Strategies to build an on-demand content library for your continuing education program

Introduction

Are you looking for tips to streamline continuing education course registration, reach more learners, or drive non-dues revenue? If so, it might be time to invest in building your on-demand content library by leveraging a robust learning management system (LMS).

Read on for strategies to create your on-demand content library and improve the learner experience in your continuing education program.

What is a continuing education program content library?

An on-demand content library is a repository of any materials you might need to create your continuing education program courses. Within a content library, you can upload video files like WMVs and MP4s. You can also support MP3s and other file recordings. Additionally, you can house any form of document or image to ensure that your learners have all the information they need for a continuing education course.

With the right learning management system (LMS), creating an on-demand content library should be simple. Staff can drag and drop necessary files and sort them into corresponding folders. They can also make clips of educational videos, making video content more accessible for learners. Consider repurposing learning clips for nano-courses or repackaging a variety of clips to create a new continuing education course.

How to leverage and LMS to build a continuing education program content library

Now that you know what a content library is and how your continuing education program can leverage one, it’s time to consider building one for your learners.

Here are seven steps to get started:

1. Define your goals and learner needs

Before you build your continuing education program content library, you’ll want to understand your program’s objectives and your learner’s needs. Ask these questions to guide the structure and content of your library:

• Who are your learners? Consider their professional backgrounds, skill levels, and goals.
• What are the program’s outcomes? Identify whether your continuing education program should be focused on skill-building, certifications, or career advancement.
• How do your learners want to learn? Create surveys and seek learner feedback to gain insights on if your learners prefer videos, articles, webinars, nano courses, interactive modules, or different learning formats.

2. Repurpose your current content

As you look to build your on-demand content library, review the continuing education content you already have. Use this material to build out your content library with your LMS, making it easy for staff to create courses. For example, consider utilizing your LMS to sync existing slides with new audio to update a continuing education course.

3. Archive live programs

Be sure to archive all of your live events. Then, you can consider making the recording on-demand, reaching more learners and stretching your continuing education content further. Try building up your on-demand content library by recording your annual conference sessions and repurposing the session material in future continuing education courses.

4. Build chapters

To maximize the content in your on-demand content library, try using your LMS chapter feature. Chapters help you divide up content for your learners, ensuring your content is easy to understand and digestible for all learners. Once you create a chapter, you can easily upload your content like videos or audio recordings.

Customize your chapters with quizzes, assessments, or other checkpoints to ensure the CE course meets all curriculum requirements. With chapters you can allow learners to submit for credit after completing certain sections, offering learning flexibility and customization.

5. Offer a variety of content

Build out your course offerings to attract even more learners to your continuing education program. Consider providing just-in-time learning content with short videos, easy-to-download graphics, or accessible audio recordings. When you offer more content in a variety of formats, you’ll boost accessibility and attract learners from across generations and backgrounds.

6. Reach a wide audience

Ensure your continuing education program reaches a larger audience by making your content available to non-members. Offering continuing education courses to non-members is a great way to drive non-dues revenue.

Consider offering a separate course registration fee for members and non-members to highlight the benefits of joining your organization. Ultimately, this can help drive more non-members to membership, ensuring they return to your continuing education program year after year.

7. Streamline course registration

Leverage your LMS to properly list and organize your continuing education program courses. Easily create continuing education course descriptions, detailing speaker information, important dates, and crucial details. Try building a channel so learners can easily find and register for courses within their continuing education program. Leverage tags so your courses are searchable, streamlining the registration process for learners.

Look for an LMS that integrates with your association management software (AMS) so your learners can register for their continuing education course either from your LMS or AMS. When you choose software that integrates, your learner data will automatically sync, tracking course registration and credit completion.