Are you struggling to keep your employees engaged and up-to-date in today’s fast-paced world? Traditional training methods often fall short, leaving learners overwhelmed and forgetting key information. 

Download this free report by Carla Torgerson, MEd, MBA, and gain valuable insights on: 

• The impact of microlearning on learning outcomes and employee performance 

• How microlearning caters to the needs of today’s busy learners 

• Best practices for designing and delivering impactful microlearning experiences 

• Expert predictions for the future of microlearning 

• Real-world examples of successful microlearning implementations 

Stop wasting time and resources on ineffective training methods. Download your free report today and empower your workforce with the power of microlearning. 

The post Microlearning 2024: Current State and Future Implications appeared first on Learning Guild.

It seems that every training professional wants to “go micro” but they all define microlearning differently. So, what the heck is microlearning?

In this session, we’ll consider how a number of leading thought leaders define what microlearning is and what it is not to create our own understanding of this popular but ill-defined term. Then we’ll discuss four primary use cases for microlearning and look at real examples of each, examining successful uses of these different types of microlearning in organizations today. Finally, you will consider how you can use these types of microlearning in your own work.

This session will provide you with a strong understanding of the primary ways microlearning can be used and set a foundation that will help you to define clear strategies and best practices for “going micro.”

In this session, you will learn:

• What we mean by “microlearning”
• What microlearning is not
• Four use cases where microlearning is highly effective
• How you can use microlearning in your own learning development toolkit

The post What the Heck Is Microlearning? appeared first on Learning Guild.

In this session you’ll identify how to go micro with the greatest impact for your learners. First we’ll discuss why microlearning needs to be learner centered, and consider your specific learner and their needs. Then we’ll share four primary uses of microlearning and look at real examples of these different types of microlearning and how they are learner centered. Then you will consider how you can use these types of microlearning in your own curriculum and design them to be learner centered. You will leave this session with a renewed focus on your learner, fresh ideas for incorporating microlearning into your organization, and practical tips to make those ideas a reality.

The post Is Your Microlearning Learner Centered? (And Why It Needs To Be!) appeared first on Learning Guild.

But as a learner, I hated it

I still remember that course today…it was about the company’s core values. It was for the HR team and would be given to leaders and select groups of employees throughout the organization. I remember the instructional approach, the interactions, and even the screen design. But of all the things I remember about that course, the thing I remember most is the mistake I made.

My big mistake

My mistake was that I did not think about the learner. Sure, I thought about the learning but I really didn’t think about the learner. I made sure the content was well-sequenced so it would be easily understood; I made sure there were good activities for practice; I ensured the graphics supported and enhanced the instruction—all the things good instructional designers do to ensure comprehension and retention.

But in all that focus on the learning I forgot there was a real person—let’s call her Suzie—who would take this course. To make that course more effective, I needed to also think about her and her world. Truthfully, the course needed a better WIIFM (What’s In It For Me), because I forgot that Suzie needed help to see why learning about the corporate values would make her a better employee.

I also needed to think about real application of this content to her world. I shared the corporate values as an academic concept, assuming that if everyone knew the four pillars of the corporate values they would naturally see how that fit into their work.

Consider the learner’s experience

When I took the course as a learner, it felt like “busy work.” I got to the end not recognizing the importance of the four pillars, nor how they would help me. The course felt like something that I had to do to check a box in the LMS and get on with my “real work.” And it really made me realize—that’s probably how all the other people taking the course felt about it, too.

In eLearning design and development we often call our learners “users.” The only other people who use that term to describe their customers are programmers and well… uh… drug dealers. I know now to give more respect to my learners. Wherever possible, I try to focus on not just the learning but also the learner. What is their “why” for taking this course—why should they make this a priority among all the millions of other things on their to-do list? How will the practice activities be meaningful so they feel like a good use of time? How will this course feel like it speaks to ME in a fun and engaging way?

When you are learner-focused you consider what the person needs to be able to do their job, how to make it realistic to situations they face on the job, and how it will integrate in their day-to-day work. When you focus on the learning and the learner, you have a course that will have impact.

Microlearning is learner-focused

Being learner-focused is a big part of why I like to consider microlearning in my toolkit of strategies that I use as an instructional designer. Microlearning is inherently learner-focused. It’s not just about being short (although microlearning is short); it’s about using the learner’s time well and considering how it will have value for the learner. I find that when I go micro I tend to be more learner-focused than ever—how will this be meaningful to the learner, how will they use this on the job, how will it have value for them?

