An online accompaniment to soft-skill training ensures sustainable learning transfer. Trainers often ask a common question: How can I get my participants to regularly engage online with the topic? Over the years, we have gathered some best practices that you can use to demand the online activity of your participants.
When you link a face-to-face training with an online course, you benefit from the best of both worlds in the form of blended learning. One of the many advantages: In live training or on-site training, you have more time for personal support. Before, after – and during multi-week events as well – your participants can continue to learn on their own when and where they want. The how – that is, the materials and the framework for these self-learning phases – you as a trainer define in advance.
These frameworks are crucial if you want to keep your participants engaged even outside of face-to-face support. After all, you want to assume that all participants are consuming your online content. They should do prepared exercises and watch your short videos. Only if all participants are at a similar level can you get the best out of your face-to-face training.
Three methods for active participation in your online course
In principle, there are three methods to get participants to consume your online content:
The nice method: added value
Through positive reinforcement, you can usually motivate people better than through negative reinforcement or punishment. Use this for your training by offering additional value.
This is how you use the added value: How about giving participants who complete the entire online course an extra benefit? For example, you can offer a one-on-one coaching session after your course. An achievement certificate for diligent participants is also an option. If you plan this added value from the start, you can make corresponding arrangements with your client and motivate your participants to stay engaged online.
The practical method: reminders
In our busy lives, we all forget things we intended to do. Ensure that your participants regularly attend your online course by gently reminding them.
This is how you use reminders: The easiest way is to send out a kind of newsletter via email. In it, refer to the current tasks in the course and clarify as broadly as possible what your participant needs to do, when, why, and how – and how much time they should plan for it.
The most effective method: coercion
We only recommend the method of coercion if the other two options are not feasible for your training or do not work well. If you build your training on coercion, your participants must complete the online course to participate in your training.
This is how you use coercion: At the end of your online course, incorporate an exam that your participants must pass. Anyone who has not adequately engaged with the course fails and does not receive an official participation certificate.
The key point in blended learning: a good link
You will likely focus on one of the three methods mentioned in your training. A mix is also conceivable, for example, if you link optional learning units with those essential for passing the course.
Linkage is a good keyword. Blended learning is based on the connection of different learning methods. The better the linkage, the better the blended learning!
Best practices for trainers: keeping participants actively online
Through our daily interaction with many trainers, consultants, and coaches, we have gathered some best practices on how to keep your participants actively engaged online. In addition to the three mentioned basic methods, I will show you seven more tips on how to keep your participation active online:
Overview: 7 tips on how your participants can stay engaged in the online course
Formulate a clear set of expectations
Make binding commitments yourself
Keep it short
Do not demand participation too often
Establish good transitions between face-to-face and online
Establish good transitions within your online course
Establish good transitions to the participant's workday
Self-directed work in the online course requires a certain degree of self-discipline from your participants. Facilitate their active involvement with some simple tricks.
Below, I will go into each of the seven tips in more detail so that you can gain a good understanding of each one.
Formulate a clear set of expectations
This tip rightfully takes first place. Your participants' expectations should always align with your own. All parties involved must agree on when and how the next task should be completed.
Whether in live training or online learning units, always remember to formulate a clear call to action. An example: “Watch the video now and take three minutes to answer the question posed in the comments field.”
Make binding commitments yourself
You are the best role model in training – if you make your own commitments, your participants are also more likely to be willing to do so. For example, assure them that no learning unit will take longer than seven minutes to process. This lowers the barrier for your participant to dedicate time to your online course between tasks in their workday.
Keep it short
Yes, we at blink.it are fans of short learning units and stand behind the microlearning method. For good reason: with small learning bites, there is a clear focus. Your participants are also more likely to be motivated to spend five minutes on a short unit (for example, consisting of a video + call to action) than to engage with a longer text for sixty minutes. Sounds reasonable, right?
Do not demand participation too often
In addition to short learning units, we advise you not to pull your participants out of their work routine too often. We cannot give you a general number here – as it strongly depends on the nature of your training. Just try out what works best for you! As long as you remain attentive and regularly check in with your participants to see if your email reminders for the online training are at the right level, you are on the right track.
Establish good transitions between face-to-face and online
Hard breaks between your live training and online content are counterproductive. Connect both parts so that the participant perceives your blended learning as a whole. Therefore, at the end of your face-to-face training, point to the online course and clearly explain how everyone will proceed. In the online course, you can again refer to the face-to-face training and remind them of the place and time or create excitement through mysterious announcements.
Tip: Use the last minutes of your face-to-face training to discuss the process of the online accompaniment together. You can also specifically invite your participants to take out their calendars and set dates for completing the online tasks. Remember to mention a short processing time here as well.
Your participant should clearly understand that this is not just any online course. Therefore, remain transparent, appear in videos, and be present in discussions in the comments field. When you as a trainer show that you are actively involved, it also motivates your participants.
Establish good transitions within your online course
Even between individual learning units, you should ensure a good connection. The structure of your online course is important so that your participant always knows where they currently stand and what they need to do next.
For this, you can ensure both technically and content-wise. We at blink.it have solved the technical connection so that you as a trainer can set when the next learning unit should be unlocked for each unit. This way, your participant may only see one learning unit at the beginning, and the course is only gradually unlocked.
However, you should also ensure good transitions content-wise. Regularly incorporate short selfie videos where you “pick up” the participants on their current learning progress and refer to the next task. Important: Also think of your participant's set of expectations and communicate clearly how long your participant will need for the next step and when they should complete it.
Establish good transitions to the participant's workday
You can see that transitions and connections are extremely important in blended learning. In addition to transitions within your training, you should not forget that your participants may have a demanding work routine that occupies them for most of the day. Their thoughts may be occupied with other things. Here, a gentle transition is also sensible.
You can achieve this, for example, by involving the participants' management level if possible. Those who know their boss is on board are likely to be more motivated to stay engaged in the online training. Moreover, this method enhances the significance of your training. Another extra tip for rocket-pack users: You can find out how to get your boss on board with card 8!
blink.it practical tips: how to keep your participants engaged online
In addition to theoretical assessments in the online course, incorporate a practical exam outside of your regular training. This method is particularly suitable for communication training. For example, ask them in a presentation training to record their next professional presentation and send it to you for professional feedback. This is an enormous added value on your part that you can sell as a perk for particularly motivated participants in agreement with your client.
Do you fear that your announcements in the newsletter are not being read? Keep it short and above all regular! Send your emails in a clear standard format, so your participants know what to expect. For example, “3 practical tips of the week” or “My reading recommendation of the week.”
These were our most important methods and best practices on how to motivate your participants to engage actively. You can find more tips on blended learning and starting your online accompaniment in our guide to blended learning.
Are you already a pro in blended learning and have more tips? Then feel free to share them with us in the comments field!
