There are many factors when it comes to CME learner participation and course completion. Learners' specific needs and goals are paramount for learning success, especially when many healthcare professionals are among the 65% of people who are visual learners.
What can you do to increase CME participation and course completion? Discussion groups, social media, email, and text feedback increase the number of user communities where learners can discuss topics and exchange ideas.
In this blog post, we provide you with the six essentials of CME participation and completion for your learners and the impact that your CME programs can have through technology.
1. Understanding Your Learners and Provide Compelling CME Content
As part of the essentials of CME participation and completion, you must understand your learners and how they best want to receive knowledge.
Most people are visual learners, and further research shows that people only remember 10% of the information that they hear. So, if a piece of information is presented orally to people and they are asked about the same information later, only 10% will remember it. Add a picture, though, and the retention rate increases to 65%.
The same goes for attention spans. Use a PowerPoint presentation, and you’ll be lucky if your audience is still with you after ten minutes. Simply put, learners don’t pay attention to boring things.
So, what is the best way to reach them?
Use video. It enables you to convey difficult medical concepts and captures the attention of your learners in a way that regular text doesn't. It also increases information retention.
Cisco reports that video will quadruple from 2017 to 2022, increasing video streaming to 82%. Video on-demand streaming will also double, making it the equivalent of 10 billion DVDs every month.
If you aren’t already doing so, strongly consider introducing video into your online CME courses. You’ll find better CME participation and completion when your learners find your content compelling and enjoyable.
2. Using Social Media
Social media can increase participation in your online courses because learners can access information from their mobile devices wherever they are in the world.
Thirty-one percent of medical professionals use social media platforms for professional networking and development. As a CME course provider, you can post CME-related content on your Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter pages, for example, and encourage your learners to exchange ideas and discuss topics. You can also post details of live webinars and tutorials and recommended reading lists.
3. Embracing Email, Text, and Audio Feedback
Regular feedback increases learner participation. It provides them with constructive criticism and improves their learning outcomes, which are essentials of CME participation and completion.
Email is a simple and effective way of providing learners with feedback. It can take the form of generic comments to one or a group of learners. Another form is a podcast. The benefit of this is that it provides good-quality feedback.
Email, text, and audio feedback make comments and criticism just as immediate as conventional classroom-based feedback. Research has concluded that regular feedback supports learning and is beneficial for learners with little knowledge of a subject.
4. Using Discussion Boards to Drive Learner Communities
Discussion boards enable CME learners to build their own online community. There, they can discuss various topics about the course and exchange learning materials. Numerous studies have shown the impact of discussion boards on e-learning outcomes. They serve as important learning tools and enable learners to ask questions about the course. Online topics can also be referenced in a webinar, which could further enhance discussion.
5. Recognizing That Technology Can Boost More CME Participation and Course Completion
When it comes to your learners, the ability to participate in and complete their CME courses also means they need easy ways to access the materials.
Attempting to use a poor CME LMS makes learning difficult. The causes can be:
- Complicated interfaces
- Absence of functionality
- Lack of integration with learner tools
- Inability to log into multiple systems to complete different tasks, giving learners too many things to do
- Failure to offer pre- and post-test assessments or having non-existent assessments capabilities
- Fragmented overall experiences
Should they become frustrated enough with their inability to receive their education easily, learners may go to another provider.
6. Helping Boost Learner Participation and CME Course Completion with a New LMS
One of the essentials of CME participation and completion is having an LMS that’s learner friendly (and convenient for you!). An LMS such as EthosCE provides the tools for easier CME content creation and course delivery.
EthosCE enables learners to use a single-sign-on module that gives them access to multiple systems with one username and password. There’s no logging in and out of various systems or course modules, so learners can concentrate on the materials themselves, removing any frustrations of dealing with a cumbersome platform.
EthosCE also provides integration with Zoom and GoTo Meetings, so you can deliver high-quality, live streaming videos that will keep learners engaged. Learners better participate in and complete their courses when they can view content rather than having to read through or listen to what could be boring lectures. Videos can also be converted into enduring materials so the information can be studied at times that best suit learners.
EthosCE Can Help You Increase Your CME Learner Participation and Course Completion
There are several ways that your learners can move ahead with their CME. Their participation and course completion can be derived from activities such as discussion groups and social media, with instructor feedback through email, text, and audio. Providing them with the right LMS, such as EthosCE, can spell success for them and for you.
At EthosCE, we understand the challenges of staying up to date and compliant with ACCME changes. We know how critical it is to get things done right the first time when it comes to team-based education and success.
To learn how EthosCE can enhance the continuing education of your healthcare teams, schedule a free 1-on-1 demo with one of our specialists today!
