The term micro-learning has been buzzing around the learning space for some time now, and that buzz has become louder over the past couple of years.
So what should you know about it?
1. What it is micro-learning?
Micro-learning refers to small learning modules and short learning activities.
In the context of learning, education, and training, it's about delivering content in micro-sized chunks with a more focused perspective.
2. What’s the big deal?
The concept of delivering content in small, more easily digestible chunks isn’t new. I’ve been doing this since my early days in technical communication back in the 90s.
The big deal today is with regards to a growing future workforce comprised of mostly Millennials.
According to the website, elearning Industry, "By 2025, Millennials alone will make up 75 percent of the workforce. The average attention span of the Millennial generation is 90 seconds.”
Just look at social media platforms like Twitter and Snapchat. Each one is built around quickly delivering small chunks of high quality content, and each one was made popular by Millennials.
3. How to deliver micro-learning
Here are some points to consider when building a micro-learning course:
- Use Video - Digiday reports that "YouTube drew in 31.8 million users aged 18 to 24 (98.3 percent of U.S. Internet users in that age bracket) who spent an average of 10 hours, 15 minutes on the site.
That’s a ton of video consumption!
ComScore also reports that YouTube saw over 40 million unique visitors between the ages of 18 to 34, and 30 million unique visitors between the ages of 35 and 55. - High video production quality - smartphones and tablets can be used to shoot high definition video, but that doesn’t mean that the overall production will be high quality.
Adding good lighting, a decent microphone, and a quiet space in which to shoot the video can seriously boost production value.
Try visiting Wistia’s Learning Center for some great video production tips…or YouTube. - Video Length - repeat after me, four minutes or less. Just get to the point and deliver valuable content.
When creating scripts, try sticking to around 120 words for every minute of video, and eliminate any fluff. Like a tweet, keep it short and cover the points you’re trying to make.
If a learner can download and review content outside of the video, don’t waste time talking about it. - One objective = one video or learning activity - A learning objective is what the learner will be able to do and recount after watching the video or completing a learning activity.
By sticking to one objective for the video and/or learning activity, the learner will know exactly what they need to focus on to ensure the knowledge is transferred.
More objectives = longer content, which is what you’re trying to avoid. - Assess their knowledge - how you will know the student learned anything? Let’s face it, multiple choice and true false questions aren't going to cut it.
It's important for students to demonstrate their knowledge. For example, if you’re teaching a course on how to give effective presentations, you could ask students to upload a video of themselves delivering short presentations to show what they have learned.
In addition to showing that they learned the material, you also open up an opportunity for coaching and improvement.
4. Micro-learning isn’t enough by itself
While chunking learning topics into more easily digestible chunks is easier to swallow than a larger portion, it’s not enough.
In addition to the tips above, it’s important to use multiple types of content (i.e. text, video, images, etc.). This will provide the opportunity to present content in more interesting and engaging ways.
Try using personalized and adaptive techniques and tools to make the learning experience unique to each student.
Gamifying the learning experience will allow for deeper engagement. Also, use social tools to create more collaborative learning experiences across the company or class.
In addition, the learning experience must be mobile, available on demand, and offer analytics to measure the effectiveness of the education course or training. Analytics are excellent way to tie training to business results.
Final Thoughts
Micro-learning is about delivering content in small chunks. These smaller chunks can help to keep learners engaged and can lead to improved retention.
Smaller modules can be developed quickly and can be more cost-effective compared to longer, more traditional online learning courses.
Micro-learning is also quite flexible as the learning chunks can be re-used and re-purposed for other courses.
As always, I look forward to continuing the conversation in the discussion area below.
