Empowering Education: Unleashing the Benefits of Digital Resources for Students
Digital Resources have always been a popular tool amongst the digital marketing and online business community, but they can help you with more than just your lead generation.
Everyone is a different type of learner. Something I have noticed is most courses and programs are full of videos and audio and are greatly lacking in other areas.
As a non-auditory learner and someone who likes to read on the go, having courses full of just videos isn't always ideal. I learn by reading and by doing. So, for me, I'd rather have a digital resource I could read.
Now, I'm not saying videos aren't a good tool; keep those for sure, but keep in mind that only roughly 30% of the population is an auditory learner, but there is a huge variety of learning styles. For retention purposes, you want to keep your students engaged and working through your program. The best way to do that? Ensure you include multiple learning styles so there's a little something for everyone.
Including even simple digital resources in your course can make a great impact and cater to diverse learning styles and preferences.
10 Benefits of Using Digital Resources in Your Program For Students are:
1. Accessibility
Digital resources can be accessed anytime, anywhere (you don't have to worry about having to watch a video and the noise). They can allow students to work at their own pace and accommodate various schedules. They're easier to consume in busy spaces, as you don't need to worry about the noise of a video or trying to hear and focus on someone speaking.
2. Engagement
Digital resources can be great companions for course videos. Some learners are very visual, so providing alternative learning options can be very supportive for all learners. You can also include extra information, questions to keep students engaged and retaining the information, and action steps for further learning.
3. Personalization
You won't be able to make your course perfect for every learner, but only including video/audio-related content excludes the majority of learners. Videos can be good if your information is content that can be listened to on the go. But, stronger courses include a variety of styles of learning to provide an opportunity to a range of learners, making it more personalized.
4. Flexibility
Digital resources provide flexibility in terms of content delivery and instructional methods, allowing educators to adapt and customize materials to meet the diverse needs of their students. As mentioned above, you can include a digital resource/PDF to complement the other delivery methods. Furthermore, not every section needs a video. For some modules, you can include only a PDF. Mix things up and keep it interesting and flexible to engage the most people.
5. Up-To-Date/Modifiable Information
If your subject matter is something that is newer or will have frequent updates occur, using PDFs can actually make updating the material easier. Instead of needing to redo the entire video, you can go into the original PDF and update one sentence, then simply re-download the PDF and upload the new one to your course. Your learners will appreciate the vigilance in giving them the most up-to-date information.
6. Cost Effectiveness
Digital resources are not hard to create/put together (you can also hire copywriters to create professional looking ones... Wink Wink). But creating them also eliminates the necessity of your learners buying books or textbooks for your course. This makes your program immediately more accessible to a larger audience, as it increases the cost-effectiveness of your program.
7. Life-Long Learning Skills
By engaging with digital resources, learners develop digital literacy skills that are essential for success in today's digital world, preparing them for future academic and professional endeavours. The more delivery methods you include, the better the chance of information retention. Including a digital resource as a companion to the videos helps solidify the information and helps learners learn in a variety of methods, allowing them success as they continue with their digital learning adventures.
Ultimately, digital resources don't have to take a ton of time. You can include things like transcripts, slides, workbooks with questions, systems/processes, templates and more.
When creating your next course (or updating your course) make sure you're including as many learning styles as possible to ensure your program is inclusive and thorough.
Happy creating!
P.S. If you're looking to have some Digital Resource PDFs created for your business, either to give away for free, to sell or to include in your course, memberships or program, check out my Digital Resource Creation package to get started as seamlessly as possible.