When you search “microlearning” you will find many different definitions. E-Learning Industry says it could be “could either be small learning units or short-term learning activities.” While Shannon Tipton has said microlearning is “short bursts of focused ‘right-sized’ content to help people achieve a specific outcome.” I lean towards Ray Jimenez’s emphasis on work results and focusing on how to help workers fix, solve, and improve work issues. I look at microlearning as a way to support people at the time and place of need, to help them NOW.
Microlearning brings to mind short videos and small e-Learning modules, but we need to understand that we are supporting performance. So, let’s focus on issues and barriers people are facing. Review internal audit reports, look at the operational performance metrics, and ask the people doing the work where they find barriers to productivity. Then, provide that solution in whatever delivery channel that works best, such as mobile, augmented reality, or even a taped-up job aid!
>> Learn more at the webinar: Microlearning: Learning in the Flow of Work
Microlearning is about putting solutions in the flow of work. It is a strategic application of learning as a business tool that seamlessly integrates training content, performance support, coaching and community connections (the knowledge experts who can help the person find the needed solution), apply it, and be able to retrieve it the next time the task or process is being done.
So, microlearning is about putting actionable learning in the workflow. We need to be in the middle of this because the people doing the work will go find their own answers and that doesn’t mean they are going to stop work and sign up for a class. When a problem is now, people will search on their own. So let’s be the champion of their success by helping them learn to learn without knowing they are learning! Microlearning can provide the solution NOW!
Written by: William Ryan
