Trainings and workshops that are accompanied by an online course in addition to the traditional seminar event usually achieve more sustainable learning effects. To ensure that participants can work as effectively as possible with the learning platform, you as a trainer can take some supportive measures. The factors you should influence and how to do it – this was discovered by blink.it employee Niklas Appelmann in his scientific thesis.
Your goal: Maximum learning success with blended learning
Are you thinking about incorporating online courses into your training? Or have you already started? Then you have probably already encountered the different advantages that you gain by using online courses:
You gain a unique selling proposition
You gain a new source of income
You gain new customer groups
You gain measurability
You gain reusability
You gain flexibility
You gain a variety of media
You can gain most of these advantages already with pure e-learning, but only through the combination with live events such as seminars or workshops do you benefit from the advantages of both worlds: the personal and intensive support in face-to-face training and the high (temporal and spatial) flexibility of online courses.
This combination of traditional face-to-face learning forms with content from online courses is called blended learning. The learning success in blended learning is proven to be higher than in courses that consist solely of pure e-learning or pure face-to-face training.
Your challenge: Online courses with high participation
So what is stopping you from deciding to start with online courses? Perhaps you are wondering whether your participants will actually make use of the additional online offering. After all, you do not want to invest in a platform if it will ultimately not be used actively.
In face-to-face training, you can immediately see who is actively participating in the course and who does not show up or sits by passively. In the online course, this is – at least with the blink.it software – also visible, but with low participation, you cannot easily encourage your participants to be active like you can in a live event.
Working independently with a learning platform is initially a change for your participants, especially if they are used to traditional learning forms such as day seminars or workshops. Therefore, they need good support during the online phase – for example, in the form of clear calls to action.
But you can do even more to keep your participants engaged in the online course. Recently, we published an article in the blog where we provided you with seven simple tips on how to keep participants active in your online course.
Now blink.it employee Niklas Appelmann has researched in his thesis at the Technical University of Darmstadt how and in what ways trainers can motivate their course participants online for maximum participation. The good news: You have a significant influence on the learning success of your participants with online courses!
Study result: How trainers can specifically enhance participants' learning success in blended learning
One result of the thesis¹ was the confirmation of the assumption of “Instructional Scaffolding”, that certain measures from the trainer's side have a significant impact on the behavior of participants.
Instructional Scaffolding is the support of the learning process through the provision of instructions or other aids for initial orientation. Especially in the field of e-learning, this is a pedagogical measure because here the trainer can influence the participant less directly than in traditional face-to-face events.
Especially in digital learning, this kind of support is particularly important. Participants often work flexibly in terms of time and without direct supervision from a trainer. Clear orientation, regular impulses, and activating content are therefore helpful for participants to continuously engage in the learning process in the online course.
How can the trainer influence their participants' behavior in the online course? For this research question, Niklas analyzed anonymized data from a span of two years and closely examined the correlation between trainer and participant behavior.
Data for the study: Duration of 2 years
Study objective: How do trainer and participant behavior correlate?
Title of the study: “Automatic analysis and classification of trainer and participant behavior in a blended learning environment as a basis for interventions”
The online courses that Niklas examined had to meet certain criteria to ensure that only actively used courses (from both the trainer's and the participant's side) were evaluated. In his sample, he used 85 courses that were utilized by an average of 78 participants, with most courses having between 10 and 50 participants (see graphic).
Graphic from the thesis of Niklas Appelmann: The courses examined in his study usually had between 10 and 50 participants.
Based on the data from these 78 courses, Niklas found a connection between trainer and participant behavior. “Trainer behavior” refers here, for example, to the type of content (quiz, video, text, etc.) or to the temporal intervals of uploading new content. “Participant behavior” primarily refers to the completion or drop-out rate of the entire course or the processing of individual content.
However, Niklas' analysis not only revealed the simple fact that trainers influence participant behavior but also provided concrete answers on how they can statistically achieve higher participation. The following overview shows the most relevant statistical results from Niklas' thesis:
Here, two measures show a particularly positive impact on participants:
Use many quiz elements in your online course
Set your course to release new content as often as possible!
Measure No. 1: Use many quiz elements in your online course!
Quiz elements increase the activity of participants in the online course, according to the statistical results listed above: Analyzed courses that used many quiz questions had more active participants who viewed at least 50% or even 100% of a course.
If you choose blink.it as your learning platform, you can select from typical quiz content with open text questions, scale questions, or multiple or single-choice questions. Examinations or surveys are also very easy to implement. With such interactive elements, the training remains diverse and interesting for your participants.
Measure No. 2: Set your course to release content at short intervals!
A second result that we would like to share with you from Niklas' thesis as a tip for your online training: Release content with the least possible time intervals. Courses in which a relatively long time elapsed between the publication of individual content (several weeks) showed low participant activity.
With blink.it, you can conveniently set the time interval in advance and choose intervals of 3-7 days, for example. This full automation means you do not have to log in constantly and manually release content – the software takes care of it for you.
In all results, you should keep in mind that these are statistical analyses that may be distorted and do not claim to be universally valid. Our advice for you is: Check the various correlations yourself and test in your online course which types of content and intervals result in the highest participant activity and thus the highest learning effect. Using quiz questions should set you on the right path!
Conclusion
Trainers can influence the activity and motivation of participants in the online course more than many initially think.
The results of the study clearly show: Certain didactic measures directly affect participant behavior. Especially interactive elements such as quiz questions and regularly released content ensure that participants remain active and complete a course more frequently.
For trainers, this means above all one thing: The success of an online course depends not only on the content but also on the structure and design of the learning process. Those who design their courses diversely and regularly activate participants increase participation and thus also learning success.
Therefore, test various formats, content, and release rhythms in your own online course. This way you can quickly find out which combination motivates your participants the most and stimulates them to learn in the long term.
¹ Title of the thesis: "Automatic Analysis and Classification of Trainer and Participant Behavior in a Blended Learning Environment as a Basis for Interventions." Niklas Appelmann, TU Darmstadt, 2018.
Updated on 09.03.2026
