Learning is just for schools, right? Creating online courses and helping people with learning online is not only an effective strategy, but is also a booming business. Are you teaching, training and and educating your customers, employees and clients? We’ve covered “3 tips to improve your eLearning and Online Training” in another article, but the stats below demonstrate the importance on using online courses to teach and train.
If 45% of students are taking at least one online course, then the workforce will only increasingly become expectant of learning online. The companies that are implementing Online Training will become industry leaders moving forward.
[Tweet “45% of students are taking online courses & will become expectant of learning online.”]
Online Learning doesn’t only have to be academic and it doesn’t have to be limited to you giving a lecture to your customers. There are many ways to utilize online training courses (aka, eLearning, membership sites, online teaching, etc). You probably have opportunities right in front of you.
How to use Online Training Courses in your business
Creating eLearning courses can seem daunting. We’re written about “5 ways to use eLearning and Online Training in your company” but below are a few more ideas to get you started.
- Create a password protected website where you can release monthly content (and charge monthly for it)
- Teach your customers how to use your product
- Demonstrate a skill that you take for granted
- Show how to use a piece of software
- Do a screencast of a website, showing your students how to use it
- Use a membership system to allow access levels of content that you drip to them over time
- Create a podcast where you tell people how to do something and create a website where you teach them in detail
Online Learning is Flexible
By putting your training materials online, you make it easy for your students, customers, employees and clients to access your course on their time. This allows for many benefits but below are 3.
- Students can learn when they want to. They might only be available in the morning, or during work hours, or perhaps they learn best at night.
- Students can learn where they want to. Are your students in your city, or are they located across the world? By having your training online, you open the door to teaching (and serving) more people. Your students (aka, customers, clients, etc) can learn at home, on vacation, at work or anywhere!
- Students can learn how they want to. Some people have unique learning styles. By having the training online, you can allow the student to learn at their own pace and even go back and review the material as many times as they wish.
Think Mobile
If 13% of students report taking class notes on their smartphones and 33% report using tablets for work, research and taking notes, then you need to seriously. Your online courses (and website) should be in a format that is easy to view on mobile phone and tablets. Here are some considerations as you create your online training.
- Don’t have small text as it’s hard to read on mobile
- Make your videos easy to see on a small screen
- Construct your courses so it’s easy to take in bite sized chunks
- Make sure your website is responsive, which means your site automatically adapts to mobile, tablet and computer screens
- Don’t underestimate the importance and growth of mobile and tablets
Why you need to be creating online courses and training products
Thank you for this impactful article. The info graphic is so helpful. I do lots of online learning but hadn’t thought to add it to my product list. It looks like it would be easy to work with you on this.
Thank you Jill! Online training is a great way to streamline your business while adding lots of value. Let me know if you need any help moving forward.