Tips to Increase Online Course Completion Rates and Knowledge Retention

“Make sure your course is not too challenging for slower students or too dull for more advanced ones.”

As an online ESL teacher, I have had a lot of trouble maximizing my students’ course completion rates over the past few years. From the beginning of our course to the end, I typically lost about 35% of the class. Since many online courses experience over 52% dropout rates, my course completion rates could be seen as desirable, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Instead of focusing all my efforts on attracting new students, as many online schools do, I restructured my teaching approach to boost my current students’ knowledge retention and course completion rates. This shift has yielded excellent results, with most of my students now receiving their completion certificates.

“Getting the learners involved, motivating them to be creative, engaged, and participate actively in their learning process are the best ways to improve knowledge retention rates.”

The following are my tips for improving the knowledge retention and course completion rates of online learners.

Use Reliable Online Training Tools

Finding high-quality online training tools that facilitate course design and lesson delivery without a hitch is the first step to boosting completion rates. Online learners access their lesson materials from various devices and operating systems. Not all the devices have the latest version of programs and software, and not all of them have excellent bandwidth.

Technical difficulties and the steep learning curves of online training software are among the top reasons learners drop out of online classes. Therefore, online teachers and instructors need to deliver their courses using platforms and online training tools compatible with all devices. When looking for a suitable training tool, make sure that it has:

User-friendly design
Intuitive interface
Responsive design
Course customization options
Excellent audio/video quality

Most online training tools offer a free trial, so it is a good idea to test a few of them to see which one works best for you and your learners’ needs.

Forget About Passive Learning

Traditional teacher-centered pedagogy has never been as effective as student-centered approaches, especially when it comes to online education. Study upon study has proven that both teachers and learners benefit from migrating to active learning from passive learning.

Getting the learners involved, motivating them to be creative, engaged, and participate actively in their learning process are the best ways to improve knowledge retention rates. Students participating in active learning perform better and achieve better results, evidenced by higher test scores.

Focus on Microlearning

Microlearning has become a buzzword in the online teaching community as studies have suggested that it can be excellent for improving learner performance. Many ESL teachers already employ microlearning to an extent. For example, few present all the conditional tense possibilities in the English language at one time when teaching conditionals. Most teachers cover the topic one conditional at a time.

However, it is advantageous to divide this broad topic into small chunks of information that could fit a flashcard. This way, students can have manageable information learning in just a few minutes. Many of my students have busy schedules outside my courses and greatly appreciate microlearning. All the essential information presented in small chunks is easy to digest and even simpler to review.

Make Learning a Social Activity

It is relatively easy to organize group assignments in traditional classroom settings to make learning a social activity. However, online courses are different. Learners often do not have the opportunity to meet and discuss what was learned or participate in group projects. They do not have the chance to connect and share information outside the class.

My solution to this problem was to create breakout rooms and stimulate online discussions among the learners. Many online training tools and virtual classroom software have breakout rooms that facilitate teamwork and allow instructors to create group assignments. However, few instructors leverage this feature.

It is critical to understand that teamwork is essential in online classes as it is in traditional classrooms. Social learning can improve knowledge retention rates, increase learner engagement, ensure higher course completion rates, and achieve better student satisfaction.

Include Gamification Elements in Your Courses

Gamification in learning is not a new concept; however, it only recently has received attention from instructors and learners alike. Children have always learned through games. Catchy songs improve vocabulary; puzzles improve cognitive functioning; playing Pictionary boosts creativity, etc.

While it is not always possible to make learning be fun and games, it is possible to include gamification elements that could improve learner engagement. Leaderboards, prizes, and rewards have proven excellent incentive tools to engage students in learning and maintain their interest.

Studies suggest that gamification can increase motivation by over 48%, which is more than enough to impact course completion rates positively.

Provide Personalized Learning Paths

Every learner is different, and every student has a unique approach to learning. Some are visual learners; others need a more hands-on approach—some struggle with mastering abstract concepts, while others struggle with practical or logical tasks.

If you have a universal approach to teaching, your style will not suit all your learners. So, it is essential to provide personalized learning paths. Enable students to learn at their own pace, revisit content as needed, and skip ahead if they already know a topic.

Personalizing the learning path to improve knowledge retention ensures that the course is neither too challenging for slow learners nor too dull for advanced ones.

Engage Students on Social Media

Social media platforms are excellent solutions for connecting with learners, sharing additional information, and establishing positive relationships with them. Facebook groups, for example, can be great places to start discussions, share updates and notifications, encourage teamwork, and send reminders.

Just remember that social media is primarily designed for entertainment. You will find it easier to connect with your students if you keep your posts informational yet lighthearted and fun. I have found Facebook groups excellent for sharing educational and entertaining articles relevant to my course topics. My usually quiet students in class respond in the comments and offer insights regularly.

When my students who frequently skip classes see my social media announcements, they attend most lessons. Those who are ordinarily timid to ask questions contact me regularly on the media for clarifications.

My Course Completion Rates Have Skyrocketed

A year ago, I had course dropout rates of over 35%, but the changes I have implemented have proven quite fruitful. My course completion rates have skyrocketed to 85%-90%, and my learners’ performance has significantly improved.

Those who previously performed poorly on tests and quizzes are now some of the best in class, while my more advanced students who did not participate in discussions due to boredom have become engaged and committed.

Even the slightest change in how you deliver your course materials and engage with learners can significantly impact your course completion rates. If you assess your learners’ trouble points and proactively solve them, the course completion and knowledge retention rates should improve noticeably.

About the author

Kamy Anderson (kamyanderson91@gmail.com) is an ed-tech enthusiast interested in writing about emerging technologies in corporate training and education. Currently associated with ProProfs Training Maker, he is an expert in learning management systems and e-Learning authoring tools –

Edited by Rubí Román (rubi.roman@tec.mx) – Observatory of Educational Innovation.

Translation by Daniel Wetta.

Kamy Anderson

This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0