Introduction

We recently dove into a sample of about 50 high-enrollment self-paced classes on Outschool to look for trends and successful strategies. In addition to manually looking at the characteristics of each class, we analyzed their retention rates (did learners enroll more classes later), level of engagement (how often did learners work on their class), and ratings. The result was a set of class characteristics that were associated with higher performance against those metrics. 

Disclaimer: Due to sample size, these are only preliminary findings and are not yet backed by rigorous statistical analysis. Future work will be done to gain statistically backed insight into these best practices. Furthermore, Outschool represents such a wide variety of subjects, age groups and styles and as such, these best practices are given only as general guidance and are not meant to be prescriptive or restrictive. Even our small sample revealed many different successful styles and no single style will be right for all groups on our diverse platform.

Chunking and Organization

The most common successful class structure we observed used a single main video for the first post of each lesson. Smaller subsequent posts within each lesson were sometimes used for assignment submission, “learn more” type content, or other fun add-ons to the main lesson video. We did also notice a small set of classes successfully using a more micro-learning style, where each lesson is broken down into separate posts with short, 4-7min videos. Currently, we recommend using the “main-video” style, especially for younger audiences. However, we hope to update the self-paced classroom to better support continued experimentation with the micro-learning style and will be digging more into statistical analysis of what video lengths best support learner engagement on our platform.

Feedback and Interaction

One of the great values of Outschool self-paced classes is that learners can get personalized feedback and guidance from you within the self-paced classroom. Recent survey research has shown this characteristic of our classes is very important to families. Early signs from our data analysis also show interaction with the teacher in the self-paced classroom may help boost learner retention (more to come on that as we analyze a larger sample). Currently, though, most learners are not taking advantage of teacher interaction. To see if you can bolster interaction, we recommend making sure your prompt for learners to submit work is salient within the classroom and even recommend demonstrating the submission flow for learners in video. We also recommend using “assignment posts” for submissions, since they are distinct in the interface and have additional submission features.

Active Learning

The high performing classes we saw were always getting learners to actively do something during the lesson. We recommend that part of each lesson’s main video should be used as a follow-along, where you demonstrate parts (but not all) of what the learner needs to do for the lesson and then let them finish off the work with their own problem-solving and creativity. Feedback can be provided on the parts learners do themselves via follow-up assignment posts. Prompting learners to employ their creativity was one of the stand-out features of the highest performing self-paced classes we analyzed.

Link to Live Offerings

This last recommendation isn’t based on the trends we saw in current classes. Instead, it is a recommendation for improving conversion rates from self-paced classes to live offerings. If you plan to (or already do) offer live classes or tutoring on Outschool, we recommend thinking through how your self-paced classes could be used with, or lead into your live offerings. For example: 

• A self-paced class could serve as an intro session of a live offering. 
• Live tutoring could be offered to support students who need synchronous help with their self-paced class. 
• A self-paced class could support a flipped classroom model, where learners follow-along with video content on their own, then discuss and get feedback on their work in ongoing live sessions.

We’re excited to focus on experimenting with these hybrid styles in the coming year!

Example Lesson Structure

Below is a hypothetical example of the most common successful class structure we observed in our analysis. We use a drawing class for this example, but the structure could be applied to other subject areas.

• Post 1: Main video (10-30 minutes)
  • Intro: The learner is introduced to the subject they will draw in this lesson and some interesting information about it. 
  • Follow-along: The teacher guides the learner through steps to create the drawing, providing instruction on technique and thought-process along the way. 
  • Exploration: The learner is prompted to use their own creativity to complete or extend the drawing.
• Post 2: Assignment post with video (1-3 minutes)
  • Demonstrates submission flow and builds excitement around sharing the drawing with the teacher.
• Post 3: Optional extra content (5-30 minutes)
  • Dive deeper, practice, or explore more: for example, make another drawing of the same subject, appreciate famous drawings of the subject, practice one of the techniques used.