Is your eLearning Course Really Working? 5 Reasons to Track Learner Progress

An eLearning program is only as good as the difference it makes to its learners. People participate in an eLearning course for various reasons. It could be to gain knowledge, to improve or learn new skills, to get motivated, etc. But over time, with the same course being imparted, a sort of complacency can set in. It is very easy to believe that the same course will naturally generate the same result in a completely different set of learners.

As a consequence, a lot of time, effort, and money get wasted without getting the desired results. The feeling of dissatisfaction from the course attendees is only compounded by their peers and superiors seeing no marked difference in their output.

To check whether your eLearning course is working or not, it is imperative to track the progress regularly. Not doing so could create complications. Consider this:

Are you displaying the Ostrich Problem?

Sometimes problems in the course might be apparent and sometimes not. But if you feel that going through the rigmarole of analyzing the course and revamping it is too much work, you might be displaying the classic ‘ostrich problem’. By pretending nothing is wrong you are, in reality, compounding it even further and in the long run, you will end up with several batches of discontented participants and a lot of man-hours wasted.

Not tracking might make you offer unsuitable courses to candidates

A cursory look might make you believe the course being offered is perfect for your audience. However, there is always the possibility that their needs are a bit different. Or that they are already familiar with the content of the course. Or it is perhaps more advanced than they are prepared for. Either way, unless you track the course regularly, you have no way of knowing if the progress of the content and the learning curve of the audience are in sync.

Users might use this as escape routes from work

If the content isn’t right, and you aren’t aware of that, your audience might escape from work under the cover of the course. The net result is a double loss of time – hours of unfinished work and hours spent in an unsuitable course.

Sense of achievement might get lost in spite of doing well

Let’s assume the course content is right and the audience has sat through all the hours, benefiting in the way you’d expected. Yet, without tracking the learning progress, you will be unable to quantify the result and the sense of achievement will elude you.

Unrealistic cost implications

This is a no-brainer really. If you don’t know whether the course has benefited your audience or not, you will not be in a position to know whether the man-hours invested, as well as the cost of the technological components, has been worth the result.

You can save time and effort, and avoid any anxiety associated with your eLearning course, simply by regularly tracking its progress. Use a learning management system (LMS) to generate reports that can give you valuable insights into the progress of your learners, making your training initiative effective.