Why you should use Microlearning to enhance your online learning experience.

Understanding Microlearning

Microlearning is a form of learning activity where short bursts of learning content are delivered to the learners in a timely fashion. This can be done either in the form of email newsletters or social media posts. Ideally, this is highly engaging content delivered right into the learner’s device and can be very effective in training learners in specific knowledge and skills.  

This trend has given rise to many social media influencers who are making a living by building learning communities that are engaged through micro-learning activities.  Microlearning content can take many forms, including text, images, infographics and/or interactive multimedia. When planning to deploy microlearning to your learning community, you need to ensure that the platform supports these formats.  

Here are some microlearning content examples:

• Short or long-form text
• Photos, illustrations or infographics
• Short format videos (eg, Instagram, TikTok, stories etc)
• Audio (short snippets of speech or music) Interactive assessments like quizzes, surveys, challenges or games

We will share more details later on how you can use Coursebox for microlearning.

How does Microlearning help, compared to other forms of learning delivery?

1. Quick and effective way to engage

Unlike spending hours building an e-learning course, microlearning is easier and quicker to create. This means you can reach your learners in a much shorter time and deliver learning insights in smaller chunks that are easier to consume and share.

2. Affordable Platforms available compared to legacy LMS

People are building large learning communities on free platforms like Facebook, Instagram or even Whatsapp, without having to invest any capital in technology. However, free platforms can be difficult to manage as your business grows.  Hence, you will need to invest in learning platforms that can deliver a blended learning experience with a mix of micro-content and online courses. However, unlike legacy learning management systems, you don’t have to invest a fortune. Platforms such as Coursebox, which specialises in microlearning, are capable of providing all the necessary tools to an individual or business.

3. The format can be adapted to any subject

Microlearning formats can be adapted to any subject matter. All you need to do is convert these long-form learning content from regular courses into bite-sized pieces, into various categories.  

4. More Engaging and accessible

A key benefit of microlearning is that it is very accessible compared to other formats. You don’t have to use complex software to access it. Microlearning content can be delivered right into your smartphone apps that can notify learners, who can then spend a fraction of a second to access and engage with the content. They can provide their own comment or share them on other social media platforms. This is why it is a more powerful means of training people on the go than via traditional e-learning formats.

5. Chunked learning content is easier to remember and recall

Instead of dumping 10-20 hours long online courses to the learners, microlearning promotes an incremental learning approach that may be more effective. As it is easier for the brain to process small nuggets of information, the combination of incremental learning and repetition increases the retention capacity of learners.

Is Microlearning alone sufficient?

The answer is ‘NO’. Learning is not just the consumption of micro-content on a regular basis – it also includes other activities such as long-form studying, research, practical application, discussion, writing and so on. Hence, microlearning is not a complete solution for learning but should be used in conjunction with other tools. However, it can play a crucial role in keeping learners engaged with the topic for a long period of time and help them incrementally learn. This strategy combined with other forms of learning can be powerful.  Furthermore, though it is easier and cheaper to build micro-content, it cannot be done without proper planning and the involvement of experts in the field.

Best Practises for Microlearning delivery

Because it is easier to start with microlearning, it is also easier to get it wrong. Hence, proper planning is required before you can kick-start your microlearning.

1. Don’t just copy/paste your eLearning material: It might be tempting to copy eLearning materials and share them as your microlearning content. However, not all eLearning materials can be considered as microlearning content. You will need to invest some time in constructing the right design and learning strategy to build unique micro-content, rather than a copy.
2. Don’t use only one type of multimedia: It is better to use different types of content like images, videos, interactive content instead of just text or image. Microcontent can quickly become monotonous if it is always delivered in the same format and with the same style. Mixing it up using different multimedia can increase learner engagement.  
3. Integrate engagement with gamification: Gamification is a great way to boost your engagement with the micro-content. Some form of a leader board or badges can entice learners to engage with the micro-content on a regular basis.  
4. Spice it up with micro assessment and challenges: Do not forget to include micro assessments, for example, quick quizzes, surveys and challenges. This can add variety to your microlearning strategy and also help learners test their skills and revisit old learning concepts.

Is Microlearning just posting content?

Not at all. A single post that doesn’t have any connection with the previous or future posts is meaningless. Furthermore, posts in themselves aren’t microlearning, instead, it is a means of engaging with your learners on an ongoing basis to increase the impact of your actual learning content. It helps people get motivated and receive quick revision on their learning topics. Hence, a single post is a part of a long learning journey and threaded together in a meaningful way, they provide a better micro-learning experience.  

So how can Coursebox help?

We talked about how microlearning is a series of meaningful short content that helps learners engage with the learning content, facilitators and the other members of the community.  

Technologically, at the centre of microlearning, lies a system that allows trainers or learners to seamlessly distribute engaging content – text, images, videos & interactive. They also should be able to schedule them automatically and convert them into summarised emailers. The legacy LMS doesn’t have such features. This is where Coursebox shines. Coursebox has in-built online community learning features like groups, email newsletters and a powerful/interactive news feed. More importantly, all of these are mobile-ready and available through Coursebox free mobile app (iOS and Android).

Recently, Coursebox has launched an awesome new feature that will allow you to deliver any kind of interactive micro-content. This is one of the most powerful features of Coursebox that allows you to embed an HTML code as micro content! We are calling it Advanced Posting.

Advanced Micro Content Posting

This powerful feature allows users to post interactive content to the whole portal Community and/or Group followers. With advanced posting, you can include emojis, and offer more video embed options and, most importantly, HTML editing like iFrames. This means that you can embed any interactive online content like quizzes, surveys, games  (or even social media posts from other platforms) as a post to your groups. Screenshot of composing Advanced Post. Screenshot of previewing Advanced Post. Screenshot of the post after being published.  

So are you ready to start your microlearning program?  If you are still unsure of how it is going to work out for your organisation, feel free to speak with one of our representatives by booking a meeting.