Guide to Managing Cohort-Based Online Courses with LearnDash

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Welcome to our guide on delivering dynamic cohort-based online courses with LearnDash! Using the Cohort Manager add-on, LearnDash makes it easy to recreate collaborative peer learning environments digitally.

We’ll explore how cohorts unite students in a shared journey with synchronized schedules, nurturing camaraderie and motivation. You’ll discover how the Cohort Manager handles pacing content unlocks, sending progress updates, and restricting access based on precise timelines.

Follow along as we break down how to organize students into intimate cohorts focused on mastering materials together. You’ll learn how to align cohort courses to real-world calendars and blend self-paced learning with interactive live course sessions.

Let’s start unlocking the engaging group learning potential of cohort-based training with LearnDash!

What is Cohort based learning?

At its core, cohort-based learning mirrors the traditional classroom model – just taken online. The central idea is simple: a group of students journey through a series of courses together, united in schedule and deadlines.

This synchronizing of a cohort creates a connection. Students move as one, motivating each other to stick to the timeline and avoid lagging behind. There’s a spirit of collaboration sparked by learning alongside your peers in lockstep.

The cohort method takes that time-tested classroom dynamic and transfers it directly online. Students still experience being part of a group in the same online education. They reap the same benefits of shared motivation and collaboration. It’s an intuitive digitization of the cohort model for a new era of connected learning.

Deliver Dynamic Cohort Courses with Cohort Manager for LearnDash

Inspire connected learning with LearnDash’s tools for cohort based online courses with the Cohort Manager for LearnDash by Training Spark.

Group your students into cohorts, moving through lessons together on a shared schedule. The power of peer motivation and collaborative discovery drives achievement. With LearnDash, you easily build and manage cohort courses from one intuitive hub. Set cohort timelines, pace content unlocks, and send progress notifications with just a few clicks.

Give your cohorts’ learning journey purpose and momentum. Interactive messaging and transparency around milestones keep groups engaged across the finish line.

Whether you want to replicate the energy of traditional classrooms or lead intimate, professional cohorts, LearnDash streamlines cohort management.

Motivate meaningful learning through shared experience.

Features

Lead Dynamic Cohort Courses with Simplicity

With the Cohort Manager, you can easily build collaborative cohort-based courses online that drive motivation and engagement. Through one intuitive screen, add capabilities to supercharge any training program into a shared group journey.

The Cohort Manager handles logistics, allowing you to focus on leading discussions, fostering connections, and guiding cohorts to success. Transform static courses into inspiring collective experiences with ease.

Streamline Cohort Course Administration

Easily schedule email notifications to keep administrators and group leaders on track.

Automate reminders about important deadlines, content to prepare, and tasks to complete. Custom prompts ensure leaders never miss a beat as each cohort progresses.

Stay on top of managing multi-layered cohort courses without hassle. The Cohort Manager’s intuitive notifications enable you to focus on high-level oversight and engagement.

Automate important tasks, empower leaders, facilitate discussions, and ensure smooth operations for your group. Let simplified automation help you administer cohort courses with excellence.

Personalize Each Cohort’s Experience

Make each cohort’s journey through your course uniquely their own. Easily customize content for groups using shortcodes to display tailored info.

Show the cohort’s start date and insert targeted messaging or examples using variables. Build community and connection by personalizing their learning experience. With simple shortcodes, you can provide VIP treatment to every cohort you lead. Guide groups through a training path that resonates and feels specialized just for them.

Surround your cohorts with a high-touch learning experience using cohort-specific content. Let them feel your commitment to their growth and success.

Strategically Schedule Content Unlocking

Drive student momentum by precisely pacing lesson availability for each cohort.

Unlock new materials on the dates you set to maintain forward progress. Your strategic timeline keeps groups focused and engaged as they advance together.

Sync cohorts in anticipation of upcoming topics and milestones. Drip lessons steadily to sustain energy and involvement over the course duration.

With you controlling the release cadence, cohorts stay laser-focused on current objectives. Let scheduled unlocking allow learners to fully digest materials without distraction.

Keep your cohorts connected on the learning path with strategic content scheduling optimized for comprehension and achievement.

Easily Add Cohort Capabilities to Existing Courses

If you’ve already created self-paced courses in LearnDash, effortlessly transform them into collaborative cohort-based learning.

The Cohort Manager seamlessly layers on group tools like scheduled lesson unlocks, progress notifications, and custom messaging.

Breathe new life into existing materials by having cohorts journey through them together. Discoveries through peer discussions and team accountability re-energize the content.

You can easily enhance your self-paced foundation by testing a cohort version or running both formats at the same time.

Give your static courses a boost by plugging into the Cohort Manager’s capabilities. Turn solo learning into motivated collaboration in just a few clicks.

Automate Milestone and Emails

Keep learner motivation high with scheduled nudge emails that celebrate progress, share updates, and remind you about deadlines.

Easily set notifications to announce newly unlocked lessons, recap recent materials, highlight upcoming topics, and check in on implementation.

Automated emails let you provide high-touch support at scale, prompting engagement and accountability within cohorts. Save time by creating reusable email templates.

Strategic prompts move groups through milestones while building course community and connection. Automate the nudges that guide cohorts across the finish line.

With pre-set notifications, you can deliver the right messages at just the right times to promote achievement for each cohort.

Scale Cohort Learning Across Organizations

Expand beyond individual cohorts to organization-wide collaborative learning using the Organization Toolkit.

Schools, nonprofits, enterprises, and other businesses can build cohort courses for different teams, departments, and programs.

Centralize cohort management and oversight with multi-tiered admin roles and permissions. Automatically enroll users or groups into appropriate cohorts.

