Show Notes:
Keeping students engaged and re engaging students once they have dropped off are two completely different strategies, which is why I have covered them in separate podcasts.
The first thing to remember is that it is completely natural that some people will drop off. Things happen, and there is no such thing as 100% completion. However, if you are wanting to re engage people who have dropped off, there are a number of strategies that make it easier for them to come back willingly instead of forcing them to stay or forcing them to come back.
The second thing to remember is that they will already be feeling bad about dropping out or falling behind. Think about why they might be falling behind – is there to much work, are they not understanding the course?
Two simple strategies that could help are:
1. Re engage with emails. This could be automated, or, if your course is small enough it is nicer if you send a personal email reaching out to make contact.
2. Make it easier for them to catch up with content. For example, you could offer course work in Week 1 & Week 2 and then leave Week 3 spare for students to catch up. Maybe you could offer catch up lessons or live calls or a bonus Q&A. You need to let them know that it is OK to fall behind and that there is help to catch them up again.
Action Step:
Think about if you have a strategy to re engage people and what it is. Its up to you which one you will have, but it is important to have something planned in advance so that it is easy to implement.