9 Ways to Increase Student Engagement in Online Learning by 415.24% (Guide + Tips)

In just 5 years, the number of student learning online have grown 438%. Growth in online and hybrid learning continue to accelerate as technology makes teaching online easier than ever.

However the task of improving student engagement in online course as an online course creators have always been a struggle. 

Exploring and testing various ways to engage students online, here are my best ways to potentially boost student engagement in online learning environment by 415.24%.

What is Online Student Engagement in Online Learning?

Student engagement is about involving learners in a two-way conversation with the educational material.

• Boring lectures are those where the lecture keeps on talking at the same monotone like a broken recorder with no interaction and no engagement.
• Interesting lectures are those where the lecture ask questions, walk around the class and get students to perform some form of task.

For online courses, it is about creating an environment where students not only consume information but actively participate, question, and apply what they learn.

Key Components of Student Engagement

1. Interaction with Content: Engaged students don’t just read or watch; they interact. Eg. Responding to quizzes, participating in discussions, or immersing themselves in multimedia elements.
2. Community Building: Engaged learners connect with their peers, exchange ideas, and contribute to a collective learning experience Eg. Discussion forums, group projects, or virtual meet-ups.
3. Real-world Application: Effective engagement involves applying knowledge to practical scenarios, solving problems, and grappling with real-world challenges relevant to the course content.
4. Feedback Loop: Engaged learners receive timely feedback on their progress, allowing them to understand their strengths and areas for improvement creating a continuous cycle of refinement and growth.

How to Increase Student Engagement For Your Online Course by up to 415.24%?

Engaging students online can be a challenge, but adopting the right strategies can transform your online course into an interactive and rewarding experience for your learners.

1. Adopt Microlearning and Keep Each Lesson Short

Today, the attention spans for most people are like fireflies; they sparkle but only briefly. 

Break down your content into bite-sized pieces that students can quickly grasp and apply.

Short, focused lessons help maintain attention.

Microlearning transforms complex topics into bite-sized, short and informative lessons that students can capture in a heartbeat.

Microlearning can Increase Engagement by 130%

Implementation Tips:

• Keep each video or lesson under 10 minutes.
• Incorporate interactive elements like quizzes within microlessons to keep students actively involved.
• Use storytelling techniques to create narrative arcs within each short lesson, making the content more memorable.

2. Use Visual Aids to Keep Students Engaged

A picture is worth a thousand words and it is more so when we are talking about online learning.

Video lessons, and visuals can aid understanding and retention, making your course more captivating.

Visual Aids can Increase Engagement by 94%

Implementation Tips:

• Integrate a wide mix of infographics, charts, and videos.
• Create infographics that students can interact with, allowing them to explore concepts at their own pace.
• Encourage students to generate their own visual aids, fostering creativity and deeper understanding.

3. Create Interactive Learning Experience

Real-time interaction fosters a sense of community and active learning.

Incorporate tools like forums or live discussions.

Interactive experiences helps to transport your online students from mere observers to active participants in the online course.

Interactive Experience can Increase Engagement by 23%

Implementation Tips:

• Leverage the power of discussion forums and live sessions to create a virtual learning carnival.
• Integrate virtual whiteboards and collaborative document editing tools to facilitate real-time group work.
• Host virtual study groups or peer-review sessions to enhance the sense of community.

4. Gamify Your Online Course

Learning is a journey, and making your learning journey more like a game than the boring lecture class can just make the difference.

(I am not sure about you, but I always struggle to keep myself awake during most lectures.)

Introduce elements of game design such as points, badges or leaderboards.

Gamification of your online course contents offers many benefits such as increase motivation and make learning more fun.

Gamification can Increase Engagement by 48%

Implementation Tips:

• Design quests or challenges with a narrative that unfolds as students progress, adding a layer of storytelling to the gaming experience.
• Implement rewards that tie into the course content, creating a seamless connection between the game and learning objectives.
• Let students earn badges and ascend leaderboards like true gaming champions.

5. Add Quizzes and Assignments After Each Module

Immediate practice solidifies learning.

According to our own studies on the effectiveness of using Quiz to increase engagement, quiz is observed to increase engagement by at least 20% and some even increase up to 30%.

(During my live training, I tend to ask my trainees questions, especially those who are dozing off. It not only keep them wide awake, but help them learn better and think about the possible questions I will be asking).

Quizzes and assignments prompt students to engage with the material and assess their understanding.

Quiz can Increase Engagement by 20 – 30%

Implementation Tips:

• Craft quizzes that syncing with the learner’s journey.
• Frame quizzes with real-world scenarios, encouraging students to apply theoretical knowledge to practical situations.
• Incorporate peer-reviewed assignments and offer prompt feedback, turning mistakes into learning opportunities.

And since we are on the topic about quiz, lets take a quick quiz yourself.

6. Create Polls and Surveys and Ask for Feedback

The key to creating successful course is to get insights on what works. 

Regular feedback helps you tailor content to your students’ needs, enhancing their engagement.

• What do you like most about the course?
• What do you think can be improved to make the course better?
• What is the biggest takeaway you get from completing the course?

Polls and Surveys can Increase Engagement by 6% to 20%

Implementation Tips:

• Conduct polls that gauge students’ understanding.
• Launch surveys to uncover the hidden insight.
• Regularly communicate changes based on feedback, demonstrating a responsive and student-centric approach.

7. Offer Certificates of Completion

Every learning journey needs some form of acknowledgment, and certificates are the best form of acknowledgment that mark the completion of the course.

