What is Learner Engagement: Definition, Benefits and Challenges

Learn exactly what learner engagement is plus easy ways to improve engagement using your learning management system. 

Learner engagement isn’t just about having fun with flashy graphics or videos.

It’s about measuring quality and quantity of user participation in their training courses. But it isn’t easy.

Navigating through the maze of complicated learning management systems, on-the-job training, and learning retention hinges on the pivotal role of learner engagement. 

But what exactly is learner engagement and how can you better utilise it within your LMS? 

Keep reading to learn: 

• What learner engagement is 
• Types of learner engagement 
• Benefits of learner engagement
• Plus the challenge of learner engagement 
• Some ways to achieve better learner engagement 

Let’s get started. 

What is learner engagement?

First, let’s start of with a definition:

Definition of learner engagement

Learner engagement is an active process that goes beyond just receiving information. 

It involves participating, being curious, and striving for improvement. To encourage engagement, it’s important to provide interactive tools and personalised content that meet the specific needs of the learner. 

The end result is a culture of optimism and continuous personal and professional growth, which ultimately leads to individual development and a thriving business.

Types of learner engagement

Types of learner engagement include active participation, social engagement, and emotional engagement:

• Active participation involves learners taking an active role in their learning, such as asking questions and participating in discussions. 
• Social engagement refers to learners interacting with their peers and instructors, fostering collaboration and community. 
• Emotional engagement focuses on creating a positive and supportive learning environment that encourages learners to feel connected and motivated. 

What does an engaged learner look like?

Identifying an engaged learner is like seeing someone mesmerised by their favourite artist at a musical festival. 

You’ll have seen it; they’re the ones with a sparkle in their eyes, eager to dive in and engross themselves. 

But for the non-festival goers, let’s break it down further:

• Curiosity and initiative: Engaged learners ask questions, not just to clarify doubts but to explore the subject beyond the syllabus. And better still, they take the initiative to learn more, often venturing into related topics or practical applications.
• Active participation: Whether it’s in a classroom setting or an online forum, these learners contribute to discussions, share insights, and are not afraid to express their opinions or ask for feedback.
• Consistent performance and improvement: An engaged learner’s performance is consistently high, but more importantly, they show a continuous trajectory of improvement. They set personal learning goals and strive to achieve them, reflecting a strong commitment to personal and professional development.

These traits not only define an engaged learner but also underscore the importance of fostering a learning environment that encourages the learner to not shy away from embracing their curious mindset.

Benefits of high learner engagement

In short, if you want to create a business culture that impresses prospective talent, but also transforms the skillset of your employees, then look no further.

Here’s a snapshot of benefits:

Improved learner performance

Want to see learners increasingly motivated and satisfied with their learning experience?

This is just one of many benefits. Additionally, learner engagement fosters a sense of community and collaboration, allowing learners to connect with their peers and build valuable relationships.

Better knowledge retention

It’s important to provide opportunities for learners to apply and practise what they have learned. 

This can be done through hands-on activities, real-world simulations, or interactive exercises. 

Furthermore, incorporating regular assessments and quizzes can help reinforce learning and identify areas that may need further review.

Lower dropout rates

Engaged learners are more likely to stay committed to their learning journey and less likely to drop out. 

This is because they feel a sense of belonging and connection within their learning community.

Learning culture

A learning culture in the workplace can lead to increased productivity and efficiency. It also improves employee satisfaction and retention by promoting employee growth and development. 

Additionally, it helps attract top talent and enhances a business’ reputation. Creating a learning culture is essential for businesses to remain competitive and foster adaptability, innovation, and continuous improvement.

This also has a ripple effect, leading to enhanced critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills, preparing individuals for real-world challenges and promoting personal and professional development.

And if those 4 benefits aren’t enough, consider this: Academic engagement leads to better grades and a positive outlook on the future. 

Challenges to achieving learner engagement

Achieving high learner engagement isn’t easy, but it is possible. The main issue L&D teams hit is reevaluating their offering, and putting their user first. 

But before we go into how to improve learner engagement, here are some of the key challenges to achieving it:

Lack of learning time

This can be a significant challenge to achieving learner engagement. 

However, by implementing regular check-ins and surveys, you can gauge learner satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. 

Constructive feedback fosters a positive learning culture and keeps learners motivated, even in limited timeframes.

