Online learning or distance learning has become one of the first choices for students and businesses in recent years. More and more people are signing up for any of the e-learning courses on Tele training platforms and which offer multiple benefits, such as flexible hours and place of learning, economic savings, and the possibility of new and attractive learning.
However, not everyone who starts an e-learning training completes it.
Why do a third of the students who use e-learning fail?
Some recent studies indicate that more than a third of all students who opt for this type of online course abandon them, even despite having paid for them.
But in the case of free and open online courses, the outlook is even worse: 90% of students drop out at the beginning or in the middle of training.
Apart from personal reasons, such as the lack of time to dedicate to studies for work or family care, or the unexpected presence of diseases, behind the abandonment of online studies, there are a series of reasons that can be fought with the planning of the learning model itself and the dismantling of myths embedded in the minds of students.
The flexibility that online training offers, the provision of interactive learning, and quality knowledge can be a double-edged sword for many centers dedicated to online training.
Flexibility should not be synonymous with debauchery, since its value is in allowing the student to learn at their own pace, but this will always require dedication, effort, and commitment to receive the classes, carry out the proposed activities and take the mandatory exams necessary to obtain it. of the title.
This misunderstanding, in the long run, makes people leave “for tomorrow what they can do today” little by little until they end up abandoning the training completely.
In the same way, some students have high expectations about the interactive and attractive learning that is proposed to them in the training of this type. And sooner rather than later, they realize that the most interactive thing about training is the next button to turn the page into a pdf.
If we add to that the feeling of loneliness and lack of accompaniment by the tutor and that the contents are only the result of a “cut and paste”, it is not surprising that demotivation is present immediately.
Here are the main important reasons for the failure of e-learning training, which can be avoided to ensure that students complete their training:
Structuring and planning of training
Although we can place on the table the flexibility of e-learning training as one of its greatest advantages, it can become one of the elements responsible for the abandonment of courses under this modality.
The versatility of an e-learning course must be accompanied by a good structuring of terms and planned content. The lack of organization and planning are the most frequent enemies of this type of formation.
Students need to have a calendar from the beginning to organize themselves, according to their time and their other obligations, and even rest periods.
The calendar must include what are the different stages, the online sessions, tasks or activities to be carried out, the evaluations, tutoring periods, and, of course, the face-to-face exams, which the official training includes to accredit the student in a certain Certificate of Professionalism or other qualification.
Quality content and real needs of the students
Most of the people who take a course, whatever the modality, do so because they perceive that its contents will be useful for their performance as a professional or their personal life.
If the content does not meet the expectations of the students and does not offer what the students are looking for, they are destined to fail. The contents offered in a certain online course must be related to the work area to which they refer and have a connection with the current jobs offered by the labor market.
This implies that the contents must be updated and at the forefront, including success stories, and address the solution to real problems that employees may encounter in their day-to-day lives.
On the other hand, the contents must be presented clearly and concisely, according to the devices used for learning, include attractive and didactic resources that facilitate understanding and learning, such as short introductory videos, interactive presentations with audio and simulations.
Another point to take into consideration is to ensure that students are familiar with the technological means. For this, it is important to assess the needs of students in this regard at the beginning of the course and offer the necessary support so that they can handle the necessary tools (technical support) and thus advance adequately in training.
The important role of the tutor: monitoring and tutoring
Multimedia educational resources with all their attractiveness and interactivity are incapable of keeping students motivated by themselves. The role of the tutor is essential to accompany, monitor, stimulate and guide telematics training.
Most courses offer self-study materials but guidance from the tutor is required to ensure success. Here are top language learning apps for 2021. The tutors carry out an important task of dynamization, motivation, and communication throughout the training activity, which is essential from the beginning of the course.
Students appreciate that their teachers are experts in the subjects they teach and that they can respond to their concerns as soon as possible. This motivates them to stay hooked on training, investing their time in an enriching exchange in which they also contribute. An online course with tutors who energize, add value and perfectly handle technological tools also provides credibility to the training.
The human factor will continue to be key even in e-learning. It is becoming more and more important that tutorials offer proactivity in the personalized follow-up of students and that they maintain effective, motivating, and stimulating communication.
Online communication and collaboration
Another aspect that guarantees the success of online training is to ensure that there are efficient communication channels between teachers and students, as well as between the students themselves.
An online course can make people feel alone, so it is relevant that spaces for interaction are provided, such as forums, in which students themselves can discuss their concerns, share knowledge or start a debate. The tutor can use these dynamics to provide organic and dynamic esignature pdf learning .
The interactivity between teachers and students must also be taken care of, by avoiding making students wait for more than 24 hours when questions arise or guidance is required. People who take e-learning training need the proximity of the tutor and are easily discouraged by his absence.
The learning platforms should try to be friendly and have the automatic sending of notifications within 24 hours after sending a query. Similarly, redirecting doubts to glossaries or spaces that contain the most common queries can facilitate effective interaction with students.
