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Summary: This post proposes resegmenting the current Learning Pathways content into shorter courses. This is expected to improve the learner experience and increase course completions. Please share your thoughts below.

On the 2nd of August, the new Learn WordPress site was launched, with a new type of content called Learning Pathways. Learning Pathways are a series of courses that guide learners from beginner to advanced skill levels in a specific field or discipline.

The WordPress Foundation recently emphasized the importance of increasing the number of course completions on Learn. It was highlighted that value lies not in the number of people who register for courses but in those who complete them. This prompted an investigation into the structure of Learning Pathways and the insights revealed by the data.

Current Learning Pathway courses are lengthy, with the number of lessons in each course ranging from 20 to 59. Course statistics show that the number of learners who progress through a course diminishes from lesson to lesson, with some courses seeing two-thirds of learners dropping out by the 10th lesson.

Lesson completion rates are stable throughout a course, though, and even show an increase in some courses. This indicates lessons in the later parts of a course are as relevant and engaging to users as those in earlier parts of a course.

Beginner WordPress User course learner progression graph

Benefits of shorter courses

Long learning pathway courses can be daunting, leading to learner fatigue and decreased motivation. By breaking these courses into shorter courses, we can enhance the learning experience.

Shorter courses allow learners to concentrate on one topic or section at a time. This focused approach prevents the feeling of being overwhelmed by too much content, making it mentally easier to commit to the learning path. Shorter courses will help learners experience a sense of achievement more often and progress at a manageable pace.

Completed courses are already included in learners’ .org profile, which is expected to encourage the completion of shorter courses.

Feedback request

We would appreciate feedback from the Training Team on whether you support restructuring our content into a more digestible format. This shift could make the material easier to consume and potentially improve learner engagement.

Please provide feedback by 19 December 2024.

Rico F. Lüthi 9:33 am on December 5, 2024

Our statistics show that our learning paths already perform well compared to other school-based and online offerings in terms of dropout rates. However, there is still room for improvement. A promising idea is to divide the learning units into smaller sections. This approach could help participants achieve a sense of accomplishment more quickly, which would be particularly advantageous in the blended learning model, as it often takes a long time for such experiences to occur.

In online cohorts, confusion arises when learning paths cannot be consistently followed. By breaking content into smaller units, the thematic structure could be better aligned with participants’ needs, making it easier to navigate within the cohort.

A good example is the excellent online cohort with Jonathan and Lax, where the lesson structure does not align well with the cohort’s learning objectives. For instance, if the learning path starts with the basics of programming, moves on to pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party development, and then covers theme development, this progression could be implemented more clearly within the cohort.

It is essential to clearly communicate the sequence of learning units to avoid misunderstandings among participants and ensure a coherent learning experience.
- Kaito Hanamori 5:05 am on December 9, 2024
  
  It is essential to clearly communicate the sequence of learning units to avoid misunderstandings among participants and ensure a coherent learning experience.
  
  I agree that this will be important when breaking courses smaller. Currently, the words “beginner, intermediate, advanced” in the course titles clearly explain the sequence of content. We’ll need to figure out how best to convey this when learning pathways consist of more courses. Numbering courses is a simple way we might achieve this.
  - Jonathan Bossenger 12:10 pm on December 9, 2024
    
    I know we investigated this early on in planning for the new learning pathways, but I would really like to see the ability to attach single lessons to multiple modules/courses.
    
    As Rico mentioned here, the current structure of the Beginner Developer course made it harder, not easier, to select content for the course cohort. I would have preferred to be able to select specific modules and even specific lessons in different modules, in a different order from the Beginner Developer structure, to tailor it for the course cohort.
    
    This is not part of this conversation, but as we plan for 2025, I’d like to see if we can dive more deeply into how Sensei works and explore its existing functionality more to see if we can free ourselves from some of the current restrictions on content.
    - Wes Theron 7:15 pm on December 9, 2024
      
      +1000 to this
      
      I would really like to see the ability to attach single lessons to multiple modules/courses.
Jonathan Bossenger 2:53 pm on December 6, 2024

I think this is a great idea, and I can already see where we can segment the current developer courses.
Kel Santiago-Pilarski 3:18 am on December 11, 2024

I agree with the benefits of shorter courses. To add to the points shared in the post and comments, I’ve had the chance to experience Learn courses from both sides: as a learner and as someone who’s helped create lessons. From what I’ve seen, shorter courses are a win for everyone.

For learners, they’re easier to follow and make it simple to pick up knowledge quickly, ideal for keeping things clear and digestible.

For creators, shorter courses make the whole process smoother. Writing scripts, recording, and editing all take less time, which makes it easier to focus on quality.

I really like this approach. If a topic needs more detail, we can always share links to the documentation that we already have for a deeper dive. It’s a great way to add a different learning format while still offering plenty of value.

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