There are many challenges that can affect the success of your e-learning. Whether you’re battling with budget cuts, or struggling to find the right software to deliver many different types of training materials, here are some things to consider and suggestions for how to elevate your learning and development in 2022.
Boring subject matter
Not all topics were made equal. Yes, some subjects naturally lend themselves better to online learning due to their “interactive” nature, however, this doesn’t mean all of the “necessary” training has to be static, one-dimensional and delivered in a bland way.
For example, social learning is a great way to turn an ordinarily boring subject into a more interesting topic, as well as being able to get instant feedback from your learners. You can then assess whether they are responding to a topic in the way that you hoped, and combined with detailed insights and analytics, you will have live feedback on what’s working and what’s not.
In addition, giving more control to your learners and letting them dictate the content they want to see – if they want to see it, it won’t be boring to them – you will find generates higher engagement across the content you are putting out.
Low engagement rates
Keeping your audience engaged has, and probably always will be, one of the biggest challenges facing L&D managers.
We live in a world where, as Bo Burnam put it, we have “a little bit of everything, all of the time.” When it comes to learning in this digital age, you’re in a constant fight for your learners’ attention, and that can lead to some pretty low engagement rates if your content doesn’t cut the mustard, because, as the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink.
But why, sometimes, does your content miss the mark with your learners, despite how much time you’ve spent curating it and how interesting you think it is? Because the subjects, formats and durations that might be interesting to you, may not be to someone else.
How can you combat this, then? Simple. Give your learners a learning platform they actually want to use filled with relevant learning content they actually want to consume and in a format that works for them! And to make sure you keep your learners engaged, keep this content constantly updated and in-tune with the changing demands and behaviours of your learners (hint: there’s tech that can do all of this for you).
Knowing what tech is worth implementing
It seems that every other week there is a new piece of technology that promises to be the “game-changing” invention that will transform your learning. In reality, most are redressed versions of old ideas, or clever marketing for a product that doesn’t actually deliver what they claim it will, or in the way suggested.
By keeping an open dialogue with your staff, you’ll naturally have a better understanding of any technological gaps in your business and their learning so you can be confident that the challenge you’re trying to solve is best done with technology.
It’s always good practice, though, to keep your eye on the future, so you can make sure that when the truly ground-breaking inventions come along, you’re ready to pounce.
Tight budget
Champagne lifestyle, lemonade budget can often be a necessary approach as budgets are squeezed and businesses look to make efficiencies. And departments such as marketing and training are often those most heavily impacted when this happens. It doesn’t help, then, that finding a learning platform with flexible pricing that gives true value for money, and that you can try-before-you-buy, is something of a rarity.
Designing different courses for different generations or demographics
Anyone who works in L&D, HR or manages staff will likely have an idea of how difficult it can be to get your whole workforce on the same page. Whether it be knowledge level, job role, age, gender, personality, or a myriad of other nuances between us all as people, our individual differences, preferences and circumstances all affect our own unique learning style.
It makes sense then, that no one method of learning will fit every person. There will only be one result from treating all your learners the same way: failure. The solution? Personalised learning tailored to meet the specific needs and desires of each individual learner. Sounds easy and obvious, right?
Summary
Many of the challenges facing e-learning professionals are long-standing, and won’t be solved overnight. But understanding the specifics of “why” for your individual business will greatly help you to be able to start identifying possible solutions.
Speaking of solutions, wouldn’t it be great if there was a modern, forward-thinking tool that could tackle the issues above of engaging learning content, in various formats, personalised to each individual learner, presented in a modern, easy-to-use platform with a flexible, affordable price? There is! Thirst.io launching January 2022. Register your interest now, and be the first to trial Thirst, for free, in January.
