Everyone is used to the fact that training is long lectures and difficult examinations. It takes a lot of time, but you don't always get the expected results. Think about fewer - short modules and lessons to get more out of learning. This technique is used by the best essay writer at WowEssays. Since he writes such papers on various topics, you need to improve your writing skills and be a specialist in various subjects every day, and the microlearning method helps with that. It is what microlearning is all about. 

What is Microlearning?

Observe how people get information outside of offices and universities. For example, why is TikTok so popular, the Content of which consists of short videos? It is difficult for the modern person to focus on one thing for a long time. The generation thinks in ten-second videos. People prefer accessible and fast materials. If we adapt training to this format, it will be easier to integrate it into the rhythm of life.

Microlearning is a kind of mobile learning. It means getting knowledge in small portions, with constant repetition and complication. Yes, the lessons must be short and quick. But if you just break a long video into shorter ones, the course won't become microlearning. Micro-units should be focused - each lesson teaches a completed action. And the aggregate of these lessons forms an overall complete picture of the topic.

8 Principles of Microlearning

A curriculum can be called microlearning if it meets its basic principles.

Focus

Microlearning focuses on a single issue rather than a haphazard pile of questions. You create only the Content you need to solve a specific problem. Each unit of learning should be an embodiment of the formula: module-skill-mind.

Brevity

A lesson lasts an average of 2-7 minutes. To create such a lesson, you need to cut out helpful but unimportant information that distracts the student's attention. When only important data is in the lesson, the student is more engaged in learning.

Self-Sufficiency and Integrity

A unit of Content should be self-sufficient. That is, it should represent real value in and of itself. At the same time, it is part of the overall learning system and leads to the intended results.

Accessibility

How do people read the news these days? Often, they open a news feed on their phone while standing in line or traffic, sometimes on their lunch break. Similarly, learning needs to fit into everyday life without distracting people from their activities. Lessons should be accessible from any device. Then the student will have fewer barriers to valuable knowledge and development.

Practical Applicability

When a person wants to cook a dish according to a recipe, he no longer reads the text description of the recipe but goes to YouTube and watches videos with a visual demonstration of the process. The same graphic should be any training, so a person looks and immediately applies the new knowledge in life.

Continuity

In classical training, a person is trained in segments - once in six months, passed the course, and got a tick. Microlearning should be built into every working day. A person should form the habit of regularly receiving a nugget of knowledge.

Multiformity

To keep a person's attention, you should constantly change the format of the materials. For example, videos with text, games with stories, and graphics with audio.

Repetition

If a student doesn't memorize new knowledge, he won't be able to apply it. The average person forgets 80% of what they learn in the first 30 days, as shown in the forgetting curve chart below. Microlearning is a great tool to combat forgetting. Implementing interval repetition of a new topic is vital to reinforce it in your memory.

Now you know what microlearning is. Based on these principles, you can create useful and effective training. 

Where Microlearning is Used

Microlearning is relevant in any type of education where it is realistic to learn new knowledge in a short period. For example, in Russia, microlearning is often used in schools of foreign languages. In a format of short lessons, it is convenient to learn new words and phrases and to study some rules. When it is necessary to transmit a large amount of knowledge, microlearning can fulfill an auxiliary function but not the leading role.

Microlearning is actively used in corporate personnel education. This format helps to cope with complicated business tasks and influences the quality of employees' work. Microlearning helps to increase sales, reduce errors, improve customer service, reduce employee turnover, and achieve any other business goal that depends on people's knowledge and skills. Many companies are already successfully using microlearning to develop employees. In the following article, you will learn how to implement it in your company.

How to Move to Microlearning in 6 Steps

The transition to microlearning doesn't happen in an instant. It's a gradual evolution of your company's thinking about learning and its role. There are six steps to implementing microlearning.

1. Evaluate existing Content.

Analyze which training materials and technologies should be kept and which should be removed or refined. Be prepared that it won't be easy to give up old Content, especially if it took a lot of resources to develop. When deciding, start with the goals and results you want from the training.

2. Choose which course you want to start your program transformation with

You don't need to change dozens of courses in your training system. Choose one most problematic and important topic. Once you have successfully implemented microlearning in one area, you can also expand the new format to other courses.

3. Set learning goals

Before you build anything, it's important to define the outcome you want to achieve. If you are implementing microlearning in a company, what business problem do you want to solve, and how will you measure the results? What employee behavior will bring the company closer to the desired outcome?

For example, construction workers often injure their backs in a construction company due to improper lifting techniques. The goal of training is to reduce injuries by 80%. To avoid injury, employees should: keep elbows out, bend knees, not twist their backs, and use protective equipment.

4. Extract fundamental knowledge

What do employees need to know to perform the required actions? Define this to separate important information from useful information. Then the training will be focused on the outcome.

For example, to perform safe load lifting, construction workers must:

• Know the nuances of safe lifting.
• Know how to recognize improper lifting techniques
• Learn how to properly use safety equipment

5. Create Content

Now you need to decide on the Content. How do you share knowledge to change employee behavior? You should use different content formats rather than a traditional course.

6. Put the Content on a platform

Not every platform will work for microlearning. The main things to consider when choosing are the platform's speed on a computer, ease of use, and the availability of a mobile app.

Bio:

Vicki Mata is a writer for the WowEssays blog column, which gives valuable advice to students at the world's top universities. Her advice has helped thousands of students graduate.