Does engagement matter in e-learning?  ## Metadata - Author: [[Noele Flowers]] - Full Title: Does engagement matter in e-learning? - Category: #articles - Summary: Keep up with the topics and trends you care about, without the overwhelm. Make your research workflow efficient and enjoyable. Experience the power of RSS. - URL: https://feedly.com/i/entry/WPPvDTi6P4Vtn6eGX84%2BkbPQNq5y0BsVLcVcR%2FEhH%2Fo%3D_187bea133fd%3A15f8ce%3Acf23445 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | --- | --- | | | | | --- | | | | | | | | --- | --- | | | | | --- | | Overlaps and differences in thinking about "engagement" for community & e-learning | | | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | --- | --- | | | | | --- | | **Hi Courtney,** Since my career has almost always straddled both community and learning, I often find myself working with clients on e-learning instances as well as communities. Recently, a client I was working with on some online courses asked me to weigh in on the concept of engagement in the context of an online course. They wanted to know: ***what does it mean for learners to be engaged in online learning?** What kinds of formats are "engaging?" And, to what end?* Since talking through this with my client, I've found myself reflecting a lot on these questions, perhaps because **these questions on engagement are a big area of debate within the community industry context** that I've spoken a lot about. This all got me thinking about some of the similarities and differences in how we look at "engagement" within learning and community contexts, and I wanted to share some of those thoughts with you this week. First, let's start with some of the overlaps: just like in the context of community, **we should be wary of evaluating "engagement for engagement's sake" in a learning context**. If learners are finishing courses or watching to the end of videos, that's engagement—but, so what? As in the case of community, e-learning projects are stronger when project owners have a clear picture of a **secondary business outcome** they're trying to accomplish with the project. Is the hope that the learning experience will deflect support tickets? Impact customer retention? Or, is the learning product paid, and the hope is that course completions will enable additional course purchases or satisfaction leading to referrals? Whatever the outcome you're driving toward, just as in communities, it's important to be able to draw a logical relationship between engagement and the bottom line metric you're trying to impact. But, despite these considerable overlaps, there are a couple of places where how I think about engagement in a learning context differs from how I think about engagement in a community context. First, I find myself pretty staunchly feeling that **if you're not trying to get learners to acquire and retain information or skills—things that do require engagement—courses are not the right content format**. There are many other content formats that are appropriate for simply conveying information. Those keen to create online courses should consider—if course completion and engagement do not tangibly connect to a business outcome for you, are courses truly the right format, or would another suffice? Second, I find that in community settings I'm comfortable with a much wider array of engagement types with lots of fluidly between them, whereas in courses, I'd be measuring engagement against much more singular parameters. In communities, like in ecosystems, it's healthy and typical for some members to engage on a very low level and still get value. I expect to see a distribution between lurkers and superusers, and I don't necessarily see those groups as getting more or less value than each other. However, in courses, because engagement correlates with progress toward the desired outcome, this is not the case. **Course designers should be looking for patterns in where engagement is dropping off** (videos? a certain lesson in the course? project completions?) and aim to bolster engagement in those areas to uniformly raise course completion as much as possible. | | | | | | --- | --- | | | | | --- | | If you're running both courses and communities, I'd love to hear how you think about engagement in each instance. I hope you've found some of these thoughts helpful. As a reminder, **I'm theming my May newsletters around your questions**, and this is your last week to submit. If you have a question you want me to address in an upcoming newsletter, [use this form to let me know](https://noeleflowers.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0b2719de083f15b373978be31&id=b05bca02ef&e=e0f18787ef). Thank you to those of you who have already submitted your questions! And, as always, if you ever need a bit more in-depth support on your community project, **I'd love to hear from you about working together**. I work with clients every day to help them create community programs that yield tangible business impact—I work on everything from community architecture to engagement plans to comprehensive community strategies, and yes, e-learning. My work ranges from 1:1 consultation calls to larger projects. You can learn more about working with me [here](https://noeleflowers.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0b2719de083f15b373978be31&id=965911a164&e=e0f18787ef). Your community friend, Cheers, Noele Flowers Your Community Friend :) Start booking a coaching session with me [here](https://noeleflowers.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0b2719de083f15b373978be31&id=fc87e8e519&e=e0f18787ef) | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | --- | --- | | | | | --- | | *Copyright © 2023 Noele Flowers, All rights reserved.* You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. **Our mailing address is:** Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences](https://noeleflowers.us17.list-manage.com/profile?u=0b2719de083f15b373978be31&id=a3331fe18b&e=e0f18787ef&c=af34d66f29) or [unsubscribe from this list](https://noeleflowers.us17.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=0b2719de083f15b373978be31&id=a3331fe18b&e=e0f18787ef&c=af34d66f29). | | | | |, Does engagement matter in e-learning?, Noele Flowers, 01gyzw6tp9epvvdecryre3z686.