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Microlearning is getting a lot of attention in eLearning circles. But, the thing is, even the people who create it and use the term vary widely in how they define it — and even how they spell it. Micro-learning, micro learning, micro training, micro courses and micro lessons are common ways to refer to a particular type of learning: Learning, primarily eLearning, content that is short and narrowly focused.
Microlearning is often, but not always, online. And, as the name indicates, microlearning is generally short — eLearning content that is absolutely as short as possible and no shorter, in the words of Microlearning Evangelist Dan Belhassen.
But there’s more to microlearning than its length or format. We'll take a look at some of these aspects as we work to deliver a detailed, but digestible, definition of microlearning.
A persistent myth cited to explain the microlearning explosion is that learners’ attention spans are shrinking. Millennials, in particular, are the target of this myth, and fake research comparing people’s attention spans to that of the average goldfish — and painting the goldfish as the winner — is referenced far too often.
People pushing this myth insist that training content has to be short because otherwise, people won’t or can’t complete it.
It’s true that people procrastinate and take all kinds of extreme measures to avoid doing their required training, including paying their kids to do it. Or they click through it as fast as possible, not pausing to read a single word.
But that’s not because their attention spans are too short!
It has to be said: The reason many learners put off training or fail to engage with training, is because the training is poorly designed, irrelevant, redundant or boring. Or all of these. Not because it’s too long.
People watch 3-minute videos and 3-hour movies. They read 600-word blog posts and 600-page books. If people are interested in the topic or need the information — and the material is clear, focused, relevant and engaging — they engage with the material all the way through, whether they are looking for information as consumers, as learners or as employees.
The reason to use microlearning is not that you have no choice. Bite-size learning is not the only training option that works. It’s not the only thing that millennials will use or that busy learners can absorb.
The reason to use micro training is simple and compelling: Microlearning is the best choice for some types of content and for some learning goals.
It fits the way people search for and use information. Faced with a question, a problem, a forgotten bit of trivia, today’s digital consumers whip out their smartphones and search for a solution in the moment.
These digital consumers are your employees — and they behave no differently at work. When they have a question or need to know how to do something, they don’t want to sign up for a 90-minute eLearning course. They want an answer — now.
That is the real purpose of microlearning: Meeting employee-learners where they are. It delivers focused, easy-to-find answers to them at the moment they need it. Microlearning in business is short enough that it doesn’t interrupt the workflow, yet it's complete enough to solve learners’ problems.
While there’s no set length for a microlearning unit, it has to be useful. Each micro-sized training unit should generally stand on its own, answering a question or solving a problem.
Each unit of bite-size learning might also be part of a larger, more comprehensive body of training.
While many people, even eLearning designers, believe that microlearning is always video, that’s simply not the case. Much microlearning is in video format, but a micro lesson can be a fact sheet or an infographic; it can be a podcast or an interactive video or a branching mini-scenario.
It’s possible to create microlearning using an eLearning authoring tool — or using a word processor or PowerPoint. Text-based chatbots, which answer questions or quiz learners, are also considered forms of microlearning.
Microlearning is defined less by its format than by its functionality: It answers a specific question. It delivers needed information at the precise moment the learner needs to know. Microlearning reminds workers of something they know they’ve learned when they are not confident that they remember every detail.
In other words, a micro unit acts as a performance support, solving a specific problem for a specific learner at a specific time, without interrupting workflow.
Another myth is that microlearning is just short content. That’s easy, people think. We can just break up this two-hour eLearning course into a separate unit for each section.
Chopping a long eLearning course into small learning nuggets does not mean you’ve created microlearning, though. It's possible to turn longer-form learning, such as a comprehensive eLearning course, into microlearning. However, each unit of micro training must be designed to stand on its own.
That means each unit has to have a clear — and measurable — learning goal. It should focus on improving the learner's knowledge retention. In addition, each bit of bite-size learning content has to be coherent, clear and useful to learners all by itself — without the context of a longer course and additional supporting material.
Dozens — or even hundreds — of individual micro units can band together to form a more comprehensive course. Learners might complete the entire microlearning series, over time, to master a complex topic or body of related information. Some learners might review individual micro study units over and over. Others might complete a dozen units in a single sitting. It’s flexible.
A common microlearning example is using eLearning to learn a language. Using micro courses offered by Duolingo or Babbel, learning occurs when the user chooses to engage. The timing and duration of learning is completely within their control. Learners can spend a couple of minutes a day, do an entire level at once or review vocabulary on the plane on their way to a foreign vacation.
A real problem with training consumption is the finality of it all. Once the training is finished, the learner starts onto the forgetting curve. Training needs to be exercised frequently — but what training you choose to exercise and when matters, too. With our microlearning platform, data of what the learner already knows is gathered. The topics they know well are brought up less frequently; topics they need more training on are brought forth more frequently. And, the entire process, known as spaced repetition, is automated through the app and personalized to the learner. Because it places focus on the areas they need the most training, it improves their knowledge retention of a specific subject with efficiency.
It is possible to arrive at a microlearning meaning by identifying essential characteristics or a “philosophy” of microlearning. Defining a microlearning philosophy should include these key characteristics.
The microlearning philosophy might encompass these principles:
In short, our microlearning definition describes concise, clear content that answers an immediate need. As implied by the term "micro," microlearning content is brief, but the content needs to be able to stand alone as a single unit of learning. Defining microlearning further, the content must be available when, where and in a format that meets the learner’s needs.
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