Is Online Learning right for your association?

A Marketing article written by
Dan Keller - Product Specialist - Member Evolution
There is no doubt that Online Learning or e-Learning is gaining popularity and has now become a widely used education medium that is almost expected to be part of any curriculum.  In 2014 it was a $56 billion industry and is set to double this year!
 
There are lots of advantages to e-Learning and it can be used on its own or to compliment the classroom.
 
elearning
 
Advantages
 
If you aren’t already delivering e-Learning consider the following:
 
  1. It is cheaper to schedule and deliver then classroom training
  2. It saves money on travel and expenses, onsite facilities, cost of trainers, etc…
  3. Provides your members with flexibility 
  4. Easy to assess results and gives assessors flexibility
  5. Takes full advantage of the interactivity and multimedia power of the Internet to create fun and engaging content
  6. Members can learn anywhere and anytime
  7. Can be integrated with your existing CRM for ease of management 
Tips
 
  1. Clearly define your course structure
  2. Develop high quality content that engages the student 
  3. Provide easy navigation, uncluttered  design and multimedia tools 
  4. Keep your audience motivated by providing reminders throughout the course of how they will benefit by completing it
  5. Integrate activities so that the student can practice their new skills
  6. Design the course into small modules that are easy to digest
  7. Make the course easy to maintain
  8. Offer support and collaboration such as Live Chat, email or phone
  9. Make it easy to access, ideally directly from your website without needing a separate user account (single sign on)
E-Learning can not only be a great resource for your members but also an opportunity for your association to increase engagement as well as providing a constant source of revenue.