The Learning Hub
When people have a question or don’t know how to do something, what do they do? Whip out a smartphone and look for information. What they don’t do is sign up for a 1-hour seminar.
Microlearning brings corporate eLearning into the modern paradigm. Microlearning describes eLearning content that is:
It must answer a question, meet an immediate need, or help the learner solve a problem.
In short, microlearning is useful: It fits with learners’ needs for specific information, of course. Equally important, it fits with how modern learners live, work, shop — and find information in each of those roles.
While microlearning is small, there’s no agreed-upon length for a micro-lesson. Expert practitioners tend to agree that it is as long as it needs to be to solve a very specific problem — and no longer.
Lots of microlearning is in video format, but it doesn’t have to be. A micro-lesson can be a fact sheet or an infographic; it can be a podcast or an interactive video or a branching mini-scenario created in an eLearning authoring tool (or in PowerPoint). A chatbot that answers questions or quizzes a learner on something she learned earlier could also be a form of microlearning.
Microlearning can take any format the designer can imagine! Many microlearning platforms permit this wide variety of content options.
Smartphones have turned many of us into constant learners. Faced with a question, a problem, a forgotten bit of trivia, today’s digital consumers search for a solution — in the moment, using their phones or tablets.
At work, those consumers behave the same way: When they have a question or need to know how to do something, they don’t want to sign up for an hour-long eLearning course offered next February; they want an answer, now!
Microlearning meets modern employee-learners where they are – known as workflow learning. It delivers focused, easy-to-find answers and information to them at the moment they need it. It’s short enough that it doesn’t interrupt their workflow, yet complete enough to solve their problem.
In creating microlearning, focus on the content — not on gimmicks and graphics. Rather than pour energy and resources into visual design, focus on creating questions that make learners think through a scenario or recall information they’ve learned. And build in a mechanism for learners to test their knowledge and provide them with feedback on incorrect responses.
Microlearning can be gamified — offering points or levels, awarding stars or badges or mastery levels — but that should only be done if the game fits the content. If, say, you’re creating microlearning to remind a manager of how to fill out a form, an infographic with an annotated version of the form might make more sense.
Games
Simple games layered on top of content
Scenario-based games that use the content
Leaderboards, competition
Fan excessive competition among employees or teams by offering large prizes for top performers and/or shaming those with lower scores
Challenge employees to beat their own past performance, or design a leaderboard that shows each employee only the four scorers above and below them
Points, rewards, badges
Award points or levels for completing sections of training or playing for a set number of minutes
Award levels, badges or points for recalling or applying content correctly, demonstrating mastery
As Neovation's Manitoba Territory Manager, I'm continually reminded of the resiliency, innovation, and initiative of Manitoba’s business community. Seeing these budding entrepreneurs develop and present their business plans reinforces that Manitoba is a great place to do business.
– Gord Holmes
Online Training Platforms
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eLearning Authoring Tools
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Introduction to Online Training
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
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Evaluation Tip
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