Because what the f@&k is the point, otherwise? Whether you got into course creation because you thought teaching was a good gig, or you saw course creation as a fast way to make money, or you wanted to transform someone’s life by sharing what you know through courses, or you own a business and you need to train folks who work for you or who are using your product, the learner experience matters.
The better the experience the more likely you are to get good reviews, return learners, and actually make an impact (really why you started down the path right?).
That doesn’t mean that we’re solely responsible for the learner’s experience. Sh*t happens; life gets in the way, they don't actually have the time to take the course, etc. etc.
BUT, we do need to take some responsibility because it impacts their engagement with us, with the content, and with what we want them to learn. A good learner experience is also not just about the content, but also the context, activities, and personalization of the learning journey.
So why does this matter to you? The impact of learner experience on you as a teacher or business owner depends on your goals and objectives, but it can make or break the following impactful areas for your course: Engagement, Value, Expectations, Change, and Reputation.
Engagement.
It feels like a buzzword now, but engagement means they’re showing up, interacting, doing the thing. We all know engagement is good, whether it’s because you need your learners to be able to apply skills, change processes, learn something abstract, or transform - it doesn’t matter. Engagement is crucial and good learner experiences both encourage and come from engagement.
To move out of buzzword land, we need to think about engagement with the content and the application of the content.
Have you ever taken a course that was just a set of boring videos throwing information at you over a slide deck, with a monotone voice to boot? (Yeah, me too.) This is an example of a course without engaging content. And if it’s just videos without some “apply this this way” then it’s also lacking engagement with the application of the information they are supposed to apply.
Sort of like a boring book. Easy to put down and never pick back up again.
Value.
Again, ignore the buzzword-ish feel of this. Learners need to see and feel the value of what you’re trying to teach them. How do we get them to see that value? Through a well designed course that takes their experience into consideration. When learners see the value they’re more likely to engage, to participate, and to apply the things.
A learning experience that hasn’t clearly articulated or asked learners to draw connections between course and the relevance to real life is more difficult to see the value in. Learners are more motivated, and engaged (see previous section) when the learning experience has been designed in a way that makes the importance of each piece of content and each activity clearly threaded to the outcome they want (see the next section).
This is the case for all levels of learning but is even more critical if your learners are adults. Even if the goal isn’t something concrete. It might be some sort of transformation or realization. Regardless of the goal, if it’s not clear how the information and the steps are helping them get there, you’re likely to lose them.
Expectations.
This one is my favorite. It’s what my dissertation was on (in the setting of higher ed first year online writing courses at a community college). If what a learner experiences doesn’t align with their expectations, then you might lose them.
Expectations misalignment can come from a disconnect between the marketing and what’s in the course, it can come from learners bringing in previous terrible experiences (writing and red pens, am I right?), it can simply come from learners trying to map what they’ve done in the past onto what you’re giving.
Misalignments aren’t the end of the world, but knowing what they are so you can prepare your learner for them is important to making any expectation misperception into a fantastic new learning experience.
So make your expectations clear, make sure you know what your learners’ are, and pave the way for a positive experience.
Change.
Learning experiences are initiated for a variety of reasons. Those reasons, though, come down to change. Someone wants to change what they know, how they do something, etc.
Sometimes it’s curiosity (those are the best), but in education (both formal and informal) the trigger is usually a problem. Problems in your business might result in employee training; problems in a client’s personal or business life might result in them buying a course; knowledge builds on itself and so in higher ed students have a foundational problem - they need to get the basics in order to build their own knowledge base (maybe instead here focus on the problem of getting a job).
That new information might be used to embrace new practices, new perspectives, and new ways of doing things. It might result in new skills and processes. It might be about updating for a changing world (AI anyone?). It might be used for personal or cognitive growth or changing the world.
Regardless, learning experiences are initiated for the future - out of a desire to change the future and if your poorly designed experience gets in the way, everyone will end up unhappy.
Reputation.
Yup. I said it. In higher ed, we have course evaluations (or rate my professor and other review type mechanisms) and in the course creation industry there are testimonials (or a lack thereof). Institutions have their own credibility to maintain that often rests on metrics related to accreditation.
In industry, not having employees trained in new systems or processes or up taking new ideas can result in low percentage of customer success.
In the course creation and online services industry, people are more likely to rant about a bad experience and rave about an excellent experience, but if it’s just meh, then that’s not good either.
These things matter to learners. It determines where they put their money, what courses they enroll in, what courses will actually run (in higher education), and a consistently terrible experience and erode reputations in a way they might never recover from.
Certain for profit institutions, that I can’t name because I signed a NDF, are my favorite examples. I don’t need to name them. They screwed students out of money. Big time. They’re so terrible they ruined the reputation of all for profit institutions in higher ed and certain types of accreditation. Don’t be like them.
Threading it together.
These five core areas that impact the success of your learners, your business, and your career hinge on the students' experience. If you’re not taking that experience into consideration, then you’re missing out on making an impact on your students, your industry, and the world.
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