One of the biggest challenges in eLearning is finding the right balance between keeping learners engaged and avoiding information overload. Releasing all course material at once can overwhelm students, leading to lower completion rates and poor retention.
Think of an online course like a marathon—it can feel long and daunting. To keep learners motivated, it’s best to break it into smaller, rewarding sprints. That’s where a drip course comes in.
What is Drip Course Content?
A drip course is a teaching method where course content is released gradually over time instead of all at once. This approach, also known as drip-feeding, ensures learners receive materials in scheduled portions, keeping them engaged and focused throughout their learning journey.
Instead of overwhelming students with everything upfront, a drip course structures content delivery in a way that maximizes retention and engagement.
This technique is commonly used in games and apps that release new content periodically, keeping users hooked and coming back for more.
For instance, many games and apps maintain user engagement by releasing new content gradually through updates and DLCs (Downloadable Content).
Similarly, with a drip course, you can provide your learners with content in a planned, structured manner until they have full access to the entire course.
Why Use a Drip Course for eLearning?
Drip-feeding course content offers several advantages that enhance both student engagement and course effectiveness. Let’s explore the key benefits:
1. Engage and Retain Users Over a Long Time
Drip-feeding allows learners to absorb material according to a planned schedule, preventing information overload.
It transforms online courses into games where users are always looking forward to the next challenge. You can track how far they have come and where they are headed.
The regular challenges keep learners on their toes, improving engagement and reducing dropout rates in your learning platform.
2. Enhance the Learning Experience for Your Students
When you release course materials step by step, you’re like a guide leading students on an exciting learning adventure.
This method ensures that they build a strong foundation before diving into the more complex stuff, which makes learning smoother and helps them remember what they’ve learned.
It’s like a suspenseful novel where students can’t wait to discover what big event will take place next. This will keep them engaged and participating regularly.
3. Prevent Fraudulent Refund Claims
Some users might sign up to your site, download the content, cancel their subscription, and then ask for a refund.
You can safeguard against such fraudulent refund claims effectively using content drip.
Share your course content slowly, making sure students get it bit by bit as they go along. This helps stop people from grabbing all the content fast and asking for a refund.
This way, you can prevent tricky refund requests and keep things fair for everyone on the learning journey.
4. Break Down Complex Topics
Drip-feeding allows you to break down complex topics into manageable parts, helping students focus on one concept at a time.
This method improves comprehension, retention, and engagement, as students can fully grasp each idea before moving on to the next.
This step-by-step approach makes tackling complex subjects more approachable and effective.
5. Plan and Improve Your Course Along the Way
With drip-feeding, you have the flexibility to refine your course as students progress.
After releasing a module, you can monitor performance, gather feedback, and make necessary improvements before releasing the next section.
The gaps between drips offer valuable opportunities to enhance your course content and ensure it meets learners’ needs.
How to Drip Course Content in WordPress LMS?
Implementing drip-feeding on your site can be complex, but WordPress LMS plugins can simplify the process.
For this guide, we’ll be using Masteriyo LMS plugin. This WordPress plugin allows you to create and sell courses, and with the Content Drip addon, you can easily drip-feed lessons, videos, quizzes, and assignments.
Masteriyo offers four types of content drip:
- Free: Releases the complete course without any restrictions.
- Sequential: Requires learners to complete the previous lesson to unlock the next.
- Date: Releases lessons on a specific date for all learners.
- X Days from Enrollment: Unlocks modules a certain number of days after enrollment.
Step 1: Enable the Content Drip Addon
To use Content Drip, you need to enable the respective addon from Masteriyo >> Addons.
Find the Content Drip add-on and toggle on the button to enable the feature.
Step 2: Set Up the Drip Feed Content
Now that you have enabled the Content Drip addon, it’s time to implement in your courses.
Start by going to Masteriyo >> Courses. Then, access the Content Drip option from the Course Settings.
With Masteriyo, you can set the four different types of flow of your content. Now, let’s discuss them briefly.
Free Flow
You can give your learners immediate access to all course content. It’s perfect for crash courses and courses with students of varying skill levels.
Sequential
Sequential flow allows you to release content in sequence, ensuring that learners go through lessons and quizzes one after another. It’s an effective way to guide students through a structured learning journey.
This means students won’t be able to jump to another lesson/quiz without completing the previous content.
Date Selection
If you prefer to release content on specific dates, this option lets you do just that. You can schedule when lessons become available, aligning them with your curriculum or schedule.
To enable Date Selection, start by choosing this option. Then, go back to the Builder tab and click the edit icon for the lesson/quiz you want.
Now, you’re in control!
Set a specific date and time to unlock the lesson for your students. You can do this easily from the Drip Date option at the top right corner.
X Days of Enrollment
This choice enables you to control content access based on the number of days a student has been enrolled in the course. It’s great for drip-feeding information over time, keeping learners engaged, and preventing information overload.
To activate it, start by choosing this option.
Now, return to the Builder page and, just like before, click the edit icon for the lesson/quiz you want to tweak.
In the Drip Days section, specify the exact number of days your students must wait after enrolling before they can access the course content.
Step 3: Save the Changes
After you have set up the content drip in your courses, remember to hit Update to save your changes.
That’s how you can elegantly deliver content in WordPress, keeping your students engaged and eager to learn.
Conclusion
With this, we’ve come to the end of this article! If you have any questions on enabling content drip in a WordPress LMS, feel free to comment below!
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