Today in the sea of information sources, we often get exhausted with the amount of content we consume. We have vast information available to us and actually very little time to consume it.
This condition is making our attention span shorter. A study conducted by Microsoft Corp has shown that people today are losing their concentration after 8 seconds.
The above context highlights the importance of a new way of learning, i.e. Microlearning. It is a program through which bite-sized content is offered to learners to facilitate digestible and quick learning. Microlearning content takes various forms, including text, audio, videos, images, games, tests, & quizzes. The only condition is that a particular form of content should be short.
Microlearning platforms have gained popularity only over the last few years. Modern smartphone devices make it convenient to facilitate their usage. They provide training in various forms, including skills training, employee onboarding, and compliance training.
Microlearning platforms in a way fall somewhere between Twitter and Instagram but are explicitly used for educational purpose. Microlearning platforms are relevant and reliable in today’s time. Let us took a look at its advantages.
Advantages of Microlearning
1. Effective way of information sharing
Imagine you are handling daily job responsibilities and attending training sessions simultaneously. It’s quite heavy, isn’t it? If you were offered the type of content, which is reasonably shorter and simpler, wouldn’t it be convenient for you? The reason why Microlearning is effective is its technique to break down complex information into bite-sized pieces of content.
Moreover, employees have no chance to forget what they have learned previously as the upcoming module reiterates what was covered in the previous module.
2. Learning is tailor-made
Microlearning offers various customization options that do not need investment in terms of time. As content is available 24/7, learners can seek training at their convenience. Apart from that, they can avail training from any place. These conditions help employees ease down the process of learning and improve their performance.
3. Improved training engagement
The courses on Microlearning platforms are engaging. For example, their modules contain videos and graphics that usually cover a single topic. The content provided is often interactive and simpler to understand, which improves learner’s engagement capacity.
4. Fiscal benefits with Microlearning
As Microlearning modules are shorter and simpler, they require comparably less monetary investment. Businesses can save their money by deploying Microlearning platforms for the training of their employees.
Execution of Microlearning training programs
The actual execution of Microlearning programs can be challenging at times. However, the designated training team can execute Microlearning modules with ease by taking care of the following steps:
- Set learning goals
Setting learning goals for a Microlearning session is the first step to realize its execution. As a training team, you can seek clarity on
1. What is the primary topic that you want to focus on in a session?
2. Is it necessary to add any supplementary information?
3. Do you intend to offer a learning session to increase your employee’s knowledge base, is it to improve their skills, or is training essential to impart technical knowledge?
You can get answers to these questions by either conducting an employee survey or understanding your business needs.
- Make use of visuals for training
Visuals work great when it comes to achieving better learning retention. Employee training can become more interactive with the use of infographics. It is a combination of text, data, images, graphics and illustrations. It helps learners to absorb and retain the content quickly and easily.
Businesses should invest in buying various online tools that create infographics of all forms, improving the quality of the learning session.
- Take regular follow up and improve
It is essential to take regular follow up of all the training techniques that a microlearning session exploits. It can be tracked by gathering regular feedback from employees about the quality of video sessions, keeping a tab on the number of employees taking part in the learning session, the completion rate of each session if sessions are engaging and driving the desired outcome.
With this kind of tracking and follow up, you can improve the microlearning program’s quality and achieve intended business growth.
Conclusion:
Businesses can impart employee training as per changing business needs. However, daily job responsibilities and simultaneous training sessions add an extra load on employee’s shoulder.
As we have read in the article, microlearning platforms are reliable for effective learning. It improves learner’s performance and helps achieve the desired business growth.
