Today, more than ever, it is important for most people to continuously upgrade their technical skills and understanding. While there has never been an era in which this was not important, it is fair to say that the rate of technological changes seems to be ever accelerating. How, then, do we keep up?
Of course, this need arises at exactly the same period in which the overall number of things we need to do (or, at least, think we need to do) is also rapidly increasing.
So how, within this cacophony of activities we all believe we need to operate in, do we create time to upgrade (on an on-going basis) our technical skills?
As we all experienced at university, learning new technical skills requires a significant investment in time – quality time. This, of course, is precisely the asset we lack.
To make matters worse, it has been shown that when people take in large amounts of information, retention of what was learned tends to degrade over time (shown in the Hermann Ebbinghaus forgetting curves). It has been demonstrated that people typically lose 80% of the knowledge they learn within a month.
Given these difficulties and limitations, many people simply elect not to keep up, or they fake it as much as they can. Neither response is in any way helpful.
A concept aimed at overcoming this conundrum has been termed “microlearning”.
Microlearning is a way of teaching and delivering content to learners in bite-sized (3-5 minutes) bursts at the point of need, with a focused and specific learning outcome. Because the learner is in control of what they are learning, they can complete their training at a time and place that suits their busy schedule.
Before getting too excited about this concept, let’s start by saying that it is not suited to people who are trying to become brain surgeons or quantum physicists. It is not suited to complex topics. We simply cannot get away from the need for longer, in-depth study for complex occupations.
However, microlearning is better suited to the “modern” learner. This is largely due to the fact that most people now acquire new information of any kind in small bite-sized chunks from their mobile devises. As we seem to be unable or unwilling to spend much time acquiring this new information, it must be delivered in small bursts – hence the 3-5 minute chunks referred to above.
But delivered effectively, this technique has been shown to boost engagement. Interactive quizzes and short and snappy videos are far more likely to peak learner’s attention and maintain their engagement.
It also appears that microlearning significantly increases retention of key training. The simplicity of microlearning means that learners can easily revisit courses on-demand and refresh their knowledge right at the point of need.
Finally, of course, it facilitates self-paced learning, enabling learners to train or revisit as and when it suits them.
But effective delivery of microlearning is absolutely critical. The one non-negotiable is that it must be short and succinct.
Here are some examples of microlearning formats:
- Text – short paragraphs, messages or hints
- Images – illustrations, photos
- Videos – short and snappy explainer videos – as you might see on social media
- Audio – snippets of speech or music
- Interactive elements – quizzes, games, etc.
Creating effective content is the big challenge with this concept.
This way of learning can also be effective for onboarding new employees and launching company-wide initiatives.
Bear in mind that in many cases you may need to get the input/assistance of an expert in the field – e.g. taking a safety and compliance manual and turning it into content that’s fun, quick and engaging can be a challenge.
Overall, available evidence suggests that microlearning, delivered effectively, really does enable people to keep up with the basics of new technology. And quality presentations actually makes learners want to use microlearning.