When you consider microlearning as one of your instructional strategies, you are looking for how to provide the greatest value to the learner within a limited amount of time. Of course you are focusing on the learning as you always have, but you’re also focusing on the learner, too.

We still see a wide variety of definitions of microlearning. For me, it’s helpful to think about the four ways microlearning is used: before longer form instruction, after longer form instruction, as stand-alone instruction, and as performance support. When you think about using shorter form content in these different ways, then you can focus on the learner—what will they need at the moment they are using your materials, and how will you provide the greatest value for them? And by so doing, you focus on both the learning and the learner.

From the editor: Become a microlearning master

At Learning Solutions 2020, in Orlando, Florida, Carla Torgerson and Sue Iannone will show designers and developers more about creating microlearning that works. Their full-day pre-conference BYOD workshop on Sunday, March 29, “Creating Effective Microlearning for Boosting and Standalone Content” will address:

• How to create a boost learning plan for your own content
• How to create boosting content
• How to break your own content into bite-sized pieces for microlearning delivery
• How to design and create a piece of standalone microlearning

Registration for Learning Solutions 2020 is required in order to register for this pre-conference workshop.

Carla, Sue, and eLearning master Alice Bumgarner will also lead two concurrent sessions, “108 – Demystifying Microlearning for the Learning Leader” and “708 -Making Bite-Sized Work: 5 Tips for Creating Effective Microlearning.” In the Learning Solutions bookstore at the Conference, check out Carla and Sue’s new book, “Designing Microlearning” from ATD Press.

The post Consider Your Learner: The Power of Microlearning appeared first on Learning Guild.

How do you know what shorter form, right-fit content is right for your situation? Here, we’ll share the five key formats for microlearning and situations when each would be most effective.

Consider the optimal format

When we create microlearning, we generally consider five key formats in which to share our learning content:

• Text-based resources
• eLearning
• Video
• Infographic
• Podcast

Sometimes the optimal format choice is obvious based on your learning objective, learner, and environment. But sometimes it can be helpful to also consider the situations where each of these will work best.

Text-based resources

Text-based microlearning resources take many forms—job aids and performance support, but even things you may think of as simple communications, like newsletters, blogs, emails, and many more.

Text-based resources are simple, which gives them particular power. You should use them when you need to get something out fast.

The ease of updating them also serves well if the content is constantly changing.

Finally, text-based resources are also important for things where the learner needs to self-pace—that is, learners may need time to linger over part of the content, and different learners could require very different amounts of time to make sense of the content.

eLearning

Various lengths of eLearning modules are pervasive in the training field. Generally, they are interactive pieces of learning material that allow us to chunk and sequence content and enable interactions.

The eLearning format is great for content where you want to control the learner’s pacing; for linear content where you want to control the order in which the learner is consuming the content; or where you want to chunk the content into small pieces to express relationships or build content in a hierarchical fashion.

Of course, if you can find effective ways to make the content interactive, eLearning will be your best option for creating those interactions.

Also, if you need to track that the learner completed the learning, eLearning is often your best choice.

Video

Videos are becoming increasingly popular because the equipment to create instructional videos is getting cheaper and more accessible. And because we all have video cameras on our phones, we’ve gotten accustomed to seeing videos that are not professionally scripted, directed, and produced.

There are four main kinds of video:

• Interview: seeing a person talk to the camera, or seeing one person interview another
• Live action: seeing actors act out a scene
• Animation: seeing illustrated characters act out a scene
• Computer simulation: seeing a mouse interacting with software screens, an app, or a website

Videos are especially powerful for showing processes or procedures, because these happen over time. For example, showing how to safely take blood from a patient is a great use of video.

In addition, video is excellent for showing emotion. For example, if you want to show how to de-escalate customers in difficult conversations, a video is absolutely the best way to go.

Video can also be used to simulate a computer screen. Software simulation videos are ubiquitous because they are so helpful—there’s nothing like watching someone click through the steps of building a pivot table in Excel to enable you to do it yourself too.

Infographic

An infographic is a visual way of presenting information, often with limited text. You should think about an infographic as telling a visual story with a beginning, middle, and end. There are many different kinds of infographics; the ones that are most relevant to microlearning are:

• List: lists information about a subject
• Data or visualized numbers: provides statistics about a topic, where the number or an image representing the number is the focal point
• How-to guide: provides step-by-step instructions
• Flowchart: starts from a single point and branches, based on decisions
• Timeline: tells how something changed over time
• Comparison: compares and contrasts two items or topics
• Hierarchical: stacks information based on previous levels or steps

Infographics are particularly powerful because they are quick for the learner to consume, sometimes at a glance.

