how long should a drip online course be

by Tressa Kunde 6 min read

Full Answer

Why should you drip your online course content?

Drip course content keeps your students engaged from day one until the end of your course. Learn how, why, and when to drip your course content with Podia. Why should you drip your online course content? When you create and sell an online course , you have two options for delivering course content to your students:

How does drip work in podia's online course builder?

The drip feature in Podia's online course builder delivers your course content to your students section-by-section over time. When a student purchases your online course, they'll be able to preview the title of all of the content within the “Upcoming” section. They can also keep track of the delivery schedule via the countdown above each section.

What is drip-feeding course content?

Drip-feeding course content keeps your students engaged and motivated, which drives higher completion rates for your courses. Instead of facing a flood of content all at once, students can work through the course at a set, manageable pace, with each week's content building on the previous week's module.

How long should an online course be?

An online course should be as short or long as it needs to be in order to deliver the learning outcomes it promises. In practice, you might create a course that only has a few short 5 minute videos to teach something simple. For a more in depth flagship course you might make 25-50 video lessons each 5-20 minutes long.

What is a good length for an online course?

The most profitable online course length Based on what we've seen at Thinkific, the most profitable course length on average is between 10–25 hours. Just below that, 5-10 hour courses are about 75% as profitable. And at the higher range, longer courses—25–100 hours—are slightly less profitable than those.

What is the average length of an online course?

The length of online classes varies. Some can be completed in as little as five weeks, while others take longer. On average, online courses last eight to nine weeks, especially those offered through universities.

How many hours a week is an online course?

Thus, many online courses run the same length as their on-campus counterparts. This means that a semester-based schedule will include approximately 15 weeks of work for 9 hours per week or 135 hours total for the semester for each 3-credit course.

How long is an online mini course?

When we refer to a mini course, we mean short online course that typically takes two hours or less to complete. They cover a hyper-specific topic and are often used as a marketing growth tool. And they might be repurposed content or a unit from a larger online course.

How long are online classes a day?

One of the many advantages of online schools is that they will require less time from you compared to traditional schools. But then again, it is highly dependent on the online school that you or your child is enrolled in. On average, students spend four hours online.

How long should a training course be?

Here's an abbreviated look at many studies' conclusions: Fifteen to 30 minutes is the “sweet spot”. Courses should be as long as needed, even if they're 90 minutes. Shorter is always better.

How long is too long for online training?

Most experts confirm that a good length for a web-based course is somewhere between 15-30 minutes. This traditional opinion builds on psychological research, specific content patterns and, more often than not, gut feeling.

What is the typical workload for an online course?

Plan student workload in a typical course to be on average less than 10 hours per week. Communicate learning expectations and activities to students on a weekly basis.

How many modules should an online course have?

For a shorter course, you probably only want 3 to 5 main steps or modules that will comprise the bulk of your course. Every module contains several lessons that teach the actual course.

How long should a video course be?

The majority of viewers want informational and instructional videos to be less than 20 minutes, with a preference toward the 3-6 minute ranges. And when we analyzed over 50 of our tutorials to measure our videos' engagement and found that the average length of our tutorials is 3:13.

How long should a free mini course be?

OK, the name should pretty much say it all, but just in case it's not clear, a mini course can take whatever form you want, but essentially it's no more than 2 hours long and it covers are fairly concise topic or handful of very specific topics related to the bigger course you are thinking of creating.

How long is a Microlearning Module?

The duration of a DriveSafe Online defensive driving Microlearning Module averages five (5) to seven (7) minutes. Drivers can easily review one or more modules without impacting their regular workday responsibilities.

Who should use MicroLearning Modules?

If your company has a light-duty fleet comprised of work trucks, vans, sedans, and pickup trucks, you should use Micro Modules. Foster a safe driving culture at work to prepare your drivers for road hazards and protect your investment with effective training that lasts.

Currently Available Fleet Driver Training Microlearning Modules

The DriveSafe Online Microlearning Module library is always expanding. The current list includes the following titles:

How does Zippy Course work?

By default, Zippy Courses will drip your course out on a per-lesson basis. That means you set a drip for each individual lesson, and each lesson releases according to this drip. However, you can also set your drip to be controlled by your Units instead of your Lessons, meaning that an entire unit would be dripped at once instead of each individual lesson. This is a great alternative if you want each unit to have all lessons available at the same time.

What is all access course?

All Access courses give a student immediate access to the entire course. There are no additional settings for this scheduling option. Students will not have to wait any amount of time for a lessons to be released.

When will lesson 1 be available?

