Get out the balloons, grab yourself a slice of cake, and fire up your very favorite learning module: September 15 is National Online Learning Day!

That’s right – an entire holiday just for online learning. Didn’t think we’d let this one slip by us here at Litmos, did you? We would never, and we don’t want you to miss it, either. So here’s our guide to making the most of your National Online Learning Day celebration.

What is National Online Learning Day?

National Online Learning Day is a day that showcases how students of all ages learn online. The holiday raises awareness of, and support for online education. Established in 2016, National Online Learning Day might be most often associated with K-12 and higher education — especially after last year, when so many schools went remote. But it’s not just for kids and educators. National Online Learning Day was also established to celebrate online and remote learning at work.

So, if you’ve ever taken an online course, designed a L&D strategy, or learned on your phone, National Online Learning Day is for you, and a celebration is in order.

How can you participate in National Online Learning Day?

“Wait wait wait,” you may be saying, “is this one of those weird holidays like World Beard Day or Crush a Can Day?”

Well, yes and no. It’s not a well-known holiday, but it does celebrate the increasingly important role online learning has in our lives. And in a world where so many people are probably starting to take online learning for granted after a year and a half of learning and working remotely, it’s not a bad thing to celebrate how far learning has come.

So how can you celebrate?

Participate online

National Online Learning Day is asking everyone to share their own online learning stories by using the hashtag #OnlineLearningDay on social media. Tell your own story about the successes you’ve had with online learning. Have you designed a module you’re proud of? Managed to create a program that helped your team do their very best? Share with the world. Also, encourage your team to share their stories of online learning success.

Ask for suggestions

You create your L&D program to help your learners be the best they can be. Open up suggestions for what they’d like to see included in their learning program, and take those suggestions seriously. Giving your learners a voice in their own program will help them become more engaged with their learning.

Offer a fun online course

Your team has been taking online compliance courses, soft skills, and other modules for a while now. Celebrate National Online Learning Day by offering a fun online course, like yoga, cooking, or some other class that isn’t mandatory. Give your learners a chance to do something that isn’t work related, so they can kick back and fully enjoy the online learning experience. (They can always return to compliance courses tomorrow).

Add a little bit of competition

We write a lot about gamification on this blog, and for good reason. Gamification increases engagement and is fun for learners. Use games to engage your learners on National Online Learning Day — either by launching a friendly competition for the day (who can complete the most learning?) or by launching a new gamification effort. Don’t forget to add incentives — sometimes competition just isn’t enough for learners.

Take some time to reflect on your successes

So much of the time, we concentrate on what’s next for our L&D programs. What initiative should we run next? What is our next learning target? When should we update our training materials? We also do a lot of focusing on where we can get better — what are our opportunities for growth and improvement? Both of these things are important, but for this one day, take some time to celebrate your successes.

Did online learning help your company reskill the workforce or pivot to a more successful business model during the pandemic? Did you convert all your training to an eLearning or hybrid model in record time during lockdown? Did online learning keep your team connected when everyone was working from home? Have you successfully created a hybrid learning program? Look back at your own successes with online learning. This day is for you.