less promotion?

Some might think that the any-time, any-where convenience of e-learning should promote usage. However, as with most resources that offer such convenience, e-learning—like so many things—can be easily postponed because users know they can take it whenever they want.

So what can e-learning specialists do to encourage learners to take courses sooner rather than later? Following are ten tips culled from the experience of others facing the same challenge.

Tip 1: Help learners select courses

In many organizations, the e-learning library primarily consists of a large number of off-the-shelf courses that learners can take voluntarily. In such instances, the variety actually deters learners. Rather than seeing choices specifically tailored to their needs, learners see a long list of courses and feel overwhelmed about which one to use.

Managers can address this problem by providing learners with an online tool to help them choose courses. The tool could be a series of questions that asks prospective learners about their skills or preferences and, based on the responses, the system might recommend a path through the curriculum.

Developers may structure this tool similar to a traditional pre-assessment that is used to identify the learner’s current skill level. Or the tool might be structured more like a Cosmo Quiz—a fun quiz that assesses learners’ interests and suggests courses that address those interests.

Tip 2: Provide a tool for rating and recommending courses

E-Learning sites might consider adding a way for learners to rate and recommend courses. The feature would work something like Amazon’s recommendation tool, “People who bought this book also bought ….“ These recommendations could help learners work their way through the labyrinth of choices available.

Tip 3: Offer a certificate or certification

Market research for e-learning has found that learners are more likely to complete courses when they perceive that they will receive some sort of tangible reward in the end. For many, this tangible reward is a certificate or certification, such as certification to provide support on a particular piece of software or certification in project management.

A certificate program is a certificate of achievement, and usually certifies class attendance. Certification programs involve not only attendance, but also successful completion of a rigorous and validated certification examination. A validated examination is one that has been assessed, and has learners demonstrate for course administrators that they comprehend the test questions in the manner the instructors intended and that the questions are rooted in the course material.

Adapting this idea, organizations might group several related courses—perhaps three to 15—and create their own certificate programs. For example, by grouping several e-learning courses on a particular database program, an employer might offer a certificate program in that program, or might group together seven courses on particular types of business communication to offer a certificate in business communication. A typical certificate program involves between 15 and 40 hours of instruction.

In addition, organizations can award certificates to learners through their managers. That is, the certificates would be sent to managers to present to learners, rather than learners merely printing out the certificates upon course completion. By adding this step into the process, learners are aware that their achievement is known to management. More important, this process prompts managers to initiate an all-important conversation about the learning experience with their workers.

This takes away from the anonymity that is characteristic of much e-learning, and the recognition provides learners with an added benefit to learning on their own.

Tip 4: Offer a “frequent learner program”

Airlines and retailers have learned that loyalty programs, like frequent flyer and frequent shopper programs through which participants collect points and redeem them for rewards, typically increase usage of their products and brands. Some organizations are finding that similar programs for e-learning are increasing its use.

For example, learners could receive benefits like free Starbuck’s cards and other gift certificates for completing a certain number of e-courses.

Tip 5: Offer rewards to managers who support e-learning

Don't just reward learners for e-learning; also reward managers who promote e-learning to their workers. For example, after a certain number of employees complete e-learning or after their staff completes a particular threshold (perhaps 100 hours), provide that manager with an award. The award might be a certificate or something more tangible like a Starbuck’s gift certificate.

To help managers promote e-learning, provide an easy means for them to recommend e-courses to employees. For instance, encourage managers to recommend e-courses for developmental purposes in employee development plans and performance plans. To ensure that managers are aware of how to do this effectively, provide them with guidance in initial supervisory training and ongoing reminders through management meetings, newsletters, or email.

These conversations on career development and performance are crucial opportunities to promote e-courses because employees are at their most receptive to developmental suggestions. As a result, employees might be more motivated to learn about and take the courses than they might be at other times.

Tip 6: Develop an online ad or guided tour

Because some managers and learners are still uncomfortable with e-learning, tools to ease anxiety are required. One such tool is a brief advertisement—or guided tour—that shows what e-learning is, explains how it can benefit learners, and builds comfort with the ease of e-learning systems.