Much like text-based resources, they are particularly useful when the learner may want to skim or self-pace through the information.

Because infographics simplify information very well, they are also especially useful when the learner is particularly time crunched or needs to access the information quickly, for example, while on the phone with a customer.

If you are interested in learning more, Nayomi Chibana has a great list of infographic styles, with examples.

Podcast

Podcasts are audio recordings that the trainee listens to, much like a recorded episode of a talk radio show.

They are particularly powerful in cases where the learner has a lot of idle time but is able to listen to something during that idle time. While they are not used a lot in corporate training, they make good sense in cases where employees travel between sites. For these employees, their time in the car (or “windshield time”) can be extensive. So, those who train people in these kinds of roles have created podcasts and audio files to share information, knowledge, and formal training.

Always focus on the learner

When you consider microlearning this broadly, you are able to consider all the ways you can reach your learners and all the ways you can provide value to them. So really think about what you can do to meet the learners’ needs quickly, so they can get back to work. When you focus on the learners and the situations when they are likely to consume your microlearning, you will create better solutions that meet their needs.

Become a microlearning master

Join Carla at the Microlearning Design Online Conference on September 18–19, and learn to apply these tactics to designing your microlearning. Or join both Carla and Sue at DevLearn 2019 Conference & Expo, October 23–25 in Las Vegas, to learn more about creating successful microlearning assets. For even more depth, pick up a copy of their book, What Works: Microlearning, coming out later this year from ATD Press.

The post 5 Effective Formats for Microlearning and When to Use Each appeared first on Learning Guild.

Our experience with microlearning goes back several years, even before microlearning became a buzzword, and we’ve enjoyed helping countless clients address specific performance needs by using microlearning resources and programs. These are tips we share with our clients, and we hope you’ll find them helpful, too.

1. Define how you’ll use the microlearning asset

The first thing we recommend is actually figuring out how you will use the piece of microlearning. Microlearning can be used in four key ways:

• Preparation before a longer learning event
• Follow-up to reinforce a longer learning event
• Standalone training
• Performance support

If you aren’t clear on how your learning asset will be used, you will spin, trying to “go micro” without really knowing where to start or even how to evaluate if what you’re creating is likely to work. Take the time to determine which category you are trying to fill with your learning asset. We’ve found that these categories are critical because you will design the assets differently based on what you’re trying to achieve.

2. Identify a performance objective

Next, you must determine the objective for this piece. What learning or performance objective will you achieve?

Sometimes we are asked whether we really need an objective for a short microlearning asset. We always tell people you must have an objective—if you don’t have a reason for creating this content, then you do not need to build it.

A learning objective is fine, but where possible, a performance objective is best. Really push yourself to identify an actual learner behavior that you will impact. When you focus on performance, the learner (and the organization) will always find greater value in the materials you create.

3. Determine the best medium for the microlearning asset

A common misconception is that microlearning is always video—or always eLearning. But you should think more broadly. Microlearning can take any of these forms:

• Text-based (like a paragraph in an email, a page on your social system, or a PDF)
• eLearning
• Video
• Infographic
• Podcast

When you consider microlearning broadly, it helps you to consider all the ways you can reach your learners and all the ways you can provide value to them. Which brings us to our final item …

4. Focus on the learners

Microlearning is about meeting the learners’ needs quickly, so they can get back to work. To be this learner-centered, you must consider the learners and their needs—who they are, what their typical day is like, and what they are likely to want from the learning experience.

When you focus on the learners and their needs, you can better create solutions that meet those needs. As you design the asset, continually ask yourself these questions:

• What are the most critical things the learner needs right now?
• Will the learner want to use time in their busy day for this?
• Will the learner find this resource useful?

Certainly, there are topics that aren’t inherently learner-centered, such as the implementation of a new policy or a variety of compliance topics. But, as you approach your training, search for opportunities to make the topic as learner-focused as possible. Try to make the training about the learners and their needs. With every step of your design, ask yourself if you’re meeting those needs. We regularly do this with our microlearning, and it always helps.

Choose microlearning for the right reasons

One of the biggest reasons that microlearning efforts fail is because people decide to go micro to do the latest new thing; they focus on the seat time but don’t focus enough on the needs of the business or the learners. That results in content which is short but doesn’t use the learners’ time well. Irrelevant or ineffective learning will always frustrate your learners, regardless how short the piece is.