In this example, Lesson 1 will be available on June 2, i.e. 1 day after the start date. The rest of the lessons become available 1 day after the previous lesson.

What is drip learning?

A drip learning system allows you to provide employees and information in small, digestible bits of information.

What is the benefit of a drip course?

One of the greatest benefits of drip course content is that you can create structured online training programs for employees at different levels. You can also set expiry dates for access to these courses to ensure employees complete them in a timely manner. With Paradiso’s course creation tools, you can create a drip-feed, ...

How long is a fixed time course?

For example, a fixed-time course is for 15 weeks; then you can drip your content out to your members on a weekly basis to keep them engaged and moving through the course.

Can you get all content of a course at once?

You don’t get all content of your course at once; you will get it in stages. As learners progress through the course, they get access to the next part of the content, and eventually, they will have access to the complete course. In some drip-feeding courses, you can access the next level of the content if you purchase or sign-ups for the courses.

How to Determine the Right Online Course Length

The ideal length of an online course highly depends on your audience, topic and goals. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to finding the perfect length of a course.

How Long Should Your Lessons and Videos Be?

What is the ideal length of a pre-recorded video lesson when creating an online course?

What is drip feeding?

Drip-feeding is all about scheduling the delivery of your online course. With it, your learners get the course material in stages. This means that they don’t get the content all in one go, but gain access to it at a set-specific time.

Why do you need to drip feed?

With drip feeding you protect yourself and your content from money back guarantees because it allows enough information to students to see and try the product, but you don’t give them everything right away. This way you force them to work at your own pace without allowing them to speed through the course.

How to customize a course?

Once you do this, you can customize – either add or remove platform features that work the best for you and your customers.

Is drip feeding the same as self-paced?

Drip feeding is very different to self-paced learning. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. A self-paced online course or else ‘online course’ is when your student has access to all of the content of your course immediately after purchasing it.

How long should an online course be?

An online course should be as short or long as it needs to be in order to deliver the learning outcomes it promises. In practice, you might create a course that only has a few short 5 minute videos to teach something simple. For a more in depth flagship course you might make 25-50 video lessons each 5-20 minutes long.

How to make a course interactive?

Another way to make your course interactive is to add activities between presentations. So one section of your course may have 5 minutes of video. Then students are instructed to pause and complete a worksheet before returning to watch the remaining 5 minutes of video.

What happens if you make a course too long?

If you make your course too long, people will get bored and never actually finish it. But if it’s too short, people might not feel like they’re getting their money’s worth.

How many lessons should be in a module?

Each module might have 3 – 10 individual lessons within it which all hold together as a related subject or step in the learning of the bigger outcome. Each lesson of a module should be kept nice and short; just 5 – 20 minutes long. It’s best to create your courses with busy people in mind.

How to make a course fun?

Make your course an adventure. Give your students a reason to explore the course content. Even if that means making some kind of scavenger hunt to get them to go back and look at material multiple times to find a hidden word or something similar. Make them prove they understand.

How long should a student watch a video?

A good amount of your students are likely people with full-time jobs and families to take care of. So it’s not convenient for them to sit down and watch a 30-minute video each day. Also, psychology shows that people retain information better when they’re given it in small portions with breaks in between (source).

Can you split a course into multiple sections?

It can be hard to accomplish. Instead of sacrificing quality content that you feel should be included, it’s usually worth splitting it out into multiple sections of the course. Worst case scenario, you can always attach extra material to the course in an appendix or “bonus section.”.

Why and how to drip-feed your online course?

Have you ever wanted to drip-feed your content on your e-learning or membership site? Here are options to consider and why, if you haven’t considered it, you might want to take a look.

Why drip-feeding your content is a good idea?

If you sell anything online, you know you have to create trust. And if you want to eradicate doubt, just put an X days money back guarantee no matter what.

How to drip-feed your online course for free?

I’m a huge fan of the Paid Membership Pro plugin. You should really take a look, it’s free and you’ll be able to find a lot of free extensions for it.

What LMS to choose to drip feed?

So, in light of the evident benefits above, you would think that every LMS has a drip-feed option. But that’s not the case. Several options out there will still allow you to do so.

Conclusion

So here are my techniques to drip-feed content. I’ll probably come up with new ones in the future, but this is what I do:

Delivery Should Be Learner-Driven

In fact, one reason some self-paced courses have low completion rates is because they shouldn't be self-paced at all. When it comes to learning, delivery format is learner-driven just like everything else in your course.

2 Questions to Help You Decide

Here's two simple questions to ask if you're struggling to decide if your course should be self-paced or dripped out:

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