Learning Program Best Practices

Establish clear expectations

Tie learning to employee goals and other measurable outcomes. Encourage managers to include the completion of edX courses in employees' quarterly goals.

Behavior Modeling

Have leadership, managers and other high-profile employees enroll in courses; share their experiences; and serve as resources.

Set finite amounts of time for self-paced course completion

Courses with defined, speedy times to completion see higher rates of success.

Conversely, while self-paced courses allow for greater levels of flexibility, they also can see higher attrition and loss of learner motivation due to the long timeframe.

Use the expected course length as a guidepost, adding ~2 weeks of additional time for self-paced courses (e.g., give 10 weeks for an 8 week course).

Reinforcement through social/in-context learning

Provide opportunities to apply new skills and knowledge on the job to cement learning. Understanding how courses and programs help to solve work-related problems creates a connection to the course material, underscores the value of learning programs and supports motivation, engagement and completion. Mentorship also reinforces and expands upon learning and how it applies to the organization. Mentorship can be a formal program or simple activities to connect learners and subject matter experts such as discussion forums on internal communications channels or lunch-and-learns.

Develop company-specific cohorts

Enroll learners at the same time. This helps you:

• Track how your learners are pacing against the course and each other

• Facilitate social learning across the org

• Create opportunities to apply and share new skills on the job

• Apply positive “peer pressure”

Use insights from the administrator dashboard to make decisions and take action

Use the administrator dashboard to track how learners are progressing and ping them before course end dates as well as to check in on a regular cadence. Learners report that these gentle nudges have a positive impact on their motivation and performance.

Make space for learning during the workday

Research shows there is a statistically significant positive relationship between workday learning and course completion rates, even if just a few minutes.

Celebrate Success 

Recognition and motivation go hand-in-hand. Even the smallest acknowledgements help to support learner engagement. Further, it can serve as encouragement and endorsement of the learning program and lead to wider employee participation. 

Select first AND second courses

Learners' engagement and completion rates gain significant momentum after completing their first course. Support success by helping your learners move quickly into their second course.

Use edX programs as learning pathways

edX programs are designed by course teams from the best institutions in the world to develop specific skill sets and knowledge bases. Use program curriculum as a pathway for your learners.