How do you create not just another unsuccessful online course, but an *ah-maz-ing* learning experience for others? I’m gonna break down the six reasons most online courses fail – and how you can avoid them.

You Didn’t Gather Feedback from Your Learners

Keeping an open mind and hearing others’ opinions is a skill most of us need to practice. But for those of us creating course content? That skill will make or break our ability to create either outstanding course content or yet another unsuccessful online course.

Why is that?

In the end, if we’re not creating material others want to learn, well, odds are, we won’t be their go-to content creator.

We absolutely must listen actively to others’ input. And that begins well before we launch our first course.

Surveying your learners (or key stakeholders or clients or customers, whomever) to assess their needs is critical. We don’t just offer learning solutions without first taking the time to really understand the learning need.

Gathering feedback before developing course content should and will guide the content creation process, from start to finish.

But the thing is, there never really is a finish line.

Creating a course isn’t a one-and-done kind of endeavor. A lot like learning, creating content is iterative. That is, like a rock tumbling along in a polisher, online courses get better with each bump and roll.

Creating a course isn’t a one-and-done kind of endeavor. A lot like learning, creating content is iterative. That is, like a rock tumbling along in a polisher, online courses get better with each bump and roll.

So even after a course is launched, it’s imperative to keep asking the audience their input. What did they learn? To what degree? What did they find enjoyable? Where did they get stuck? Where did they get bored / frustrated / annoyed / emotionally confused etc.?

Having your thumb on the pulse of your learners (or potential learners) will overhaul the way you develop and improve your courses.

You Haven’t Built a Relationship — Or Any Relationships

Another reason why your online course might be floundering? You haven’t taken the time to establish meaningful relationships with your learners.

Arguably, your course customers probably wouldn’t have purchased the class from you if they didn’t feel some kind of spark with you. But maybe you had an outstanding sales page. Or maybe you sounded engaging and authentic on your podcast. And then your students enrolled in your class and heard …crickets.

The benefit of asynchronous learning experiences is that we get to learn anywhere, at any time, regardless of who may be there to facilitate our learning.

The challenge, of course, is that without intentional human connection, we can end up feeling like we’re more in a relationship with our keyboards than with anyone on the other side of the screen.

And relationships are key. Learning, after all, is a very social endeavor. When we feel connected in a learning space with others, we foster positive engagement, leading to more ah-ha discovery moments.

So how can you foster relationships in online courses?

Crafting Relationships with Learners

• First, don’t be a stranger. Reach out to connect with your learners.
• Create a different mailing list for course subscribers and send weekly newsletters.
• Open a Facebook group restricted for course subscribers.
• Host weekly Google Hangouts or Zoom calls associated with your online course. You can tailor your content for the number of participants, of course, and send out the link for those who couldn’t attend.
• Structure learning content that’s sent to your inbox and offer meaningful feedback.

Depending on the number of participants, it may feel difficult to be present for everyone individually. That said, I encourage you to consider ways to be more available for people who trusted you enough to take your class.

Speaking of relationships, peer relationships between learners are incredibly powerful. In addition to cultivating more authentic relationships with your learners, you should also create opportunities for relationships between your learners.

The double benefit of this? Doing so will provide learners engagement and connection without tapping into YOUR time and resources.

So how do you craft relationships among learners? Let’s talk about that some.

Crafting Relationships Between Learners

• Structure learning activities that require peer collaboration.
• Create a forum or thread for learners to hold discussions and provide feedback.
• Encourage relationships outside of the class on social media or (gasp!) IRL.

Bottom line: the more learners feel connected, the more they’ll persist through your course to provide a stellar recommendation and tell a friend. And if they don’t feel connected? Hopefully, they won’t tell anyone.

 

The Course Is Missing Concrete Learning Objectives

I recently signed up for a (very, very expensive) online class and quickly backed out. Why? Walking into the online course felt like walking into a hurricane of content. Information swirling everywhere, whipping around without plan or purpose.

As a learner, I felt totally overwhelmed.

What was I supposed to do first? Where are the important parts? How do ideas connect?

The course author didn’t structure concrete learning outcomes to any of her content. And while it was all good stuff (I assume), she shucked the burden of responsibility for making metacognitive meaning onto the learner.

Guess what? That burden was too burdensome. I quit.

Turns out many learners quit online courses. This Atlantic article explores how to calculate course completion rates when only 2% of students actually complete the class. Two. Percent.

Here’s the thing: your online course needs a point. A takeaway. A bottom line. If the course instructor doesn’t know the point of the class, how could the learner?

Starting with a well-defined course description is a necessary first step.

Beyond that?

