If you are creating an online course then the most important thing you can do is foster learner engagement.

The idea is that if you can get the learner engaged with the content then they will be better able to internalize and recall the content at a later date (thus making your course more effective).

Course creators around the world use a variety of strategies for creating engagement opportunities within the content.

The three popular methods at the moment include:

• Gamification
• Social Learning
• Personalized Learning

Gamification most often involves adding points, badges, and leaderboards to course content. Learners can earn points for completing tasks, receive badges for a series of tasks, and have their names added to leaderboards if they earn a lot of points or do well on a quiz. It’s a concept that has shown to be quite effective.

Social Learning taps into our innate ability to learn and retain new content through social interactions. We are constantly learning from one another across a variety of environments. It can be particularly challenging to pull-off in a digital world but it certainly is not impossible.

Personalized Learning involves courses that have been tailor-made to relate to the learner. Often times this means the content is structured so that the questions that are asked and the examples used are directly applicable to the individual. This can refer to the individual’s corporate role, status, background, and a slew of other factors.

It is no accident that we use these three methods to assist in getting learners involved with elearning content. Our brains are hardwired to be receptive to these strategies.

Which highlights a key takeaway: learner engagement is often easiest when you can tap into basic human psychological patterns with course content. If you have not already, give one of the strategies above a try – you’ll be amazed at the results!