Poor tools

Poor tools can hinder learner engagement and impede the effectiveness of the learning experience. 

It is crucial to invest in high-quality and user-friendly tools that facilitate interactive learning and personalisation. 

Negative mindset

There will always be those who think they don’t have more to learn. 

But, to overcome the challenge of a negative mindset, it is essential to create a supportive and encouraging learning environment. 

This can be achieved by encouraging learners to set realistic goals and celebrating their achievements. This can also help shift their mindset towards a more positive and motivated outlook.

Old-fashioned learning methods

Remember when overhead projectors were replaced with smart interactive whiteboards? Clinging onto the past with old-fashioned learning methods helps no-one.

Don’t fear innovative and interactive teaching techniques, because these are the secret sauce to catering to the diverse learning styles of individuals. 

Incorporating technology, gamification, and real-world applications into the learning process can make it more engaging and relevant.

Boredom (with content)

Death by PowerPoint… need we say more?

Imagine you’re tasked with a new learning course and you get faced with endless decks to scroll through. You’re left to your own devices and hit with a wall of text. 

How to achieve better learner engagement

Learner engagement continues to be one of the biggest challenges for L&D professionals.

And we can’t say we’re surprised.

How we learn continues to evolve. And the means through which we can learn are equally evolving too.

Just look at TikTok, Slack, podcasts, YouTube and so on.

So how do L&D teams keep up?

• Inspire competition
• Encourage development
• Create a learning culture
• Make it social
• Teach how users want to learn
• Make it personalised

Let’s go through each one:

Inspire competition

Past studies suggest there’s a correlation between studying and competition.

And just look at things like Strava and Duolingo.

Related: What to steal from Duolingo for your learning strategy

They both use leaderboards and statistics to encourage competition.

Strava tracks the number of hours you log exercise and puts green and red arrows next to each so you can see how you compare against yourself.

Duolingo meanwhile uses a range of leagues and leaderboards to push learners to want to climb the ranks.

Both of these result in users wanting to return to the app and engage further.

Encourage development

Even with the most engaged learner, they won’t get everything right on a quiz.

It’s at this point that you need to provide positive feedback.

We know praise positively effects performance. So encourage it in your learning content.

Look at how MindPal do it. They reinforce good performance and support learners correct their mistakes.

But it goes further than this.

Learning needs to directly connect to performance and development.

Otherwise, why will your learner engage?

They need to have direct outcomes from engaging with your content, whether that’s job progression or skill development. Totara Perform is a key tool to help solidify this connection.

With it, you can connect your learning to performance and use feedback to guide impact.

Create a learning culture

Lots of learners will see a learning system as a means to an end.

It’s up to you to make it more.

But how?

There are a few ways.

Totara Engage is a great add-on to Totara Learn that allows you to build social aspects to your LMS.

With it, you can:

• Find subject expert matters
• Build forums for employees to connect and comment on learning content
• Create personalised learning playlists

With all of these, your LMS will become more of a hub for users.

Instead of just offering learning content, it becomes more of a community which is key to driving engagement.

Teach how users want to learn

Not all users like to learn face-to-face. Others prefer that to online learning.

Some people will learn better with video content, while others prefer reading content instead.

While it means creating more content, you should create learning content in multiple forms.

Not only that, but be mindful of time.

Not everyone has hours to dedicate to learning.

As such, create microlearning where you make bitesize learning programmes to run through in 5 to 10 minutes each.

This allows users to learn on their own schedule.

Make it personalised

Ever wonder why platforms like Netflix and Amazon work so well?

They run on a highly effective machine learning system that takes in all of your data and uses it to create recommendations.

With this, they can encourage engagement (and more sales) as you’re presented with items you’re likely to engage with.

The same logic can be applied to learning.

Totara’s recommendations machine allows you to offer personalised learning to your learners based on a number of factors.

With this in your arsenal, you can drive better sessions on your LMS.

Wrapping up

Found more ways to drive learner engagement? We hope so.

Of course, there are so many hours in the day, and some LMSs will have limitations,

But no matter what tool you are using, prioritising learner engagement is the silver bullet to driving better results through learning content.

Want to see how we can support you to achieve better learner engagement?

From building gamification elements to supporting easier content sharing, we offer Totara plus more. That means a totally customisable platform that you can use to improve the impact of learning.

Sound good?

Book a demo with our team to see it in action.