Microlearning 101: Complete Guide for Beginners

Microlearning is gradually sweeping through organizations as an effective method of training employees. Although it might not be an idea for every situation, it is effective for a wide range of organizational positions and skillsets.

Definition of Microlearning

In simple terms, microlearning is a form of training or learning process that is simple and concise. It is used to impart knowledge or skills to individuals in a smaller chunk to speed up learning and assimilation. It is cheap and requires minimal resources to create. A typical microlearning content would usually not exceed five minutes of simple yet dense information. Research has shown that human beings are more likely to retain information that does not exceed five minutes. Microlearning takes full advantage of this human trait. Microlearning content comes in different forms, which usually involve some form of interactive multimedia content. Such content includes the following:

Content in the form of texts, images, or a combination of both. Such content is displayed usually using flashcards and can be accompanied by other graphical representations.
Content can also be in the form of short videos that teach a skill.
Audio contents are sometimes used alone.
Short quizzes and tests are also provided. Such content can easily be presented in the form of a simple game.

The type of platform used by an individual or an organization may determine the type of content they can access or create. Therefore, you should always check with different microlearning platforms to have access to the desired package.

Principles of Implementation of Microlearning

The principles of implementation of microlearning usually revolve around three basic principles, which are discussed below:

Less information per content is always better. It is always beneficial to present each idea or skill per content.
The shorter the duration of content delivery, the better. Each idea should be delivered within the shortest period.
The most important principle is to engage and stimulate trainees. The more the learner is engaged, the more likely they are to retain and utilize the knowledge delivered.

However, even though microlearning content should be as small and concise as possible, the development of content should be carried out diligently to ensure that quality information is developed.

Benefits of Microlearning

Some of the benefits of microlearning are:

The introduction of a microlearning scheme into the working environment at specific points within routine activities helps to foster the culture of learning amongst employees.
Since microlearning content is small, readers tend to engage with it more frequently, which ultimately eases retention. This makes microlearning ideal for implementation as a replacement for conventional long training schemes.

Disadvantage of Microlearning

Just like anything in life, microlearning has some disadvantages. As such, it cannot be used in all circumstances. Such situations include the following.

Microlearning is not ideal for learning foundational or fundamental concepts of a subject as it is mostly focused on solving simple questions.
Microlearning is also insufficient for learning deeply analytic concepts that require deep analysis of causes and effects.

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