How to upskill your workforce
In the year 2019, just 27% of businesses ( HR Systems survey) were thinking about microlearning. In those companies 9 percent of those were actively using the strategy in their workforce.
So what do you do with a remote, or perhaps a fully remote workforce that needs to continually adapt and learn? It's time for more than 9percent of companies to consider microlearning.
In this article in this article, we'll guide you through the fundamentals of microlearning. We'll also discuss the pros and cons, and the best methods.
What is microlearning?
According to research from Zhang and West (2019), microlearning can be described as:
"an innovation developed to satisfy the demands of professionals in the 21st century by giving professional-quality education in formats that may facilitate the continuous development of careers and organizations."
It's actually a form of e-learning which is delivered in smaller chunks that focuses on providing just-in-time or skills-based information.
Utilizing Enterprise, Axalta built better training tools that include live streaming as well as uploading bite-sized videos to its catalog. This revamp in its training has made it easier for teams to find their needs and communicate to teams on a larger scale.
Pros and negatives of microlearning
There are advantages and disadvantages like the majority of things - obviously! Here, we'll show you the main advantages and disadvantages of microlearning , particularly when it comes to professional environments.
Microlearning pros
- Improved development. On the McKinsey Podcast, a Spring 2021 episode discussed how use of microlearning is important for creating the mental muscles required to keep learning routines going. This allows you to get more value from the learning experience.
- Excellent way to gain knowledge or refresh memory in busy situations. We are all busy and working do we have time to learn a bunch of things? Well, research shows that microlearning is an effective method of learning that can help refresh memory of things you already learned, in addition to a means to develop new skills within busy working environments.
Microlearning cons
- Security concerns. One of the biggest issues for businesses that operate a remote-based model is security, with the majority of respondents mention cyber attacks as the biggest security threat. While microlearning isn't mutually exclusive to remote work It is important to ensure that the microlearning platform is secure (as well as the work setting) can be difficult.
- Some employees may not view it as seriously. There are times when it can be embedded in individuals to link learning with a classroom environment (just like the people at Axalta thought). As a result, some employees may not be able to take the more casual, short method of learning as seriously.
- This is not the best choice for more complex topics. Research shows microlearning is an excellent tool to learn specific and actionable things. On the flip side that means when the subject is more complicated or demanding, then microlearning may not be the ideal method to begin, but it could still be the perfect tool for supplementary learning in the future.
By knowing these pros and cons and cons, you will be able to take a better decision on whether microlearning is a training method you want to implement in your company.
7 best practices when creating an online microlearning course
1. Use short and/or interactive videos
Microlearning's primary purpose is to use short sessions of learning. You'll want to be sure the learning materials you choose to use are within a an extremely short period of time.
When you're developing an online microlearning program or creating some microlearning examples to test the concept, you should think about using the use of interactive videos as well as bite-sized versions to increase your employees' involvement and engagement in learning.
2. Make use of existing training
3. Promote information retention with recurring informational
One tried and tested method to keep content in the long term is using the concept of spaced repetition.
Since the videos of Microlearning classes are expected to be brief and short, they can potentially be easier to forget. This is where repetition in space comes to the rescue.
The concept behind spaced repetition means that the newer or more challenging information will be repeated more frequently while older more straightforward information is repeated less often. The method is mostly applied using flashcards but that's not to say you shouldn't try it on larger-format media for a greater period of duration.
By providing bite-sized video lessons and other resources at a single location that employees have access to information at any time whenever they require an immediate refresher.
4. Make the videos accessible
There are two methods to look at the accessibility of microlearning.
5. Concentrate content on particular actions or processes
Another main benefit that a microlearning course can provide is that it presents the most efficient method of understanding specific processes or tasks. It makes sense to capitalize on these advantages and design microlearning videos with this in your mind.
Utilizing the technique of microlearning it's technicians will be better positioned in directing brain resources to this particular task compared to if it were a segment of a much longer video.
6. Try different mediums
Most people would consider their selves "visual learners" and like to observe something happening in front of them so that they can learn to reproduce the results. Yet, not everybody learns in the same manner and has different learning preferences.
Certain people are avid learners and prefer participating or working on the project and learning from errors. Interactive videos are a great benefit for those who are active learners. Depending on the nature or style of work, interactive learners would also benefit from a physical microlearning experience to collaborate or complete a task physically.
There may be a group of learners who like to watch an interactive microlearning course. This option is great for theoretical-based learning and can give learners the chance to take in facts without having to watch a screen. Explore different media to determine which materials work best for the students you teach.
7. Get feedback and data from your employees
Perhaps the most essential aspect when creating a microlearning curriculum is making sure you get data and feedback from your staff. If you don't have feedback or data, it can be difficult to gauge the effectiveness of your microlearning programs and gain insights into how learners respond to the content you provide.
One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is by setting up the employees with a form of feedback to complete after they've completed a short training course. You can, however, monitor job performance using simple metrics both before and after the introduction of the innovative microlearning course. This way you have solid evidence either way and can make informed, data-backed decisions about developing your microlearning strategy and scaling it back.