Great progress has been made with Vilnius University. Huge thanks to our fantastic users who have devoted some of their time to complete the previous surveys. You’re probably as excited about the results just as we are, so here’s some sneak peeks.

One of the major problems that online learning platforms are facing is low course completion rate: on average, students will finish only 5% of the courses they enroll. Together with Vilnius University, we are tackling the problem and have started researching the roots of the problem and how we can fix it. The joint team has been analyzing data about student behavior on courses and researching the issues of the current course completion rates. After collecting data from the previous surveys, we are now progressing towards the next chapter of the project. Before diving in the upcoming studies, we would now like to present some of the vital data that we’ve collected and processed thus far.

Looking at the results of the initial survey, we can see that students tend to be interested in a course due to its subject, content and practical benefit perceived by students. What’s also quite important is the variety of topic presentation channels — whether the lecturer provides information in written, audio, and video formats. These are mainly parts of students’ inner motivation.

As part of external motivation, students also highly appreciate the possibility to receive a certificate for completing a course, which is already provided on the BitDegree platform. Learners also deeply value the ability to be flexible with learning schedule and location which is made possible with online courses. Simple use of learning platform, as well as course language, were also among the top factors that motivated our survey respondents for learning online.

Gamification can engage students in learning both as a means of internal and external motivation. In the first case, the internal motivation rises with a pleasant, engaging and fun learning environment. Students like courses where they can trace back their steps and retake lessons where they struggle the most. On the other side of the spectrum, it is pleasing to see that users are much less interested in skipping parts of the course which are harder to solve. This information is delightful to know as it shows that learners are interested in actually understanding the material and not just focusing on receiving a certificate of completion.

Ways to track one’s progress and ability to earn money (for example, tokens, usable on the platform to purchase extra material, support, advise on the course) were also mentioned as important factors. This also leads to discussing one of the main foci in our study — the economic incentives: whether money plays a role in motivating students to complete the courses.

44% of respondents agreed that $10 could serve as an emotional stimulus to engage more in the course, while $20 would arouse as many as 58% of students. To win the interest of students as a tangible monetary motivator, a bigger amount would be needed. We’re talking about nearly two-thirds of students who would be motivated to earn while they learn if they get $50 for completing a course.

Let’s talk about our future as a learning platform.

BitDegree has been steadily expanding and upgrading our learning material for students to enjoy. More students are signing up to our courses, and the quality of the courses has been steadily increasing. Also, our Tutorials page is receiving more information for users to enjoy and use as a factor when choosing the next course to learn.

But now we want to hear your opinion. We are interested to know how our users struggle when taking online courses. To understand your needs, we have launched an anonymous survey where you can share your opinion towards your online learning experience. The answers that you provide will be reviewed by the joint team of BitDegree and Vilnius University and used to advance our research. We will also use the information as a guideline towards creating your fascinating experience on BitDegree.

You can find the survey here.

It should take you around 20 minutes to answer the questions. We highly appreciate your time, and in return, we promise to make your learning experience even more engaging, fun, motivating, and just plain amazing!