Online events are today the life of a learning community. These community based events help in increasing student engagement and keep them motivated to continue working towards achieving the learning outcomes that they joined the community for.

Ever noticed how the retention rate or course completion rate of your community members is related to various event types that you host in the community?

If not, then take a moment and think about it.

In every online community, some community events have more attendees as compared to others. That is because different people find different types of community based events interesting. So an online learning community needs to select events that best align with its end objective. 

After all, imparting knowledge is not the only important thing. How that knowledge is being transferred also plays an important role in building an online learning community.

Besides this, if you're in search of a platform for building your online learning community, then try out LikeMinds. It comes with inbuilt tools that make it super easy to build and manage a community under your own brand.

Today, we are going to talk about 10 different types of events for online learning communities in this blog.

So let us jump right in!

10 Types Of Events In An Online Learning Community

A single type of event can't cater to all the learning requirements. That's why different types of community based events should be hosted for different types of objectives. To provide you with a better understanding of the different types of community events that you can host in your learning community, below is a community events list that explains the benefits of community events

1. Icebreakers

Icebreakers are the games and activities that help members of a community start interacting with each other. This ensures that they can participate completely in the sessions held later on.

Pro Tip A great way to make the sessions more engaging is to do some research and choose the icebreaker tool that best fits the environment that you want to create within your learning community.

Also Check Out:

• How To Come Up With The Best Ice Breakers For Your Community

2. Webinars

Webinars are the live events providing knowledge on a specific topic to the members and prospects of a learning community. They help a lot in bringing a large number of members to attend webinars.

Pro Tip You should always decide if a presentation, product demonstration or lecture will be a better knowledge transfer tool. One more thing to ensure is asking the members to share questions in the chat section and answer them once you finish a section. This is a great way to keep the webinars highly interactive.

3. Doubt Sessions

Doubt sessions are dedicated to clear doubts of the members of a learning community on a particular topic. They help in gaining an in-depth understanding of concepts and important topics.

Pro Tip To make the sessions more interactive, ask the members to solve each other's doubts. This creates a sense of community between the members.

4. Workshops

Workshops are a chance of engaging members in an intensive activity on a particular subject or project. They are a great way of giving hands-on experience by way of practicing something.

Pro Tip During workshops, you can make your members share their learning from the workshop on social media. It helps a lot in creating buzz and attracting new members.

5. Group Discussions

Group discussions are a way of making the members discuss ideas and problems while providing a solution at the end of the discussion. This method of education helps the members in forming opinions and talking about them.

Pro Tip You should be prepared to lead the group discussions by acting as a directive leader. You can also assist the community members by keeping the group focused.

Also Check Out:

• The Secret of Creating "Eventful" Communities

6. Expert AMA Sessions (Ask Me Anything)

AMA sessions are the events led by an industry expert to give answers to the questions of the members on a given topic. This is an organic, interesting and enjoyable way for community members to increase their awareness about things.

Pro Tip To avoid the hassle, you can take questions from the members in advance. If there are a few questions, you can get a few questions seeded. You should also set the duration of the session based on the size of your community cohort.

7. Case Study Discussions

Case Study Discussions are one of the most effective learning methodologies wherein the members are given a real-life situation to critique and analyze. Community based events like these help a lot in increasing the active participation of the community members.

Pro Tip A great way to make the discussions engaging is to pick a brand that the members can relate to. If possible, engage someone from the brand's team to give answers to the members. You can also prepare a few questions and their answers beforehand that can help community members in better analysis of the case study.

8. Conferences

Conferences are the large meetings with back-to-back sessions that take place on a specified day, where members discuss and engage on a particular topic. It is a great way to engage with current and prospective community members and build the authority of your brand.

Pro Tip When organizing a community event like a conference, try to rope in the influential subject matter experts who can help you create a buzz in the industry.

9. Job Fairs

Job fairs are a great way for the recruiters to meet your members virtually to talk about the roles that they may have for them. These events help the community members in getting introductions to perspective employers.

Pro Tip When hosting job fairs, lead the events to create a relaxing environment and help in getting the conversations going. The more casual the environment, the more the recruiters and members will be able to interact.

10. Social Meetups

Social meetups are organised with the sole agenda of helping the members network, socialize and hang out. They are a great way for the people in the community to become friends with each other to improve engagement in classes.

Pro Tip You should always budget a few minutes at the start of the meetup and ask everyone to introduce themselves. This will remove anonymity and provide a sense of familiarity among the members.

And another thing, if you want a platform where you can grow your learning community and upsell your courses, then check out the LikeMinds website. It provides features like subscription management and growth tools that will make it a breeze for you to start your community.

In A Nutshell:

To ensure high retention, and course completion rate in your online learning community, make sure your education plan is a mix of different types of community events. Try to strike a balance by identifying which content needs practicing, and which can be understood in just one event. Then plan your community based events accordingly.

These community events can also be combined into a program that drives a specific objective. Be it learning sprints, cohort-based courses, bootcamps, fellowships, or mentorship programs. You name it, and an effective event calendar can be created for all types of online learning communities. More on this in a separate blog.