From 100 Days to Lifelong Skills: How to Spark Engagement in Online Learning

Over 200,000 people enrolled in Replit’s ‘100 days of code’ course. Amazing, right? But a graph shared by Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham tells a different story. These numbers massively drop off — and fast.

This is not uncommon.

But why did it happen? The course looks well designed.

Was it the length? The delivery mode? Or something else entirely?

Here are 10 reasons why, each with some potential paths forward.

1) Talking to Humans

Who’s it for?

• Problem: “100 Days” seems to cater to a lot of different groups. Is it for students? Novice programmers? Product managers? Solo entrepreneurs? It’s kinda hard to tell. Not being clear on who it’s for makes everything else — learning design, messaging, marketing — more difficult.
• Path: Choose a single audience, or clearly articulate up to three sub-groups that people can identify with