If you follow the four recommendations above, you are more likely to create microlearning resources that really make a difference for your learners. Instead of going micro just to say you’ve done it, you can say you went micro and it made a difference!

Become a microlearning master

Join us at DevLearn 2019 Conference & Expo, October 23–25 in Las Vegas, to learn more about creating microlearning that works. We’ll be teaching a full-day pre-conference workshop, “Create Effective Microlearning,” October 21, and leading a concurrent session, “Hype or Home Run? Microlearning Demystified for Learning Leaders,” October 23.

The post 4 Strategies for Creating Microlearning That Works appeared first on Learning Guild.

For example, let’s say John is asales rep for a major pharmaceutical company. He has a large territory and isconstantly on the move. He works in the cardiology division, selling pharmaceuticalsthat doctors use to treat various conditions of the heart, such as hypertension,high cholesterol, and coronary artery disease. His company is releasing a newcholesterol-lowering drug in two weeks. How will the company prepare John tosell this new drug? (Note that while this type of training scenario is common,we have fabricated the specifics for purposes of this example.)

In the past, John would have taken formaltraining (instructor-led, online, and Webinar) and the product team or his bossmay have provided some coaching. John would have also used informal learning bysearching the Internet and talking with peers. But is there more theorganization could do to maximize John’s potential and create a more efficient pathto proficiency?

With a mobile workforce and use of differenttraining delivery methods, organizations can provide training and performancesupport much differently today. Formal learning coupled with performancesupport enables John to access specific content at the point of need,supporting faster and more accurate knowledge application and resulting in greaterspeed to competency.

Performance supportdefined

Performance support provides employeeswith a way to learn and improve skills while doing real tasks on the job. Performancesupport has been around for a long time, but it has been gaining a lot ofattention lately because advances in computer and mobile technologies havesignificantly enhanced our ability to support performance on the job.

In our everyday lives, we havebecome accustomed to learning while performing a task. Have you ever used a GPSdevice to get somewhere, or upon getting lost, looked up a map on your Smartphone?If so, you’ve used performance support. With all the devices on our desks and inour pockets, we have an unprecedented ability to get help in the moment of needduring performance.

This is also true for workplacelearning. It isn’t until people are actually performing a task that theyrealize the specifics about what they don’t know –either because they didn’t learn it, they misunderstood it, or they forgot it.By providing support at the moment of performance, we enable learners to excelin ways they can’t with formal training alone.

Performance supportand formal training

Our profession is steeped in wisdomabout how to teach people. However, our field has always struggled with the gapbetween what people learn in training and their ability to transfer thatlearning to the job. With that gap, it becomes very difficult to quantifyresults or identify the return on investment. With performance support, weassist learners as they are applying their newfound skills at work. Nowhereelse will they have as many opportunities to apply and repeat their skills asthey perfect their learning.

Some people mistakenly think thatperformance support is about replacing formal training. This is not the case. Therelationship is symbiotic, with performance support enhancing the effectivenessof training – and trainingenhancing the effectiveness of performance support.

Performance support ensurestransfer from formal training and increases speed to proficiency. If people arelearning something new, training plus performance support will help the learnerto apply new knowledge effectively. Performance support can guide learnersthrough difficult points and support them as they apply new behaviors.

Trainers have often ignored informallearning – thelearning done outside of the classroom. Think about all the times you’ve beenat your desk and done a quick Google search to learn something you need rightnow. Experts claim that over 80 to 90 percent of workplace learning isinformal. By using performance support, we make informal learning moredeliberate, providing learners with the support they need when they need it. AsGottfredson and Mosher write: “We are now intentionally stepping into theinformal side of learning.” (See the Reference at the end of the article.)

 Features of effectiveperformance support

When implementing performance support,the first question to ask is, “When will my learners use it?” Yes, we know itwill be at the moment of application, but this moment has four different stages:

1. Preparation
2. Urgency
3. Performance
4. Reflection

To continue our example, John knowsall about the anatomy and physiology of the heart and how his company’sproducts can assist with various cardiovascular issues. The company’s new drugis a significant improvement over their previous cholesterol-lowering drugsbecause it works on a different pathway than current medications. John needs tounderstand this pathway to be able to sell the drug.

Last week, John attended a Webinarwhere he learned about this new product. He also completed an online coursethat provided more details about the drug and how it works in the body. Thiscourse also taught him how this drug fits into the portfolio of drugs hecurrently sells and how it compares to the drugs from other pharmaceuticalcompanies he sells against.

