New Built-In Course Content Dripping feature in courses
These past couple of weeks, we've been rolling out some amazing enhancements to help make your online courses more powerful and easier to manage.
What's Inside Toggle
- What is Course Content Dripping?
- What Differences Will Content Dripping Make for Your Course?
- NEW Built-in Course Content Dripping Simplifying Rules for Courses
- How to Set Up Course Content Dripping in Courses
- What’s Next for Courses? Or Should We Say, What’s Still New…
From creative Assignments and a well-organized gradebook, we've spent the last few months at work designing the necessary tools to have a memorable learning experience.
The first day jitters have passed and you're students have begun to settle into their new surroundings, it's time to focus on your primary course work. And we've got just the tool to keep everything going smoothly and according to plan.
Introducing the latest Courses update: built-in content dripping!
As with a carefully planned plan, our latest course content dripping feature ensures your students receive their lessons precisely when they need them precisely when they require them.
Don't overwhelm students with too much information simultaneously or making students run away. Dripping lets you deliver your course information in small chunks that are manageable and keep your students interested and eager to see what's coming up next.
This new feature continues to evolve right alongside your needs which makes it more simple than ever to plan and manage your online course content.
What is Course Content Dripping?
We've all had those moments... binge-watching a whole television show in just one weekend, then staying up the whole night flipping through page after page of a brand new novel or suddenly realizing that you've ate through a complete bag of cookies... entirely alone ().
Although a treat can be satisfying initially, it often leaves us feeling unfulfilled afterward.
Learning can be the same method. Students who absorb excessive amounts of information at once It can cause:
- anxiety: Worrying they missed something important or made mistakes.
- regret: Wishing they had been patient enough to grasp the subject.
- Doubt: Questioning if they really understood the text.
- Overwhelm: Feeling overloaded with too much information at once.
These aren't feelings you want students to feel after completing your course.
This is where course the content drips in!
Instead of giving your students everything in one go, teaching content drips allow you to release content at a timed, well-timed pace. This method allows them to be patient with every class, remain engaged and absorb the information more effectively.
What Differences Does Content Dripping Create for Your Class?
1. Build Knowledge one step at a time
Instead of providing students with access to all the content at once, dripping allows each lesson or module in a specific order, helping students develop their understanding gradually.
This method is designed to help students develop a sense of success and progress as they move through the program.
Think of your class as a sort of stairwell, with each step being an entirely new concept. It is essential that students master the first step prior to moving on to the following. It is important to are able to grasp fundamental concepts before they can tackle the more complex concepts.
2. Keep Students Interested and motivated
Students are informed that new content is coming frequently, they are able to build anticipation and interest. It keeps them focused and they're eagerly anticipating the next module or lesson.
They become accustomed to setting aside time for each new lesson, which increases the likelihood that they'll remain in the loop and remain committed to learning from beginning until the end.
3. Provide Content at the Right Moment
Dripping of course content gives students complete control over the time and manner in which your lessons are released, aligning them perfectly with your course program.
Whether you're introducing a tricky concept that requires more attention, or preparing to tackle a major assignment that requires more time, using content drips allows users to modify the content of your content to satisfy the demands of both your students and the course goal.
4. Let Everyone Learn at the Same Pace
Dripping of course content is an efficient method to keep everyone's students progressing in a consistent manner making sure that nobody advances too quickly or lags in the middle.
In releasing information at timed intervals, you create an atmosphere of education that's cohesive, in which everyone is advancing with each other.
Additionally, with everyone working together, you will be able to quickly identify any areas where students might require extra help, making sure that no student is left out in the cold.
5. Help to Make Learning Relevant and Managable
The learning process should be one that students are able to enjoy and not an overwhelming learning experience. If all the course content is presented simultaneously the students can experience unnecessary stress and anxiety.
Dripping of course content provides more flexibility for students, with lessons delivered in smaller, manageable portions.
Instead of having to grasp everything at once learners can process the information in a relaxed speed, which makes the process more individual and attainable.