The second step to creating an incredible online course is developing crystal clear, measurable course learning outcomes, written so well they can be embroidered on a pillow for Christmas. Yes, that good.

The second step to creating an incredible online course is developing crystal clear, measurable course learning outcomes, written so well they can be embroidered on a pillow for Christmas. Yes, that good.

Learning outcomes are the *whole point* of the course. What will the learner be able to know, think, or do by the end of this learning experience?

These learning outcomes should be short, concrete statements that build upon different levels of learning.

Can the learner define, apply, evaluate, or create whatever it is you want him or her to do?

And how do you know if the learner can do those things?

That’s where the idea of measurable learning outcomes comes into play.

If you can’t really measure or assess that the learner achieved the outcome, then you need to find another outcome.

You Haven’t Diversified Your Instruction

Another reason your online course isn’t hitting the mark? Your course content is boooooring. Boring, perhaps, or maybe predictable in the way that an unsuccessful online course is.

The field of neuroscience has taught us that our hippocampus can “phase lock” for no more than 20 minutes. So what’s this mean? Anything that requires cognitive focus should come in 20-minute segments.

Yeah, that hour-long, information-rich PowerPoint? We’re going to need to rethink it.

Having too much lecture turns learners off for a number of reasons. Not only does our brain fuzz out after so much content, but also learning requires varied instructional techniques.

Let’s go back, for a minute, to Kolb’s learning model.

Kolb’s learning cycle shows a process learners might go through when absorbing and using new information. The cycle builds in opportunities for learners to practice, play with, and experience learning — not just sit through an endless lecture.

When creating course content, we need to embrace opportunities for learners not just to think, but also to do, think, and watch. Doing so helps us experience learning in a “toes in the mud” experiential way. This is where the difference between knowing and learning becomes so important.

Don’t get me wrong. Including lectures (didactic content) is both necessary and helpful. It just shouldn’t be all we provide.

 

Your User Experience Stinks

So let’s say you have clear learning outcomes. And let’s say you have good diversified learning content. But like any fashion diva knows — even if you’re wearing a shirt and pants, you might not be wearing an outfit.

A good course? It’s not just a shirt and pants, friends.

How content hangs together is as important as the content itself. In the instructional world, this is often called scope and sequencing. The job of a course author is kind of like a cruise director. We decide where the ship’s going and when. We decide what field expeditions to offer. We offer the seating arrangements for dinner, and we know when to dock at port.

Yes, that’s a long analogy for something that, I promise, is important. Why? Just like with a cruise, it’s all about user experience.

We want our learners to seamlessly transition from content to content, outcome to outcome, without getting waylaid along their journey. Scaffolding content within a curriculum provides this smooth-sails experience. But you know what else does?

The learning platform. If the learning environment is clunky, confusing, or difficult to use, it doesn’t matter how good the content is. The user will just get frustrated with his unsuccessful online course experience.

Think about the cruise ship with the unfortunate case of food poisoning. In the end, no one who spent five days sick at sea said, “But, hey, those sunsets were something else, though,” did they? Consistent, smooth user experience throughout the course is critical.

Think about the cruise ship with the unfortunate case of food poisoning. In the end, no one who spent five days sick at sea said, “But, hey, those sunsets were something else, though,” did they? A consistent user experience is key.

You Forgot You Were Teaching Adults

I cannot tell you the number of workshops, trainings, professional development sessions, unsuccessful online courses, and summits I’ve attended where the presenter forgot I’d already grown up.

Yep, it’s true. Shocking to believe, I know, but I’m out of my formative years. ‘Cause here’s the trick with teaching adults: we’re busy. We ain’t got time for nonsense. We want to know WHY we’re learning what we’re learning, and we want it to matter now.

Agreed?

If you do agree, you fundamentally get the principles of andragogy – the practice and methods of teaching adult learners.

As educator Malcolm Knowles theorized adults learn differently than children, adolescents, or teenagers. We want to know why we’re learning, we want to ground our learning within experience, and we want opportunities to apply what we’re learning experientially, ideally, in the immediate future.

Here’s why we need to build meaningful applications in our courses. This kind of instruction resonates with adults and provides value to the learning process.

Let’s Wrap This Up

So tell me, having taken probably one or two online courses yourself, where do you find courses flourish or flounder? What missteps have unsuccessful online course authors taken that have steered learners off their path to finishing?

If you’re building your own online courses or working with a course developer, remember, creating courses is a process of continuous improvement. That means you gotta dig in, be humble, and revise, revise, revise.

The good news? With a little insight and a willingness to improve, you can create (or perhaps recreate) a successful online course.