Microlearning- The Future of Online Training
It's no secret that online learning has changed in the past few years leading to a change in the way training professionals create and present learning content.
One trend that's many professionals have turned to because of its popularity and success with viewers is small, easily consumable pieces of content: Microlearning.
What is Microlearning?
Microlearning is a simple concept, take a training presentation and breaking it down into smaller, bite-sized content that's easier to consume.
To do this, you can simply take a presentation and chop it into smaller points that each build off of one another, or structure content from the very beginning to be presented in small segments rather than one large lesson.
This is most often done with video content but can be done with any medium that your content is in!
Why is Microlearning Important?
At the heart of every online training, presentation is the need to educate viewers while presenting an engaging experience, Microlearning provides professionals like yourself a unique opportunity to accomplish both of these simultaneously:
- Microlearning makes the information easier for viewers to digest, focusing only on one or two pieces of information at once rather than a larger more in-depth topic
- Shorter presentations are able to better hold the attention of audience members for a longer period of time, leading to a higher level of knowledge retention.
- Content is far more approachable and less overwhelming when delivered in short increments that can be easily completed rather than long presentations.
- Viewers are provided a sense of progress as they complete multiple short videos one after the other, making them more likely to continue watching.
- Shorter content costs less to create and leads to faster learning, ultimately promoting more immediate and actionable results.
- Quicker turn around time on training content, by focusing on smaller, more focused topics, you're able to produce presentations far quicker which is especially valuable in time-sensitive situations.
How can I start implementing Microlearning?
By now you may be wondering, this whole microlearning thing sounds pretty cool, how can I start using this strategy in my presentations?
Well, there are a number of ways to go about this but many online training professionals have done so by following a set of best practices:
Make it simple:
-
- With microlearning, simplicity is everything. It may go against our natural instinct but don't go overboard with the content in a single presentation. It's all about taking things one step at a time.
Make it engaging:
-
- Video is one of the primary mediums for microlearning content because it allows you to combine slide decks, audio, and video content into one engaging presentation. Whatever medium you use, make sure it's something your audience will want to watch!
Make it Accessible:
-
- If the content isn't easy to find, access, and revisit, your audience may not be able to find it and definitely be interested in continuing to watch it. As you add content, make your audience aware of how they can find it.
Make it Frequent:
-
- Learning doesn't end with onboarding anymore. Today's employee is looking for the opportunity to continue improving their skillset and to do this, they need continuous learning. Don't we all want happier and more productive employees?
Make it count :
-
- As with everything, it's important to make sure viewers are retaining information. This can be done with a quick and simple knowledge check at the end of each video, or collection of videos.
Final Thoughts:
Although these best practices can be used by anyone internally when developing microlearning content, what many professionals have done to make the process easy is use a platform that allows them to do this all from one convenient location.
This is where Knovio comes in, not only does it make combining content into engaging multimedia presentations easy, but goes you complete flexibility in how you share these with your audience.
If you'd like to explore all the way's Knovio can be used to create and deliver compelling content or to discuss any specific use cases you may have, reach out and we can schedule a time to connect!