By spacing out the content, you also create occasions of pride for your students when they complete each part. This steady progression helps maintain their interest and keeps their interest in studying.
Shortly, course dripping is a powerful method to keep students engaged, focused and on track. It's a simple yet powerful method of changing the way you deliver your courses, making learning more enjoyable to everyone who participates.
NEW Dripping of Course Content Reducing the Rules for Courses
Setting up course content dripping was an arduous task that required multiple steps and configurations. The process was effective however, let's face it - it wasn't the most efficient way to go about it.
We saw the need for a more simplified solution. That's why we've incorporated our Rules feature directly into the Courses extension. Setting your drip calendars is much simpler and more user-friendly.
Thanks to the built-in drip option, you'll be able to design drip schedules without having to leave the curriculum builder. It not only helps save time but also makes sure that your course materials are safe and distributed as planned.
You can also personalize drip messages in the settings, making it easy to communicate with your students on the time when the next release of content is due to become available. This will help to maintain expectations and keep everyone on the same page.
By taking care of the technical details, we've freed you up to concentrate on what matters: creating top-notch course content.
How do I Set-Up Course Content Dripping within the Courses
When your students begin rushing ahead, let's organize the content of your class so that it keeps students on track and involved with the lessons that are in the classroom.
We mentioned it a time ago, Courses makes use of Rules to control the flow of content.
This means that any drip setting that is applied by Rules will conflict with the built-in dripping options in your course's setting.
So...
- To provide a simplified, hassle-free experience: If you want your course to automatically drip content according to an established schedule (like releasing new lessons automatically every week) this new drip feature is the best and most practical alternative. This makes the process easier and guarantees a steady supply without requiring any additional configuration.
- for more personal control: If you need the freedom to make content available at irregular or highly customized time intervals, Rules gives you that control. But, it takes some more effort and time to create the additional Rules.
Make it Simple: Let's get your Drip Content flowing smoothly!
To set up course content dripping, start by turning on the "Enable Dripping" option in the course configurations.
Below that, you'll need to specify how the content will drip - by the section or for each item. It is also possible to set the time frame (daily week, daily or even monthly) as well as the beginning date and time zone for every content release.
Are you ready to setup the course's content drip? Take a look at the video below to get a thorough walkthrough on how to get started.
What's Next for Courses? What should we say? What's Still New...
Course Dripping could be the most recent and best feature we've rolled out for Courses, but it's not the only change we've recently made.
Before you dive headfirst into dripping, let's be sure to look through some of the other amazing changes you might have seen in the plugin.
As we continue to enhance the tools you can use for your online courses, we realized that the increasing number of tools - such as Lessons, Quizzes, Assignments as well as the Gradebook required an entire space.
That's why we've given Courses an item in the menu within the WordPress dashboard.
Today, all aspects of your course - be it the creation of a new course, building out your curriculums as well as tweaking the course's settings - can be managed by using the menu for Courses on the dashboard.
Separating Courses into its own menu item allows you to ensure that your course development and management of membership tasks separate, which is especially handy if your business relies on both.
If you're a user then you've probably observed this small change. We hope that you're finding the new setup easier to use and less cluttered!
But, if you're just getting to the world of learning and are eager to begin making your course it's possible you're wondering what to do with all these amazing features.
Simply open the plugin, navigate into the Add-Ons section simply search on "course" to narrow down the options available, and then are all the learning tools that are now larger than the plugin itself:
As always, stay tuned to see more exciting upgrades and features coming in the near future. But for now, benefit from the brand new course content dripping feature, as well as explore new enhancements we've added to make your course design experience smoother than ever!
Katelyn Gillis Meet Katelyn running the membership sites or online courses can be difficult, but that's the area where Katelyn is able to help. With a background in the field of education as well as her job title as a Content Manager, she's got an eye for breaking down the complexities and offering tips that are like having an exchange with a friend who understands. If you're in search of fresh ideas or just some reassurance her blog posts can be found here for your convenience.