LearnDash Breakdown
The online sphere has not only opened up a whole new world for business and marketing but also presents a unique opportunity for remote learning. The role of the internet in education was made even more prominent over the course of the COVID pandemic, with most institutions turning to online resources to deliver lessons and test students.
However, e-learning platforms existed far before the pandemic even came into the picture. These tools allow educators to develop digital products comprising relevant lessons for an individual to learn a particular subject. New aides like LearnDash take things a step further and add elements such as online quizzes and community spaces to make content even more engaging.
What is LearnDash?
LearnDash is a learning management system, or LMS, that allows you to create engaging courses using a drag-and-drop builder. The goal is to build unique e-learning products that are easy to navigate, stimulating for the learner, and deliver some actual value with quality content. If your business is centered around online learning, then I would say LearnDash is a must. The tool facilitates your content creation experience while leaving the reins entirely in your hands when it comes to monetizing, launching, and publishing your courses on your platform. Here are some of the most stand-out features of LearnDash:
Ease of Use
The LearnDash plug-in is super easy to navigate, despite the plethora of features available at your disposal. I was wary at first because I was warned that there are way too many features for a beginner to figure out but I was able to work around it pretty easily as someone with little coding experience. With so many guides and resources available online, if there is anything you are facing trouble with, you can probably find a solution just as quickly.
Layout and Content
You have a lot of templates to choose from for the layout of your source design. The elements are extremely visually intriguing which helps with attention retention. The program also supports high quality audio, image, and video content, although the videos must be hosted externally. If you want, you can also set videos to auto-play to maintain engagement.
Navigation
When it comes to how a user navigates through a course, the default is set to linear mode. This means that the user must complete a lesson before they move on to the next part of the course. You can also set it to free mode to allow looser navigation.
Community Building
The LearnDash platform allows you to create small community forums for users to engage with each other and share their experiences or knowledge. This is an amazing feature that helps your students feel like they are part of a group and encourages interactions and collaborations.
Certificates
You can connect LearnDash with third-party programs like Canva to provide customized accreditations and certificates when the user completes a course.
Gamification
Offering users certifications and badges upon completing lessons and courses keeps the student engaged in healthy competition with their peers. You can also set up leaderboards and point rewards with bonus points for extra quizzes and tests.
LearnDash Pricing
Here is how LearnDash is priced:
LearnDash WordPress Plugin
The LearnDash plugin is priced based on how many websites you wish to use it on. It gives you access to a drag-and-drop builder for courses along with a number of other features mentioned above to make your visitors’ e-learning experience as facilitative as possible.
- 1 site: costs $199 annually.
- 10 sites: costs $399 annually.
- Unlimited: costs $799 annually.
LearnDash Cloud
Access to the full LearnDash site will cost you $29 per month. This package allows you to build and launch a completely new, fully-hosted website with LearnDash focused on e-learning. You get access to 15 exclusive templates for your website along with a host of customization tools to design and decorate as you like.
Alternatives to LearnDash
Try out either of the following options if you are looking for alternatives to LearnDash:
Teachable
Teachable is a pretty popular platform that is frequently used to create courses. Creating courses with Teachable is pretty straightforward and the platform supports most content types, including audio and video material. The interface is very clean and easy to understand, which makes it ideal for beginners. You can create unique modules, lectures, and quizzes as well, although the options for the latter are limited to multiple-choice questions only.
Kajabi
Kajabi is a pretty holistic learning course and digital marketing platform. However, I feel that someone with experience in the world of digital marketing would be able to extract the most out of this platform, so perhaps not the best-suited option for a newbie. It is a great platform to build and market digital, e-learning products. It is also pretty integrative, despite having a lot of built-in tools and functionality. It supports most image and video content as well as documents. You can add features like questions and quizzes too, although it does not support more advanced features like question banks.
Why Should You Use LearnDash?
All in all, LearnDash is a handy e-learning tool that uses an intuitive drag-and-drop builder to make course creation a breeze for inexperienced users. This learning management system is used by small entrepreneurships and large corporations alike- that is because it adds a tonne of functionality to your CMS without making things too complicated. It also offers a lot of unique features to customize your courses and gamify them to keep things interesting for users. Here are the pros and cons of using LearnDash to make and monetize your online courses:
Pros
- The platform is extremely intuitive and easy to navigate.
- You get access to a tonne of features to customize your courses.
- You have complete control over your courses and can mold your customers’ e-learning experience to your liking.
- The number of built-in features is worth the price of the program.
- You can set up automation, if needed, using third-party applications.
Cons
- There is no free version of the plug-in.
- There is no built-in digital marketing functionality.
- For more experienced marketers and digital experts, the use of additional programs may be necessary to maximize functionality.
- Limited flexibility when it comes to built-in payment and membership options for courses.
How I Use LearnDash
Coming soon!
