Article Insight:
Today, many people spend most of their time on mobile phones. our mobile phones have become the focal point of our daily activities. They serve as the gateway to a multitude of short, engaging videos that keep us entertained. Now, consider the untapped potential for organizations that harness these platforms to train and educate their employees.
Microlearning is doing this exact thing in an effective way. The working style of people has changed completely over the years. Now that our work has become more resilient, workers are doing many things at once. Because of their time limitations, it's not easy for people to take the time to center their attention on professional growth. Stepped in effective microlearning design, a well-structured method for skill development that has gained quick popularity.
Topics Covered:
Why Choose Microlearning?
With a busy schedule and shorter attention spans, learners are no longer interested in long training sessions. Microlearning helps them by breaking down the learning material into bite-size pieces of information. This way, they can go through a complete online training session in a very short span of time throughout the day. These tiny, attentive microlearning modules are generated to deliver precise, applicable data that can be easily understood and applied.
Microlearning has many advantages for both employees and organizations, almost every organization is adding it to their corporate training programs.
Importance of Microlearning in Corporate Training:
Most corporate training departments are taking good advantage of microlearning. It helps in creating modules to upskill learners in all departments. The best thing about microlearning is its availability. It's swift and mobile, so people can easily access it from desktops, tablets, and smartphones as their schedule allows.
Microlearning is a versatile approach to corporate training that can be applied across various departments.
Here's how it can be useful in different departments:
Sales and Marketing
No more slogging through endless manuals. Microlearning serves up digestible insights into new products, sales strategies, and customer engagement techniques. It's like having your personal sales coach, right in your pocket.
Human Resources
Say goodbye to overwhelming induction days. HR departments now use microlearning to introduce new recruits to company culture and policies, one bite-sized nugget at a time.
IT and Technical Departments
For IT enthusiasts, learning complex coding languages or navigating new software can be a breeze with microlearning. Say hello to efficient software training that won't make your head spin.
Customer Support and Service
Customer support teams benefit from snappy problem-solving tips and tricks. Microlearning helps them become the superheroes of customer feedback.
Manufacturing and Operations
In the world of manufacturing, microlearning ensures that machine operators have the know-how to prevent downtime and errors. Safety training? Microlearning has that covered too.
Finance and Accounting
Financial regulations and analyses are no longer mysteries. Finance professionals can keep up with the ever-changing financial world through short, focused modules.
Leadership and Management
Leaders and managers can refine their skills with microlearning. Whether it's conflict resolution or adapting to change, they've got it covered.
Quality Assurance
Quality control and assurance teams stay sharp with microlearning. It keeps them updated on industry standards and helps them spot and rectify defects.
Benefits of Using Micro-learning:
Microlearning engages and retains employees better with its focused content.
It saves time, offering quick access to relevant information.
Microlearning is accessible on various devices, making it convenient.
Customizable content tailors training to specific needs.
It's cost-effective, requiring fewer resources to develop.
Supports just-in-time learning for immediate problem-solving.
High completion rates as it's less intimidating.
Key Reasons for Using Microlearning:
Improved Knowledge Retention:
The reason why microlearning is so productive is that it is designed to be appealing. Its duration is limited to 4 to 5 minutes, which is very short, and it contains so many engaging strategies like video-based learning, gamification, and challenging content with high-definition visuals that learners don’t lose interest. This way, they continuously look at the microlearning bit. When they get engaged, they get involved with the content and remember it longer.
Time and Cost Efficiency:
Microlearning modules are very short and focused as compared to traditional training. You can easily develop them at a lower cost, and that too in no time. And the best part is that it can easily be delivered through digital platforms like mobile devices and online learning management systems. It also allows organizations to go for precise learning requirements, thus saving overall costs and precious time.
Accessibility and Flexibility:
Microlearning is quite flexible as the learners get easy access to the course from anywhere and anytime. It can easily cover any subject matter that has the possibility to be broken down into small lessons for a firm mental grasp of a subject. To make it easier complex topics can also be broken down into bite-size learning thus releasing the pressure of learning everything at one time.
Up above, we have discussed some benefits of micro-learning.
However, creating microlearning content is not that easy. You must be very sharp in providing the information. It should be accurate, precise, and packed in an engaging way through different media formats.
