Learning and development systems have evolved from classroom training to e-learning to mobile learning to microlearning.
With the advancement of the digital transformation, the employees need to train their brains to absorb lots of data and information in a limited time. The complexity lies in the fact that this has resulted in reduced attention spans of human brains. According to research, the human attention span has decreased from 12 seconds to 8.25 seconds in the past 15 years.
Organizations are adopting solutions such as shorter e-learning courses (microlearning) for the learning and development of their employees.
What is microlearning? How can one create a short but effective e-learning course?
What is microlearning?
Hector Correa introduced the term ‘microlearning’ as a concept in her book ’The Economics of Human resources’ published in 1963. In the 1990s, the internet found its way into numerous households and changed how one learned. Organizations started adopting digital learning methods. The microlearning strategy was popularized with the introduction of 3G connectivity, which removed one’s dependency on Wi-Fi, enabling the learners to access learning modules at their convenience.
Microlearning essentially refers to bite-sized learning. Small chunks of useful information are shared with the learner to grasp, understand and implement. It generally covers narrow topics and requires minimum effort from an individual.
Tips for creating a short but effective e-learning course
Designing an e-learning course is a complex exercise. Microlearning furthers the challenge merely by its requirement of having crisp, condensed, and overarching content. Here are some tips that you may consider for creating effective microlearning modules.
- Do you need it?
While microlearning may be an attractive way to train individuals, it does not mean breaking up training curricula into smaller modules. Consequently, if your subject requires detailed training, a microlearning strategy may not fit your case.
Therefore, the first question that you must ask is whether microlearning would suit the learner’s needs or would be a supplementary method.
- What will be the value-add to your existing training program?
Before you develop your microlearning strategy, you need to have a clear idea of what would be the learning outcome. You would need to convince the learners about the benefits of your microlearning program and the key takeaways from it.
Defining the learning outcome would enable you to develop an efficient, structured course. For example, if you want to teach the learners to use new software, you could include an online workshop for the learners to practice what they have learned.
- Who are the learners?
Once you have decided the ‘what, how, and why’ of your e-learning course, you then need to understand your target audience. Who would be learning the course? This would enable you to design the program in a way that most learners resonate with it. It would also help you choose appropriate information material, media, and methods for developing the e-learning course, thus encouraging them to understand and engage with the various training topics. The following may be considered when researching the target audience:
- Age
- Gender
- Geographical location
- Language
- Education
- Professional level and job type
- Goals and interests
- Comfort with the technology etc
- Are your microlearning modules systematic?
Microlearning modules tend to overburden the learners with extensive information in a haphazard manner. While designing the short e-learning course, you must lay out the objectives, strategies, and methodology.
You can achieve this by organizing your topics in the form of a storyboard. Storyboarding would enable you to prepare an outline of the program based on the course objectives. You would thus be able to cover all important aspects of the learning and exclude less important topics.
Further, consider the limited attention span of the human brain. It is necessary to include the key points of the training at the beginning of the course and the minor details towards the end.
- Do they include all critical elements?
The recipe of an effective e-learning course includes the following ingredients:
- Crisp, gripping introduction
- Engaging and interactive content
- Easy-to-use learning platform
- Visually appealing graphics
- Comprehensive content
- Knowledge checks in the form of assessments and practice workshops
- Is the content to the point?
The success of a short e-learning course depends on the conciseness and wholeness of the content. While writing the program, you must eliminate all unnecessary or irrelevant information from the modules.
You may also keep a lookout for repetitive, confusing information. Use simple words, and form sentences that seem conversational and natural as they would be when spoken.
You must also ensure that the content is to the point and lies within the context boundaries.
- Does it include multi-media?
Use infographics, illustrations, animations, videos, and mini-games to explain the concepts and reduce the text. This would not only make the content of your e-learning course more interesting, but it would also enable the learners to engage and retain the information for a much longer period.
However, while using multi-media, you must ensure that the relevant teaching is being conveyed to the learners, and that multi-media is not being used just to make the content attractive.
- Have you used active voice?
What is the point of writing pages and pages of information if the reader gets bored and doesn’t engage with your narrative? While developing the content of your e-learning course, you must ensure that your content is user-friendly. One way to achieve this is to use active voice.
Active voice is simple, direct, easy to understand, and conversational. It creates a faster-moving narrative using smaller sentences, making for more engaging reading. Active voice adds a fun and exciting element to the writing.
- Have you proofread your content?
Before you publish your content, you must proofread the content thoroughly to save yourself a lot of embarrassment and ridicule. A single grammatical or typological error in your writing is enough to make the learners think that you have prepared the course hurriedly and do not care enough to proofread your content. It can disengage the learner instantly from the e-learning course.
What’s more? Any error in your content can cause difficulty in understanding the learning objective, causing unnecessary delays in completing the learning modules.
Parting Words
You can create a simple yet effective short e-learning course by developing a structured strategy and clear objectives that would engage the learners and help them maximize gain within a limited timeframe.
Don’t hold yourself back from doing multiple iterations, make the content as concise as possible, and do not overload your learners with numerous, disconnected concepts.
The best way to evaluate your e-learning course is to run a demonstration among a select set of users and observe their engagement with the program. You could also use their feedback to upgrade your short but effective e-learning course before publishing it for all learners.