Quick online overviews or advertisements with the primary goal is to build awareness are typically called “guided tours,” and are common in software applications. For example, users can take guided tours of most Microsoft Office products, as well as a guided tour that shows the highlights of a new edition of the software. Similarly, Blogger.com offers a short guided tour to introduce potential users to the concept of a blog. These guided tours are offered online, and usually produced with a bit of panache (such as animation in Flash) to gain and maintain the attention of potential learners.

For a guided tour to maximize its benefits, it needs to have these characteristics:

• Be brief. Learners often have short attention spans online and have no more than five minutes to devote to this sort of activity.
• Focus on study habits, rather than on use of the e-learning software. That is, the guided tour should focus on issues like blocking out a particular time period to study and making sure to study in a quiet space, rather than issues on how to use the course. The course itself should be intuitive to use—and if it is not, many learners will likely drop out without returning.

To get learners to take this guided tour, send its link in an email message to people and advertise its availability on the e-learning website in your organization.

Tip 7: Offer live demos

One way to both promote e-learning and build learners’ comfort level is by offering open demonstrations within the organization. For example, organizations with a significantly sized lobby or cafeteria can offer demos of e-learning in one or both of those places. In smaller organizations, offer free demos in a meeting room over the lunch hour or coffee breaks.

In addition to offering course demos, also provide employees with information about the e-learning that is tailored to their needs, such as “Courses to Help System Programmers Maintain their Technical Edge,” and “Ten Must-Take E-Courses for Management-Bound Employees.”

Because people work varying schedules, do not rely on a single demonstration to make awareness. You might consider offering the demo for a one- or two-week period to increase the likelihood that all employees will have an opportunity to be exposed to the demonstration.

Tip 8: Promote e-courses in organizational communications

Publish news about e-learning in employee print-based newsletters and magazines, e-newsletters and webzines, and your company intranet. Some examples:

• Publish a highlight on one or a series of courses in a short article.
• Publish interviews with successful e-learners who have completed the courses and used them on the job.
• Publish announcements of new courses.
• Publish announcements about awards for your custom e-courses and recognition of your e-learning staff.

Because people are bombarded with increasing quantities of information, sustain this news campaign for at least three months before tapering it off in order to provide everyone an opportunity to see something about e-learning. Then, renew the campaign after a period of time (perhaps six to nine months), when employees are likely to have forgotten about the e-learning.

Tip 9: Provide excellent learner support

More than publicity, an excellent learning experience is likely to ensure that a one-time e-learner becomes a frequent e-learner—and tells his or her colleagues about the positive experience.

Positive learner support involves one or more of the following measures:

• adequate time on the job to participate for e-learning (time without interruptions and that management supports)
• availability of tutors who can answer questions about the content on a timely basis, as well as contact learners who have registered for an e-course but have not finished it
• availability of technical support staff to ensure that learners technical problems do not interfere with the learning experience
• excellent communication of the availability of tutors and support staff
• availability of beverages, pens, paper, and other complimentary supplies that make the learner feel supported
• appropriate space for e-learning that allows learners to concentrate on the course, rather than interruptions and annoyances. This might merely involve providing learners with headsets to tune out ambient noise or an organization might need to create a Learning Center, which is a quiet place where people can take e-learning courses.

Tip 10: Use more than one technique to engage learners

Because each organization has a unique set of issues, each organization requires a unique mix of tactics to increase the usage of its e-learning. For some, promotion and incentives might do the trick; for others, promotion and customer care might offer the magic combination. What is certain is that each organization needs to invest in multiple tactics to realize an increase in usage in e-learning.

Reprinted from Learning Circuits

Saul Carliner is an associate professor with the Graduate Program in Educational Technology at Concordia University in Montreal. He has written several books on e-learning, including the upcoming E-Learning Handbook (with Patti Shank) and ASTD's Designing E-Learning. Contact him at saulcarliner@gmail.com.