Let's look at some microlearning best practices for creating interesting microlearning content:
Target Your Audience:
Knowing your target audience is very important. You should be aware of their current level of ability and the knowledge gaps that need to be mentioned. In this computer age, people have too much information, and it's not easy to seize and retain their alertness. For effective microlearning, you should make your presence felt by driving engagement. And for this to happen, you should know what your audience wants and in what format they want their content module.
Making Short Videos Helps:
Microlearning content is at its best when it's in the form of videos, as it limits its time to 3 to 5 minutes. It allows the learners to go through a video swiftly and explore a topic or check the steps to follow for a specific task. For your learner's convenience, make sure you provide total control by enabling them to pause, rewind, or forward to fully understand the subject.
Stick to One Topic:
Your microlearning content should stick to one topic and not confuse learners by telling them various things. It's very crucial to know what you wish to convey and filter your information accordingly. Don’t try to cover too much in a single bit. You can also provide links for more information by sticking to one topic. Adding linked resources saves precious time for employees, as they don’t have to browse the internet for more information.
Visually Lavish Content:
Microlearning allows you to influence various types of digital media to create engaging and mesmerizing content. It's possible for you to present your content in the form of infographics, highlighting facts and trends that your employees are used to. There are ample microlearning authoring tools you can use to generate audio-video visual content with exceptional graphics; you can also go for simulation and animation for creating interactive videos that help your learners.
Storytelling Always Helps:
A well-told story never fails to capture your imagination. Stories usually grip the emotions of the audience draw them in and take them on a journey. You can tell stories in the form of real-life examples that show the advantages of a specific service or product or the practical application of the subject matter in corporate learning. By adding background music, narration, and suitable graphics, you can make your story more gripping.
Keep Conversational Tone:
It's always better to have microlearning chunks in an informal way and, importantly, in an active voice. The conversation should be focused and clear, without any narratives. Learners usually relate more to a conversational tone.
We have discussed some of the best practices and strategies that may help you in microlearning module development. The main aim of microlearning modules is to pass on information on how to find answers to basic problems and brush up on the learners' skills. Many people think that creating brisk and short microlearning modules is quite easy. As it needs less time and just a few resources. But the fact is that creating microlearning modules is as challenging as creating a traditional eLearning project. Let's shed some light on the challenges you face when creating microlearning modules and what you can do to overcome them.
Challenges in Creating Microlearning Modules:
Content Overload:
You need to cover plenty of information, but microlearning training resources can manage very little. If you overplay the content, then it will not be that gripping and will become a full course rather than tiny packets of knowledge. Avoid covering too much. If you feel that including a number of facts and statistics is necessary, then create multiple microlearning modules, each covering individual skills that learners must obtain. In this way, you will not overload them with information, and will improve their memory retention. This is what microlearning mainly focuses on.
Insufficient Practical Application:
It's not easy to design your microlearning modules in such a way that corporate learners must apply the information in real-world settings. For this, you can involve online training simulations and real-world examples to connect the subject matter to applicable situations and challenges. To be specific, focus on issues that your learners may face during their day-to-day tasks and the targets they must achieve to upskill their abilities. It's better to focus on definite, coveted outcomes while creating microlearning modules. For instance, a particular skill that your learner needs to brush up on.
Ensuring Consistency Across Modules:
With too much going on in today's fast-paced and connected world, it's not easy to grab the learner's attention and pass on the needed information. More and more learners are shifting towards shorter, bite-sized content that they can absorb when required. Reviewing and editing is the best way to ensure consistency across all microlearning modules.
Summing Up:
We have explained the best practices and strategies for creating effective microlearning modules. We've also highlighted the numerous benefits of microlearning, providing real-world examples of its effectiveness. If you're contemplating integrating microlearning into your corporate training, there's no better time than now. Start your microlearning journey and empower your team with the knowledge and skills they need to excel in the modern workplace.
People Also Ask:
How can I transition to micro-learning as a training manager?
Start by assessing your current training content, identify learning objectives, and then create short, focused micro-learning modules. Invest in a user-friendly platform for delivery.
What's vital in designing a micro-learning strategy for employee development?
Which resources do I need for a successful micro-learning program?
How do I measure the ROI of micro-learning in line with our goals?
