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It’s no secret that continuing education is an aspect of the professional world that is here to stay and is quite important. In today’s fast paced world with a workforce that is becoming more and more technologically literate, it’s important that your continuing education keeps up with the times. It’s essential to consider your audience—what do they need? How soon do they need it? What will entice them to be more receptive? HOW CAN WE HELP THEM? Our stellar client services team got together to highlight some tips and tricks to making your members’ online continuing education experience both user-friendly and [...]

Like many businesses in America, these are challenging times for associations. Between tighter budgets, and changing demographics the traditional business model built on membership dues is in need of a tune-up. One way that associations meet the financial challenges created by changing demographics and tighter budgets is to seek other sources of revenue, non-dues sources of revenue. The need for non-dues revenue affects trade and professional associations alike, with the majority of associations relying heavily on non-dues revenue. On average, professional associations derive 65% of their revenue from non-dues sources, while trade associations rely on non-dues revenue for 59% of their [...]

As Neil recently pointed out in his blog, learners have changed, and their learning preferences have changed. The question then becomes, how do you develop courses that will engage, stimulate, educate and excite the modern learner? Here are some course design tips we thought you might find helpful: Make it bite-sized. Over-loaded schedules and frequent interruptions makes time for continuing education a luxury. Providing learning in bite-sized chunks will help your learners get key points or tips that they can immediately apply to their professional practice. If accrediting bodies require certain course durations for certification, be sure to build in a [...]

Recently I saw this infographic from Bersin by Deloitte, HR specialists, which dissects the modern learner. While they were focused on learners in a corporate environment, their findings are applicable across industries and provide great insight into the challenges that those focused on professional continuing education encounter. Today’s work places are fast-paced ever changing environments that demand that employees constantly develop new skills and hone their existing ones. Whether your learner is a skilled doctor needing to stay up-to-date with the latest medical advances, or a fork-lift operator who must remain current with all safety requirements, continuous learning is a must. [...]

If you’ve taken a basic marketing course, or done any reading on the subject, you’ve probably heard of the 4P’s of marketing; Product, Place, Price and Promotion. You’ve been told all you have to do is know what a particular group of people wants, where or how they want to purchase it, what they will pay for it and do all that exactly when they want it. In short, all you have to do is offer the right product in the right place, for the right price at the right time. If you’re anything like me you thought, “Yeah right! There’s [...]

I recently ran across this great infographic on the prevalence of mobile technology, and how that is enabling the boom in m-learning. What made this so interesting is that the m-learning, or mobile learning, they were referring to was podcasting. Most of us, myself included, don’t immediately think of podcasting as a form of mobile learning, yet it is. The infographic provided some great facts on the benefits of podcasting as a delivery type. And this really made me pause and consider this often ignored type of continuing education, the podcast. The benefits of podcasts are numerous. Podcasts require fewer technological [...]

Recently we’ve been getting some questions about m-learning, or mobile learning, and thought it would be good to spend some more time on this topic. The questions we’ve been asked range from, “Do I need to offer mobile learning?” to, “What kind of content works best for m-learning?” Before we launch into answering all these questions, let’s agree on this central point: M-learning should be based on your learners’ behavior and should complement and augment your existing CE offerings. It shouldn’t be added just to tick the box. So with that foundation in mind, let’s launch into your questions. How do [...]

More and more organizations are using webinars to educate their members, establish themselves as thought-leaders in their industry, promote the benefits of membership, or offer continuing education. If you are launching a webinar, here are some things to consider. Are you going to charge for your webinars? If you are offering free content, you need to partner with a provider who recognizes that, and offers a pricing model that fits your budget. Do you have a plan for making the webinar content available after the webinar? While many people might find your webinar content compelling, scheduling conflicts may prevent them from [...]