The most powerful message in the world can be meaningless, if it’s said in the wrong way.
It’s like when we were kids, and we were told to say “sorry”… which all too often (at least for me!) was spoken in a sarcastic tone. Definitely not the impression I was supposed to give!
But if you’ve ever received a heartfelt and sincere apology, you know how transformational it can be.
Because the tone matters.
… and it matters a lot with what you present online, especially with your e-course.
If you are confident in the value and importance of your message and know what you want to say, you still face the challenge of delivering it properly.
And that’s where using software solutions like a learning management system (LMS) can make the world of difference.
An LMS solution gives you the power to deliver your course content in a way that can truly change the lives of your students.
5 Life-Changing Benefits Of LMS For Students
1. Course Clarity: Learners Need The Right e-Learning Goals
As the teacher, it’s easy for you to know what the goals of a course or lesson might be.
But students can easy lose focus on their learning goals, unless you give them a path to follow along to reach them.
That’s why providing a simple, visual checklist can make the world of difference in the life of your students.
Typically, we recommend dividing a single ecourse into several, bite-sized modules.
We fill each module with written content, downloads, perhaps a video or two, and possibly a quiz… which is all amazing, but can be a bit overwhelming.
That’s why a visual, interactive checklist is key to keeping everything organized visually – and mentally – for your student.
When we’re confident and focused on our goals, we’re much more likely to achieve them! That step-by-step at a glance view is one of the main benefits of LMS for students, in an online learning environment.
2. Motivation to Finish What You Started
Have you ever gotten really excited about a new project, invested in it… and then lost steam along the way?
Yep. (Been there, done that!)
Your students might know that your course has the power to transform their lives. They might even sign up and make great headway in the beginning. But somewhere along the way, life takes over and they never actually finish what they started.
Sometimes, the easiest way to combat this challenge is to remind your students how far they’ve come… with a progress tracking display.
If you’re not sure what to track there are 4 key learning metrics that can help your students succeed.
Each time an item on the objective list is checked off, the progress bar is updated accordingly.
It’s so simple, yet extremely effective.
With proper motivation, your students will be able to finish your ecourses and experience the life-changing benefits of online courses that it offers. The above examples were created with the AccessAlly Pro WordPress LMS plugin.
3. A Personalized Experience: Knowing That You Matter
This benefit is totally psychological… but knowing that it matters whether or not you succeed can be the difference between achieving your goals or not.
It’s why we love using tools like Facebook groups to interact with students. It allows us to be present for whatever questions and difficulties they might have throughout the online learning experience.
Making each student feel valued is also why we try to add as much personalization throughout our online courses with tagging automation, through our CRM.
Some of our go-to strategies include:
Quizzes: Using personality-type quizzes that allow each student to choose their own adventure.
Progress-Based Release: When built with a tool like AccessAlly Pro, each module is released to the student only after they complete the previous module. This allows the student to progress at their own pace and prevents the feeling of being “swept along” too fast.
Personalized Feedback: One really powerful mode of communicating with students is offering a way for them to ask questions or submit homework directly from the course page. (We make this happen with AccessAlly Pro’s powerful suite of LMS features).
4. An Honest Assessment of How Far You’ve Come
When I’m working my way through a course, I often wonder whether I’m really mastering the material or just think I am…
That’s why using quizzes throughout your online course material is absolutely invaluable.
Quizzes give your students an unbiased assessment of how well they have mastered the material.
You can stress the importance of each lesson to your students by requiring them to achieve a passing grade before they can progress to the next module.
Here the benefits of LMS for students also overlaps with benefits for teachers, because this helps you as a teacher figure out if your material is clear and easy to grasp… or if you need to improve your teaching!
In the end, this prevents a student from thinking that they mastered a course… and then being frustrated that they don’t see the results that you promised them!
5. The Reward of a Job Well Done
When a student truly masters the material of your online course, you can use your LMS software to reward them in a plethora of ways.
First, you might automatically award a certificate upon completion of the last course checklist.
Or, you might present gamification “points” to students who have taken the time to complete all of your course modules, like we do in our membership site:
You could also reward those who are hungry for more knowledge by offering a timed discount to a more advanced course….
But in the end, these LMS “perks” are simply designed to emphasize the ultimate reward of personal achievement.
How Are You Changing Lives Through Your Online Courses?
At this point, it’s clear that there are so many advantages of e-learning using an LMS for students in online courses – from motivating them to keep going to rewarding them at the finish line.
But… the potential is wide open for you, as an online course creator. It’s up to you to decide how – and when – you want to implement the benefits of LMS for your own students.
