14 Signs Your E-Learning Course Needs a Revamp
E-learning courses that have served your company well over the years can become out of date. After all, companies change, customer demands evolve, skills requirements change, regulations get updated, and a myriad of other things can happen that can result in an e-learning course no longer being up to scratch.
This doesn’t always mean you need to bin the course and create completely new content. A refresh, facelift, or content update might be sufficient. The first step is to understand which e-learning courses need a revamp. Here are 14 signs to look out for.
The Content is Out of Date
A quick review of the content of your course will tell you if it is out of date. Has a company procedure been updated, for example, or do employees now use a different version of a software program that is included in the course? Has your product range changed? These are all indications that you should refresh the course by updating the content.
Learners Increasingly Fail to Complete the Course
Learners can fail to complete an e-learning course for a range of reasons. Some examples include:
- The content doesn’t match the needs of learners, i.e., after going through part of the course, learners decide it is not providing them with the information they need.
- Technical problems with the course prevent learners from getting to the end.
- The content has to be completed in one go and learners struggle to find the time required to finish.
Addressing the issues that are causing learners to drop out will improve the performance of the e-learning course. For the last point above, as an example, you could break the content up into bite-size chunks that learners can complete much faster.
Learners Go Over Sections Multiple Times
If learners are going over sections of the course multiple times, you should review the content to identify areas of improvement. Is it too complicated? Is there something missing? Can the information be explained in a better way?
Learners Frequently Skip Sections
Employee skills and knowledge develop over time. As a result, information that might have been needed in the past can become standard knowledge, so there is no need for learners to complete that section of the course.
Other reasons for learners skipping sections of an e-learning course include the content being out-of-date or not relevant to the learner’s needs.
Most Learners Get Everything Right in Quizzes or Scenarios
Learners getting everything right when you test their knowledge and understanding might be viewed as positive. However, this situation could also be an indication that the course is not stretching learners far enough. Could making the course more challenging benefit the business? Would more challenging content enhance the skills of learners further?
Most Learners Fail Quizzes and Have to Retake them to Complete the Course
There is a flip side to the above point where learners mostly fail when you test their knowledge or understanding. This is a strong indication the course is failing in its primary purpose – to train employees with new knowledge or to enhance their skills.
Learners Ask a Lot of Questions
This follows on from the above point. If learners ask a lot of questions, it could be an indication there remains a lack of understanding even after they have completed the course. Could you make improvements to the content or how it is delivered so learners no longer need to ask as many follow-up questions?
The Course is Failing in Its Objectives
External factors can also be an indication that an e-learning course needs a revamp. Examples include:
- You are not seeing an improvement in performance when employees complete the course.
- You are not seeing the behavioural change the course is designed to bring about.
- You continue to have compliance issues despite employees completing training on compliance topics.
New Audience that the Course Doesn’t Properly Serve
An e-learning course might simply need a revamp because there is a new audience. For example, you might have originally created the course for employees in the UAE but then the business opens a branch in another country, such as Saudi Arabia. It might be worth updating the course to ensure it properly serves the new audience.
The Course Can’t Be Accessed on Mobile Devices
Learners, particularly younger generation learners, increasingly expect e-learning content to be accessible on their mobile devices. This might not have been a priority when you originally created the course, but it would be worth updating it. Ideally, the e-learning course should be responsive, so it works on all sizes of screens.
Learners Have Stopped Using the Course
If learners are not even starting the course, you should conduct a review to find out why. In most situations, the reason will be the course is no longer relevant or the information is out of date. A revamp of the content could be the answer.
Negative Feedback
Negative feedback on the course is a strong indication that it needs a revamp. If you are not asking for feedback, it is worth doing so to ensure you are properly engaging with learners.
Branding Out of Date
The e-learning course could have been created using old company branding. If your organisation has updated its brand image, it is worthwhile updating your older e-learning courses to ensure they reflect the current style.
Quality is Not Up to Scratch
A review of an older e-learning course might also identify quality issues, where the course falls considerably below the standards you now expect when developing new content. This could be anything from the visual appearance of the course to the navigation to the quality of media elements such as videos.
Modernising, Updating, Refreshing, or Re-Doing
How you approach the revamp of an e-learning course will depend on the issues that you identify, the needs of the business, and the topic. It could be anything from a simple refresh to improve the branding and visuals right up to a complete overhaul where you make substantial changes. Providing the e-learning course itself is still relevant and important to the business, revamping it will be beneficial.
