How to make your online course communication useful and efficient with Vuolearning

In this article, we will go through the things you should communicate to your course participants before, during and after the course. Carefully planned and appropriate course communication will benefit course participants and increase their trust in the course organizer. In addition to that, good communication also reduces your workload as a trainer by providing participants with answers to their questions without having to contact you.

Not all the messages mentioned in this text are necessary for every course, so it is not always needed to follow these guidelines precisely. However, these guidelines can provide good tips on what information participants may need and what kind of communication can support a successful course experience for participants and reduce the number of questions you will receive from them.

When should messages be sent?

Before the course

Before the course starts, it is useful to send the participants a short introductory message containing the same information as the introduction on the course.

The message should include practical information about the course, such as...

• When is the latest date to start the course?
• When does the course need to be completed?
• Does the course need to be completed in one sitting or can it be split into several sessions?
• How much time should the participants reserve for the course?
• What kind of participation and interaction is expected from the participants
• Who can they contact if there are questions about the course or the use of the platform?

The message should also provide clear instructions on how to access and log in to the course platform.

The clearer the information is communicated in the introductory message, the fewer questions participants are likely to have about the course. If you find that something about the practical arrangements for the course raises a lot of questions during the course, it is worth communicating this in the introductory message in the future.

Clear communication also improves the participant's experience of the course: it builds trust and creates a feeling that the organizer is on top of things.

During the course

Once the course has started, there are some things that you may want to contact the course participants about.

For example, approaching return dates or target deadlines may be things it would be good to remind students about.

From the course analytics page on Vuolearning, you can easily see which users have not yet started or are still going through the course, and you can then target such reminders to the right audience.

Messages about great results and progress are sure to delight participants. From the course analytics, you can pick the students who have made good progress or returned great answers and send them a message with feedback about their performance.

After the course

When the course is over, you can finish the process with a closing message.

In the message, you can summarize the course performance and feedback, and thank the learners for their participation and feedback. It is also a good opportunity to encourage students to fill in the course feedback form, if many have not done so.

If you or your organisation have other courses available that could be done as a follow-up to the course the participants have just attended, you can also use the closing message as a place to promote these other courses.