Brainstorm: What trends about Learn WordPress leaners do we want to observe?

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The Learning Pathways project was kicked off after an extensive survey of WordPress users and their needs. It was a step by the Training Team to pivot towards a more data-informed content planning strategy.

In order for the team to continue a data-informed content planning strategy, let’s brainstorm what learner trends we should start observing in order to best serve their needs. In the comments below, please note the following:

What data would be relevant for the Training Team to surface?
How would surfacing that data better serve our learners, team, and community?
What considerations would be needed in order to surface that data?

We’ll close the initial round of comments on February 25th and consider next-steps.

Active Learners

A monthly look at both the number of visitors to the site, and the number of learners that interact with each type of content.

Learn WordPress is a gateway for folks coming into the WordPress community – similar to Meetups. By keeping a pulse on the fluctuations of visitors and those who engage with the content, we would be able to pick up on user trends. We could focus content creation on content types or topics that serve the greatest needs of that time.

Standard protocols should be followed for the use and management of anonymized traffic data.

Search Key Words

The keywords people are searching for when landing on Learn WordPress. Also, the search queries people are using on the on-site search bar.

This would provide the team with direct insight into what learners are searching for. The team would then be able to identify gaps in the available content and create those for learners.

Standard protocols should be followed for the use and management of anonymized search data.

Benjamin Evans 1:04 am on February 8, 2024
To kick us off, here are a couple of suggestions.

Active Learners
1. A monthly look at both the number of visitors to the site, and the number of learners that interact with each type of content.
2. Learn WordPress is a gateway for folks coming into the WordPress community – similar to Meetups. By keeping a pulse on the fluctuations of visitors and those who engage with the content, we would be able to pick up on user trends. We could focus content creation on content types or topics that serve the greatest needs of that time.
3. Standard protocols should be followed for the use and management of anonymized traffic data.
Search Key Words
1. The keywords people are searching for when landing on Learn WordPress. Also, the search queries people are using on the on-site search bar.
2. This would provide the team with direct insight into what learners are searching for. The team would then be able to identify gaps in the available content and create those for learners.
3. Standard protocols should be followed for the use and management of anonymized search data.
SierraTR 5:38 pm on February 8, 2024

I agree with all of your suggestions. In the Active Learner section, if we are serving the content from the WP YouTube channel we should be able to get the number of users who access specific content, whether they watch the content to it’s conclusion and if they do not, the point at which they exit.
It will also be interesting to see at what point learners are entering a given pathway. Do they start at the beginning and follow modules in sequence, start in the middle at a relatively common point and continue or just access a module/lesson seemingly randomly for specific training.
Is the content that we have provided meeting the needs of the users?
Cynthia Norman 1:39 pm on February 15, 2024

I really like the before and after knowledge/confidence rating tools. We ask before someone completes a lesson, module etc on a scale of 1-5 how comfortable they are with “blank” then ask the same questions after they go through the content and learning activities.

I also like to know what is motivating them when a learner is interested in a topic, course etc. Eg. Are you interested for professional growth in your current employment or starting a freelance business?

If we could capture their role as a WordPress user when they enroll we would have a better understanding of their needs. Eg. Designer, Developer, Hobbyist

The data captured from the learners would feed directly into the revision of current content and development of new content.
Benjamin Evans 1:40 am on March 2, 2024
Thank you for your ideas, @sierratr and @cnormandigital. The metrics that were raised in this discussion were:
1. Monthly site visitors
2. Monthly active users (users who interact with each content)
3. Search words people use to arrive on Learn
4. Search words used once on Learn
5. Entry points into learning pathways
6. User satisfaction of content
7. Before and after confidence comparison
8. User motivation to start on a course
9. User role (designer, developer, hobbyist etc.)
Items 1 through 3 are currently collected through Google Analytics, YouTube Analytics, and Jetpack. I’m in the process of setting up a method with Marketing to periodically report these to the team.

Item 4 needs some looking into. Learn has Jetpack Search enabled, but I have not been able to find whether user search activity is made available to site owners 🤔 Does anyone have more information on whether this is possible?

Item 5 seems like something we could see from the systems the site already has in place. Do you have an idea, @sierratr, of what stat we should be looking at specifically to see one’s entry point?

The remaining items 6 through 9 could be collected through user surveys we add to Learn, or specifically, Learning Pathways. I’ve heard @west7 mention this is something he’d like to create at some point, too. However, I don’t see the creation of a user survey on the Learning Pathways project thread’s project timeline. Let me make a comment over there that this would be great to have. @cnormandigital, would you be interested in collaborating with @west7 and others to make this survey in time for the relaunch in July?
- Benjamin Evans 1:49 am on March 2, 2024
  
  I’ve added a comment to the Learning Pathways project thread about creating learner surveys: https://make.wordpress.org/training/2023/07/07/project-thread-learning-pathways-on-learn-wordpress/#comment-4174
Cynthia Norman 1:34 pm on March 5, 2024

@bsanevans thank you for your awesome summary here. Yes, I am able to assist with the survey components and would be happy to collaborate with @west7

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