Microlearning – a developing trend in 2024.

“An expert is a man who knows just that much more about his subject than his associates. Most of us are nearer the top than we think. We fail to realise how easy it is, how necessary it is to learn that fraction more.” William N. Hutchins.

This quotation sums up the importance that microlearning plays in professional and personal development. In fact, microlearning continues to be one of the dominant trends in the training and development landscape as we head into 2024.

People are continually influenced by digital media which is leading to shorter attention spans and the need for instant gratification. This feeds into the learning sphere where it is demonstrated that learning that is incorporated into a person’s day-to-day work, reduces the time between knowledge acquisition and application and therefore provides maximum impact.

What is microlearning?

Microlearning-based training has one key characteristic, that it delivers short bursts of content for employees to study at their convenience. Employees can focus on one specific skill or knowledge gap topic and complete the training when it best suits their schedule. This education strategy focuses on learning new information in small units, allowing engagement and improving knowledge retention, all without having to take time away from their jobs to attend training. 

How does microlearning work?

Source: https://www.growthengineering.co.uk/what 1

The Hermann Ebbinghaus forgetting curve (above), which states that as the amount of information being learned at one time increases, information retention degrades, provides good motivation for the engagement of microlearning. Microlearning enables one to break down information into smaller pieces of content and when combined with completing daily tasks, allows one to revisit that information over time, therefore increasing knowledge retention.

Microlearning modules are most often accessed as the need for knowledge arises, but they can also be assigned as part of an employee's monthly or quarterly goals. This process is separate from the concept of macro learning, which focuses on learning the entirety of a topic or subject in a longer timeframe.

Advantages of microlearning

Flexibility – Learning sessions can be done at any time, from anywhere, using any device. This allows for casual learning whenever a person has some spare time.

Boosts knowledge retention – Information is provided in small units, is self-contained and easy to return to, therefore enhancing knowledge retention.

Efficient – Course delivery times are shorter allowing employees to set aside smaller segments of time to learn new content, including information relevant to their jobs. In addition, it increases the likelihood that an employee will complete the training.

Better engagement – Since content is delivered in different interactive forms, such as videos and short quizzes, the experience is similar to that of checking your favourite social app on your smartphone, compared to the "serious study" feel of regular training. Therefore, becoming something, you want to do rather than have to do.

Cost – Creating microlearning content requires fewer resources and instructors. Therefore, it is much cheaper to produce and can be sold at a much lower price, increasing affordability.  

Disadvantages of microlearning

It is not the best fit for complex concepts – This learning strategy does not lend itself to broad topics where it is necessary for the learner to have background knowledge to supply context and relate one learning objective to another. For example, if chemistry was broken into 10-minute chunks or less, one would likely struggle to master the subject.

Requires expertise – Microlearning content may require the learner to have prior knowledge of the topic. For example, a microlearning segment on Microsoft Excel Table design would require a basic knowledge and understanding of how Excel functions.

Microlearning content

Content that is designed for microlearning usually includes short instructional videos, playing an online learning game designed to teach a specific task, virtually participating in a scenario-based simulation or viewing an infographic and answering a short series of questions. This content is usually posted on YouTube, found in online courses or in the form of short TED talk lectures.

Making a success of microlearning

Ensure that your subject matter is NOT complex and does not require in-depth study. Choose content that is short, focused and that captures the essence of what you’re trying to learn. Make use of multimedia to make learning material more engaging. Use gamification to boost engagement and enhance your experience. Complete the micro-assessments as this shows your progression and makes you feel a sense of achievement.  

Conclusion

Even though bite-sized training has become more and more popular over the last two years, it has a long history. However, it has significantly risen in popularity since the development of the smartphone. Now businesses who are on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn produce educational content in the form of microlearning. In this era of busy schedules and short attention spans, microlearning is a near-perfect training model and can be used for all kinds of training.

This year Master Builders KwaZulu-Natal Training Academy endeavours to produce more microlearning content, so keep an eye on our social media pages.

Heidi Kilian

Head:Training Academy