How to go BIG with Micro-Learning

Micro-learning principles are based on how we learn: 2-3 minute bites of information in modular sections and formats. It's all about mobile and portable learning that we can do on the go. And what's more, it's far easier to digest and recall!

Question for you: If you gave each of your team a $200 to spend on training relevant to them, would they spend their money on one of the programs sitting on your LMS or a course on your learning schedule? OR would they spend it elsewhere?

Today, we live in digital mobile world where information and content is available at our fingertips on the go, anywhere and anytime. On average, we touch our phone 7 times per hour (The Modern Learner, Bersin Deloitte research). Why wouldn't L and D go to where our learners are? They sure aren't coming us.....

Learners don't need to memorise as much as they used to. How many of us remember when we used to know 100 phone numbers by heart. It's not that we are less smart. It's that learning is so different.

And what's more, millennials, who will make up more than 50% of the workforce within the next decade, are using a range of social platforms where content is delivered in short sharp bursts.

Why are we continuing to throw money down the drain? Traditional elearning modules that last 40 minutes or more are neither effective nor efficient. They are just wasted investment. Studies on face to face training sessions show that the likelihood of retaining more than 20% of the information from a 60 minute session decreases dramatically after 24 hours.

Beating the “forgetting curve” is a major challenge for learning and development professionals today. The new generation of mobile micro learning tools and content solutions address this issue and deliver far better ROI.

Busting Micro-learning Myths

• Instructional designers and learning managers ask how they can condense 6 hours of learning into 6 minutes?

Learning is formed into a series of micro bite modules or action packs

Like the pearls on a string of necklace, each pearl constitutes 1 micro bite that is strung together with the others to form the complete necklace and learning module.

Learners moves through the modules in a way that suits them best and learning is consumed gradually which delivers much better retention.

• What happens to the traditional SCORM modules? I do not want to unpick nor redesign and lose current ratings.

SCORM is a set of technical standards for e-learning software products developed in the late nineties to help designers transfer modules easily between different platforms.

Research shows that clicking next - then next - then next for endless hours in a SCORM format is no longer relevant and does not embed learning. In fact, As Eliott Masie, learning guru, said at the recent conference in October 2017, old style SCORM content should be registered by the FDA as a sleeping pill.....

Data and performance understanding provided through the new app- based mobile Micro-learning platforms provide relevant and powerful understanding on the individual learners and teams and what content is resonating and embedding better than others. It really does introduce a whole new world and continuous learning environment.

• I don't have the time or the budget to re-configure and re-design all this information in to micro learning on a native mobile platform.

The new platforms in fact cut development costs dramatically. The days of endless searching for the exact right images and the perfect wording are over. It’s now rapid prototyping and your users give you immediate feedback as to what works for them and what doesn’t.

If you cannot ditch your current LMS, use it as a record management system and move your learning content on to the mobile apps that deliver micro learning. As long as your LMS is not too ancient, you will be able to feed data back from the apps so that your record keeping is maintained.

Are you ready to focus on your users? Give it a try!

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