How can a Learning Management System (LMS) form the basis for increased learner engagement? These strategies will help improve your online test prep training programs.
Online learners have traditionally had fewer opportunities to engage with lecturers and peers, compared to in-person learners. But with a rise in online education and self-paced study programs, the boundaries that define learner engagement in the professional context are expanding. As more and more professionals pursue education remotely, learner engagement has become a significant determining factor in online learner satisfaction and success.
Learner engagement is loosely defined as any learner’s psychological investment in understanding and mastering coursework. It’s the level of effort a learner directs toward their learning outcomes. High learner engagement in virtual study environments can lead to enhanced motivation, fewer feelings of isolation, and improved performance.
It can be a challenge for test prep training companies to structure the course content for their online courses, especially if their instructors are accustomed to operating within a physical classroom space. This is where a test prep training program can utilize a robust learning management system (LMS) to convert in-person course content into an engaging digital training program.
An LMS is a digital application that can help test prep training companies manage training programs more effectively. Administration, tracking, reporting, automation, documentation, and course delivery—all can be automated and managed with an LMS to help test prep training managers juggle all of these tasks.
What exactly can an LMS do for a test prep training program? How can an LMS, and other test prep tools, boost learner engagement and outcomes in online courses? In this article, we break down three expert strategies to boost learner engagement in online test prep training programs.
1. Make Your Test Prep Courses Exciting With Gamification
Learners are more apt to pay attention when there’s a reward attached. By adding gamification to lessons, test prep training designers aim to boost learner engagement. Incorporating game-like elements into test prep training lessons increases interactivity in the online classroom, giving learning an immediate purpose and optimizing knowledge acquisition in a fun way.
Game mechanics and incentives are not just a positive, motivating, and playfully challenging way to learn. They also have proven learning-boosting results, substantially increasing learner engagement and leading to higher course completion rates.
Gamification motivates learners to complete the task they started since it comes with a reward: unlocking a level, completing a challenge, or earning a badge. Incorporating gamification helps keep learners actively engaged with the course content. Learners process information to come up with solutions or answers, thereby increasing knowledge retention.
Although it might seem like a complicated and time-consuming effort for online training professionals to incorporate these elements into eLearning modalities, an LMS can handle the hard work of integrating gamification into your study material from the get-go. With the right LMS, your courses will generate a game-like learning experience seamlessly from the start, with leader boards, badges, matching games, and timed quizzes.
Digitally-native learners have brought about a paradigm shift in learning expectations, placing a high value on learning on the go and online access. Your company’s eLearning offerings must be convenient and compelling to attract younger learners. Gamification provides the latter element by tapping into the human competitive spirit to make learning a fun activity.
2. Design Interactive Content to Help Learners Retain Information
The human brain processes and responds to visual data better than any other type of information.
Research shows that 90% of external information interpreted by the brain is visual. Additionally, the brain processes visual information and images 60,000 times faster than text.
Considering this, it only makes sense that incorporating interactive, visual content into study material for online test prep courses can help students contextualize and retain information most effectively.
Flashcards are GREAT for test prep courses because spaced repetition helps learners retain information longer, interrupting the forgetting curve.
Some other interactive elements an LMS can enable to boost learner engagement include:
- Infographics
- Flip cards
- Charts
- Notes/highlighting/bookmarking
- Practice questions that reflect what students will see on the actual exam (such as multiple-choice, true/false, drag and drop, etc.)
And for an even more dynamic approach, incorporate video lessons. Video and eLearning go hand-in-hand. Video provides a flexible way for busy professionals to consume course content when and where it suits them.
Videos generally bolster retention of complex concepts, as opposed to simply reading text. In addition to straightforward instructional practices, video content can also be used to explain assignment submission procedures as well as a way to walk learners through a course overview to address frequently asked questions, etc.
3. Boost Learner Confidence with Self-Assessment
Learning works best when learners are acknowledged for their hard work. Therefore, having learners conduct self-assessments of their performance and progress in a self-paced learning environment can boost learner engagement with the course material. This positions the learner as an active participant in the learning process resulting in a better test prep training course experience.
A study about the impact of self-assessment on learning outcomes states that the regular independent assessment does in fact lead to marked performance improvement. In the study, over 70% of learners showed improvement in testing scores after self-evaluation, and learners perceived independent assessments to be particularly helpful in developing self-directed learning skills.
Improved performance and knowledge retention can also be attributed to increased motivation—having assessed their shortcomings, learners are more likely to go through previous lessons again and try harder on their next attempt. Additionally, learners internalize instructional goals that they can apply throughout their professional life, beyond their online learning experience.
Self-assessment can also help a learner before they even begin coursework. Conducting proficiency assessments can help students figure out if they’re ready for an advanced course before they sign up. If learners find they’re not at the required level, an adaptive learning program can then help them concentrate on the specific areas where they’re lacking.
Effective test prep eases your learners' exam anxiety, which means they can function with a clear mind and answer questions confidently on the day of the test.
BenchPrep’s digital self-assessments measure learner confidence using a particularly nuanced ranking system. As students progress through practice questions, the assessment tracks if, say, a student displays high confidence but has incorrect answers, or low confidence while providing correct answers. Measuring confidence adds a new and important dimension to help them improve the efficacy of their study time.
Boost Learner Engagement With an LMS Built for Exam Prep
Learning should be engaging, fun, and effective. In an age where online learning is taking precedence, it’s all the more important for companies selling test prep products and services to adopt strategies that boost engagement—and use the right tools to help.
BenchPrep is a learning management system built for test prep success, putting learners in the driver's seat, so upon exam day they arrive confident and prepared. Both web and mobile-oriented, BenchPrep is specifically designed to help organizations maximize learner engagement through test prep courses. Learners can access personalized, gamified, interactive content anytime and anywhere, across all their devices.
Learners can tap into custom study plans, quizzes, and discussions; for course providers, the system also offers a robust content management system with detailed reporting tools.
Check out BenchPrep’s LMS comparison guide to discover why an LMS designed specifically for the unique challenges test prep training programs face is right for your company.