Align organizational objectives with tailored cohort courses for various divisions. Track high-level progress through unified reporting.

Enable entity-wide cohort learning tailored to the specific needs of teams and initiatives. Let the Organization Toolkit and Cohort Manager transform LMS capabilities.

Take your cohort offerings to the next level with coordinated management scaled for organizational impact.

Launch Fresh Cohorts in Seconds

Save immense time by rapidly spinning up new cohorts. The cloning feature lets you duplicate previous ones with just one click.

Create an initial cohort course once with your perfected curriculum, pacing, messages, etc. Then clone it as needed to replay the learning for new groups.

With the ability to instantly replicate your winning formula, you can accommodate growing cohort demand without reinventing the wheel.

Streamline starting cohorts with a proven structure and sequence ready for customization. Expand your cohort offerings exponentially while optimizing operations.

Let cloning capabilities make scaling up cohort-based learning simple, swift, and stress-free. Deliver more immersive courses to more learners over time through duplication.

Use Cases

Deliver Fixed-Duration Courses for Consistent Progress

Guide cohorts through intensive short courses that unfold day-by-day over a set timeframe.

Release digestible daily lessons to maintain a consistent learning cadence. Send teaser emails previewing the next topic to spark eager anticipation.

Regardless of the length of your course, maintaining a steady speed is beneficial for keeping groups focused. This steady speed aids in their progress towards completing the course together.

Fixed durations allow you to take cohorts on an immersive learning sprint filled with momentum. Compact courses drive results fast as groups unit around shared deadlines.

Give learners clarity and motivation by structuring cohort courses into reliable daily content unlocks leading straight to success.

Align Course Pacing to Semester Schedules

For cohort courses that align with academic terms, easily match content unlocks to semester timelines.

Set lesson availability for each cohort following its exact term calendar. Groups progress according to their own multi-week academic schedule.

Whether juggling multiple semesters or a single cohort over months, flexible management fits your cohorts’ real-world learning schedules.

Give your cohorts clarity by perfectly syncing course progression to their current academic calendar without disruption. Smoothly integrate cohort learning into student life.

Let the Cohort Manager ease logistical headaches so you can deliver cohort courses tailored to each group’s semester schedule with simplicity.

Sync Online Content with Live Training

For blended cohort courses, effortlessly align online lesson unlocks to match your live training schedule.

Release new online materials just before related in-person or live video sessions. Learners come prepared to dive into discussions and activities.

Alternate online and live classes to interleave self-paced learning with collaborative applications. Blend individual accountability with group engagement.

The Cohort Manager seamlessly bridges online and offline training by ensuring digital content provides the foundation for interactive live work.

Give your blended cohorts a cohesive learning experience by using online lesson scheduling to perfectly complement your live sessions.

Create a Seamless Blended Cohort Experience

Fluidly integrate online and in-person learning for blended cohort courses. Strategically place lesson unlocks to enrich live sessions.

Release new materials shortly before related live classes so learners arrive informed and eager to dive deeper together.

Interleave self-paced online learning with interactive live applications. Individual accountability builds up to collaborative engagement.

The Cohort Manager elegantly bridges online and offline training into one cohesive journey. Digital content informs while live sessions transform.

Blending modalities doesn’t have to mean disjointed learning. Through strategic unlock scheduling, seamlessly complement your live cohort gatherings with online preparation.

Course Access Settings in LearnDash

The course access settings in LearnDash make it a breeze to manage cohorts on their own schedules. Just define when each group gains and loses access.

Using start and end dates, you can run cohorts at different times for different learners. For example, easily create separate Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter cohorts for a course.

Start Date

The start date feature allows you to precisely control when cohorts gain access. Learners can enroll as usual, then begin lessons together on the date you set.

Until the defined start date, cohorts eagerly await kickoff with enrollment open but materials locked down. Come start time; all learners simultaneously receive course access.

Staggered enrollment followed by synchronized beginnings keeps cohorts focused as they start courses in unison. Learners progress on the schedule you orchestrate.

Use start dates to build anticipation for cohort journeys through your courses. Strategic access management ensures organized, motivated cohorts from day one.

End Date

The end date feature lets you set a definitive completion date for all enrolled learners. Access expires on the exact date you specify, regardless of when learners started.

Set a clear finish line upfront so cohorts can pace themselves. Great for wrapping up courses tied to events, academic terms, or other fixed schedules.

No more guessing when access will expire based on enrollment time. Now cohorts complete together by a predetermined date you define.

Building in an end date provides finality. Cohorts sprint towards the finish knowing it arrives at the same time for everyone.

Give your cohorts reliable structure and motivation by establishing end dates. They’ll make the most of the time you allot, wrapping up lessons on cue.

The 4.8.0 release announced group cohorts in LearnDash, enabling cohort scheduling functionality for LearnDash Groups. It allows admins to set start and end access dates for groups, facilitating true cohort-based learning.

Course Scheduler for LearnDash

The LearnDash Course Scheduler add-on lets you easily schedule when your courses will be accessible to learners. This powerful tool enables admins to easily drag and drop active courses onto a visible calendar interface.

You have two choices: show courses on calendar dates or show them on all dates except those on the calendar. It’s a flexible approach to precisely controlling course visibility week-by-week or month-by-month.

The add-on lets you create personalized messages for upcoming courses, lessons, topics, or quizzes. These messages will be available on a specific date. Learners will see these messages explaining when the content unlocks.

Once installed and activated, the Course Scheduler add-on conveniently integrates right into your LearnDash LMS admin area. You will find it under the “Course Scheduler” menu with submenus for the Calendar itself and Setting Configurations.

This add-on helps you easily plan your courses and lessons according to your business’s timeline or calendar.