A tangible reward can be a powerful motivator.

Top online course platform let you create your own branded certificates. These certificates give students a sense of achievement and encourage course completion.

Certificate of Completion or Achievement can Increase Engagement by 12%

Implementation Tips:

• Design certificates with your learner’s name and your stamp of approval helps to showcase the students’ prowess.
• Create a digital badge system where students can earn specialized badges for mastering specific skills within the course.
• Certificates with professional accreditations can add even more value for your learners.

8. Create Learning Community Around Your Course

Creating an online learning community around your course can encourage peer-to-peer interaction. 

A community aspect supports learning and increases engagement through shared experiences.

Offering exclusive membership for your students can let them feel more engage with your online course, strengthening their sense of belonging.

Community can Increase Engagement by 21%

Implementation Tips:

• Establish discussion boards are like lively marketplaces of ideas.
• Arrange guest sessions with industry experts and bring real-world insights to the learning community.
• Recognize and celebrate community achievements with virtual events, fostering a sense of pride and camaraderie.

9. Make Your Course Available on Multiple Platforms Including Mobile

Accessibility is key and as more people prefer to learn on-the-go.

Focusing on making your course mobile optimized or even create an mobile App for your course (or learning school) can make a huge difference in engaging your learners.

Ensure students can get access through their preferred devices will increase their engagement and learning experience with your online course

Mobile App can Increase Engagement by 37.24%

Implementation Tips:

• Optimize content for mobile devices, making learning a seamless experience across platforms.
• Develop supplementary mobile-friendly resources like podcasts or short videos to cater to various learning preferences.
• Implement push notifications for important updates, keeping students engaged even when they’re on the move.

Why Improve Online Student Engagement is Important for Online Courses?

Online student engagement is important as it helps to reduce the sense of isolation and helps to improve learner’s performance. Adopting engagement strategies that keep learners engage help nurture their interest in learning.

• Without student engagement, students can easily feel disconnected which can make the student feel restless and loss focus on the learning materials.
• With student engagement and getting students to participate in the online learning activities, it will improved their overall learning experience and, ultimately, their success in reaching their learning outcomes. 

Learning online thrive on active student participation, and through active learning strategies. Creating a two-way communication that help students feel that they are not just listeners but active contributors.

Additionally, increase student engagement in online helps to fosters a trusted learning environment that improve student perceptions of the course.

Subsequently boosting student’s learning experience and learning effectiveness.

Common Challenges Engaging Student When Teaching Online

When you’re tackling an online class, several obstacles can dampen student engagement.

1. First up, the lack of face-to-face interaction can leave students feeling isolated.
2. Online student engagement often relies on the features of the course platform
3. Quality and support of the platform is another huge issue amount course creators. 
4. Technical issues can disrupt the smooth flow of learning.
5. Finally, the perception of an impersonal or transactional relationship with educators can challenge the development of a vibrant learning community.

Addressing these hurdles is a cornerstone in elevating the engagement of online students.

And the best way to tackle all these issues is to learn how to choose the best online course platform that can overcome all these potential issues.

How to Leverage Education Technology to Improve Learning Experience?

Choosing the right tools and strategies can transform your online course. It’s about making the most of tech to hook students in.

Choosing the Right Online Course Platform

Choosing the right online course platform to create and deliver your online course is the most important step to increase online student engagement.

These Learning Management System (LMS) let you organizes your course materials in a safe, readily accessible way.

Having tried many top online course platform, a few of them let you do everything in the same platform:

1. Creating online course with online course creator.
2. Marketing online course with various digital marketing channels.
3. Selling online course with various payment processing gateway.
4. Delivering online course seamlessly; Synchronous or Asynchronous .
5. Engaging your student online for active learning.

And if you are looking for recommendations, here are some of the top online course platform to consider:

• Handpicked best online course platform for all course creators
• Budgeted online course platform for beginner course creators
• Online course platform with branded certification features
• Mobile App online course platform for App based courses

Think of it as your online classroom’s backbone. You want a system that’s intuitive and flexible, allowing you to provide students with a seamless experience.

Creating a Collaborative Online Classroom

Engagement spikes when students work together.

• Use technology that supports real-time collaboration.
• Use online calendar for booking events and learning sessions. 

Tools like Google Docs let students co-create documents and projects.

With the use of technology, discussions and peer reviews become a breeze. 

Your role?

Simply facilitate, guide, and nudge them towards deeper interaction.

And before I forgot, always set clear goals for each cooperative task to keep everyone on track.

Nurture an Online Learning Community

Your course isn’t just a series of tasks. It’s a community.

• Tools like discussion forums and social media groups can help.
• Use community features to create online community around your course.
• Use direct messaging features for real-time interaction and even offer coaching.

Encourage students to share ideas and ask questions in a safe and well-structured learning space.

Real connections happen when students feel part of the group. This sense of belonging can boost not just engagement but their whole learning experience.

Time to Get Started Improving Student Engagement

Active learning techniques are key to ensuring that your online education environment thrives with student participation.

Online learning engagement is about creating an atmosphere where students online feel involved, connected, and invested in their remote learning journey.

• You have to draw students into the learning process.
• You have to make the online learning experience interactive
• You have to engage in their learning to sustain their interest over time. 

From adult learners to those embracing lifelong learning, student engagement is crucial across the board.

Effective student engagement is about crafting an online learning experience that’s as compelling as it is educational, ensuring that your students remain engaged and motivated no matter where they are and finally completing your course.

Let’s get started by learning how to choose the right online course platform to create, sell and deliver your online course.