Preparation

During preparation, the learner is learningin the days before the moment of performance. This is likely a combination oftraining and learner-driven informal learning. The Webinar and online coursesare formal training; John receives the content well before the moment ofperformance and in a formal setting.

Formal training should also introducethe performance support materials that will be available. This tells thelearner not to waste time memorizing minutia and helps him to be comfortable withnot knowing it all. Ultimately, the learner should come away from the formaltraining with an overview of the critical information, tools to use duringperformance, and a basic level of comfort about how to handle the new situation.

Given the high stakes of needing tobe able to explain this new drug to the doctors he calls on, John is alsolikely to use informal learning to fill any gaps in the formal training. For example,he talks with colleagues about how they will handle difficult questions. He alsospends time on reputable Websites reading material and viewing videos about howthis kind of drug impacts the heart. He also reads about competitors’ drugsthat work in similar ways.

As training professionals, we canimpact this informal learning by creating short training pieces that John canaccess in those days prior to performance. Because it is likely that John has aspecific need if he is reaching out for the training, the training should beshort and tightly targeted to that need. By offering materials that provide theinformal learning, we know John isn’t wasting his time surfing the Internet forwhat he needs to know. Instead, he is getting content targeted to his specificneeds, including targeted messaging that the organization wants him to use withprospects and how to handle objections related to this drug.

Urgency

Have you ever crammed for an exam?This is the same as preparing just prior to the moment of performance. Now isthe time to focus on just the most important details – the things the learners are most likely toforget or things they cannot look up during the moment of performance.

At this point, John uses a quickreference sheet explaining the most salient points of the drug and itsmechanism of action. He also reviews a list of the most common drugs he willsell against and how his drug differs from them. Most importantly, he reviews alist of the five most common questions or objections he can expect a prospect tohave and the responses to each one.

In John’s case, he has acompany-provided iPad he takes on all of his sales calls. All of the materialshe needs for last-minute review are on the iPad, and John is able to use themin his car or in the waiting room while he waits for a doctor to see him. Therefore,the materials must be brief and easy to access.

It’s common to think learners canlook everything up during the moment of performance, and to an extent that istrue. However, there are many times when the performer must be able to handleat least the most basic tasks or lose credibility and confidence, particularlyif he works directly with clients. For example, John’s drug inhibitscholesterol synthesis; if he must look this up in front of a prospect, he willlose so much credibility that the sale will be lost. For those things that he cannotreview during the moment of performance, the urgency stage is crucial.

Performance

Performance is what we usuallythink of as “performance support” –the support we provide while the learner is actually doing the task. For thisstage, content must be very easy to access and chunked as tightly as possible.Remember, the learner wants reference materials targeted exactly to hisspecific need … right now.

In John’s case, he uses his iPadwith the prospect to show an animation of how the drug works in the cardiovascularsystem. He also brings up a list of side effects. He reviewed the most commonones during the urgency stage, but this list is much more detailed and providesdeeper scientific information on them. This is the material John does not needto memorize – and a prospect wouldn’t expect him to memorize.

Reflection

Reflection is the periodimmediately after the moment of performance when the learner ponders thestrengths and weaknesses of his performance. Recognizing areas of weakness willdrive the learner back to learning more, either immediately after theperformance or prior to the next moment of performance. If the performanceincludes interaction with a client, this stage also includes him validating thethings he said and following up with the client if he needs to expand orcorrect something.

For example, let’s say John has acall with a family doctor who has some specific questions about how his druginteracts with other medications. John doesn’t do a very good job of answeringher questions, and the doctor ends the meeting early. After the call ends, Johntakes the time to look up how this drug interacts with other medications so heis better prepared for the next doctor with similar questions. Most likely Johnwill access one of the informal learning or performance support pieces that hehad access to previously. He either didn’t use the resource before because hedidn’t think he needed it, or he did use the resource but forgot the keypoints. Either way, he accesses the materials with a newfound sense of urgency.

Conclusion

As employees become more mobile andtechnology continues to advance, organizations have unprecedented abilities to supportemployees’ performance at work. Adding a performance support component toformal training allows training departments to bolster performance in ways thatare superior to training alone. Whether buying or creating performance supportmaterials for your organization, think very carefully about when people willuse it and what they are likely to need at that precise moment. Doing so willmake a huge difference in the effectiveness of that support.

Reference

Gottfredson, C. & Mosher, B.(2011). Innovative Performance Support:Strategies and practices for learning in the workflow. New York:McGraw-Hill.

The post Train, Empower, Achieve: New Thoughts in Performance Support appeared first on Learning Guild.