How To Help Your Students Finish Online Courses, and Why Bother
One of the things that’s super important to me as an anticapitalist business owner is to make sure that people actually get value out of the things they buy from me.
I think it’s borderline unethical to sell people online courses (especially at a high price point) and not care if they get anything out of it. There has been such an emphasis on selling online courses as a surefire way to make tons of money that we’ve lost sight of some critical pieces of integrity along the way.
I want people to complete my courses. And not just people with neurotypical brains and tons of free time and executive function. I want working class people, neurodivergent people, people with small children, all people to succeed!
I first heard Sarah Von Bargen talk about this years ago when she sold online courses, and at the time, I wasn’t selling courses yet so had never really thought about this from a business owners perspective. But I sure as hell had a dozen “build your business” tools and classes I’d paid for over the years that I had never completed.
The shame I felt when I opened my computer and saw those files on my desktop gathering digital dust was significant. But because of the way we’ve been trained in capitalism, it never occurred to me to be resentful of the people who had sold these things to me.
Inside capitalism, we’re not expected to give a hoot about people after they’ve handed over their money. And I think that’s sucks.
I believe in an anticapitalist approach to business, where we’re aiming for reciprocal relationships with our clients and customers. We have to care about holding up our end of the bargain as tiny business owners.
Here are some ways to increase the likelihood of completion for online courses
1. Recordings!
Everything is recorded and shared to support asynchronous learning. Some folks know in advance that they can’t participate live, and others plan to but life gets in the way. Recordings make it possible for people to learn on their own time. Of course there are some classes where a recording won’t be appropriate, but in general, I record!
2. Workbooks!
Workbooks and other aids are included for folks who prefer things visual or analog. Not everyone learns best by listening, so diversifying the course assets means more chances for student comprehension.
3. Private podcasts!
Private podcasts make listening on the go easy! This is an audio stream of the recordings from the classes, so there’s no additional content that needs to be created. This tech upgrade we switched to last year for Marketing for Weirdos has been so positively received by the auditory learners in the group, folks who want to listen while commuting, or people who benefit from repetition.
4. Lots of Q+A!
There’s dedicated time for live question and answer sessions. Especially in a self-paced course, live calls can dramatically increase retention and completion. This is the simplest thing on this list but perhaps the most impactful.
5. Asynchronous learning!
A way for people who can’t participate live to ask questions and get feedback will help your asynchronous learners finish the course materials. I keep it bare-bones with a spreadsheet that folks can drop questions into between sessions and I answer live on the calls. Tons of people won’t be able to make it live, and (it seems anecdotally) marginalized people are the most likely to have interruptions to their learning.
6. Continued support!
Continued support beyond the length of the course is crucial. Marketing for Weirdos is one month long, and I host monthly Office Hours calls for 3 months after the course ends. This lets people who don’t finish the course in the month it’s running live still get the dedicated support they need. It also lets those who have completed the course get help if they have troubleshooting or other problems with implementing what they’ve learned.
All these things may not be applicable to every online course or every tiny business. Regardless of how it looks, we can all be committed to student success as part of our commitment to anticapitalism in our businesses.