Step-by-Step Process to Develop a Microlearning Strategy that Works

Transcription

1 Step-by-Step Process to Develop a Microlearning Strategy that Works Practical Ideas to Jumpstart Implementation & Provide Performance Support 1

2 Table of Contents Page No: INTRODUCTION... 3 UNIT 1: STEPS TO IMPLEMENT MICROLEARNING... STEP 1: UNDERSTAND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MICROLEARNING STEP 2: IDENTIFY HOW MICROLEARNING IS RELEVANT TO YOU STEP 3: CHALK OUT YOUR MICROLEARNING STRATEGY 4 UNIT 2: DEVELOPING MICROLEARNING CONTENT... CHOOSING THE RIGHT CONTENT FORMAT 13 UNIT 3: MICROLEARNING IN DIFFERENT TRAINING SITUATIONS... SCENARIO 1: PRODUCT TRAINING TO DIVERSE AUDIENCES SCENARIO 2: LEARNING REINFORCEMENT FOR PROCESS TRAINING SCENARIO 3: TRANSFORMING LENGTHY AND BORING LEGACY COURSES 17 CONCLUSION

3 Introduction Microlearning is the buzzword that you must have been hearing a lot lately. It is not without reason. Given the fast-paced environment of today s workplace, big is no longer better, small is smarter. Learning can no longer be limited to the classroom (as in instructor-led training) or a work desk with a dedicated learning time (as in e-learning). Given the demands for ongoing and continuous knowledge upgrade, formal training will need to be supplemented with just-in-time learning and performance support. It is in this space that microlearning fits in. Microlearning is a learning strategy that delivers information to learners in small chunks to address a specific learning need. These small chunks can be referred to as microlearning assets and can be in different formats videos, e-learning modules, interactive ebooks, quizzes, puzzles, etc. To understand more about microlearning as a concept and the fundamentals, check our earlier ebook titled, Microlearning - A Beginner s Guide to Powerful Corporate Training. If you have already gone through the book and are ready to implement it in your organization, then continue reading to chalk out your strategy. 3

4 UNIT 1 Steps to Implement Microlearning 4

5 Steps to Implement Microlearning STEP 1 Understand the Characteristics of Microlearning Before you consider microlearning for your organization, you need to have a clear understanding of what microlearning looks like and its characteristics. This will enable you to visualize and chalk out a strategy that works best for your organization. So, any microlearning asset will need to have the following characteristics. 5

6 Steps to Implement Microlearning Is short and sweet Micro as the name suggests means short. It goes without saying that all microlearning assets need to be short. Typical acceptable duration is anything from 1 minute to under 10 minutes for videos, or other interactive formats. In case of ebooks or digital content, it should be chunked and short which allows for easy and quick reading. Microlearning assets are essentially tools for helping employees perform a particular task to provide information just at the time when it is needed. Hence, they will need to be precise, specific and to the point short and sweet! Based on a single learning objective Content must be tightly-scripted and easily communicated within 10 minutes with focus on one single learning objective in a single sitting. It is not meant to be complex, attempting to address multiple learning needs. If an employee needs to know how to fix a broken piece of equipment, the microlearning asset will just address the same. If it is talking about how to use protective safety equipment, it will just demonstrate that piece of information and will not talk about other safety aspects. 6

7 Steps to Implement Microlearning Be independent, even if part of a whole Microlearning content is an independent learning resource which will make sense on its own. Learners need not have any pre-requisite knowledge to make sense of what is being shared. They are good on their own and are able to convey information and support employees perform a specific task. In other words, a microlearning asset cannot be dependent on another learning asset. It has to stand on its own and the context should lie within the learning content and not outside it. However, they can also be part of a larger e-learning course. You can visualize your microlearning asset as independent Lego blocks which are good on their own but can be used to create course structures to fulfill different learning needs. Have interactive elements Ideally, each microlearning module should have some amount of interactive elements that allow learners to engage with the piece of content instead of being passive recipients of knowledge. In fact, this is one of the main learning design principles. Thanks to various authoring tools that are available to learning experts today, it is not all that complicated to embed interactive elements. Ready-made templates within the authoring tool allow you to come up with creative interactivities that are not just engaging but backed by sound learning design principles. 7

8 Designed to work on multiple devices Microlearning modules or assets have an important role in performance support and more so in the context of employees who are on the move and might need to access information on the go. In view of their purpose, microlearning modules need to be designed to cater to mobile devices. Steps to Implement Microlearning However, in order to maximize usage and reach, it is safe to design them to suit all forms of devices PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc. Fortunately, technology has made it easy to create microlearning assets that work on multiple devices. 8

9 STEP 2 Identify How Microlearning is Relevant to You Steps to Implement Microlearning While microlearning has its benefits, it may not always be essential or relevant. It is always good to evaluate your learning needs and take stock of your training situation and identify how microlearning makes sense in your case. 9

10 Steps to Implement Microlearning You can choose to revamp your existing content to make it fit into the microlearning strategy or you can start all afresh. If you find yourself in any of the following situations, you may have a solid case to implement microlearning in your organization: When you have overlapping content for different audiences (product training for internal sales teams and external channel partners) When you want to rehash an old, long duration e-learning course and make it more appealing and engaging to the present audience (a boring 50mins safety training course can be revamped to create scenario-based microlearning modules) When you want to reinforce concepts, facts, and content periodically make learning spaced, giving a chance for better assimilation of knowledge When you want to make knowledge easily available to learners to help them do a particular job; which also reinforces key knowledge and helps learning in the long run. It is like contextualized just-in-time learning When devoting long chunks of time to learning is not possible but learning is necessary to stay relevant and up-to-date 10

11 Steps to Implement Microlearning STEP 3 Chalk Out Your Microlearning Strategy Microlearning, just like your other training programs classroom training sessions or e-learning sessions, needs to be planned when developing your training calendar. It helps to have clarity on the following before chalking out a microlearning strategy: Who is it for? employee profile What is it going to do? training need and business goals How will it be done? training format 11

12 Steps to Implement Microlearning In our Beginner s ebook on Microlearning, we shared how microlearning can be used at different stages of the learning lifecycle. Learning Lifecycle Before training During training After training Knowledge assessment Purpose To assess, inform, motivate, and engage learners To introduce or teach a new skill, concept, or behavior change To reinforce knowledge, provide on-the-job performance support, resources to extend learning, and prolong knowledge retention To assess the success of the training program and knowledge gained by learners Depending on your budget and learning objectives, you can choose to incorporate microlearning elements in all or some of the stages of the learning lifecycle. You will need to assess the gaps and performance requirements and choose appropriate delivery methods. In this ebook, we will share how you can design and develop microlearning content in sync with other training content so that there is no duplication of resources, time and effort. 12

13 UNIT 2 Developing Microlearning Content 13

14 Developing Microlearning Content Instead of viewing microlearning in isolation, it is best to view it as part of your overall training portfolio. So, no matter which training content you are developing classroom training or e-learning, keeping microlearning potential, scope, and options in mind would help you maximize your effort, time, and most importantly, resources. Let us take an example of a typical training curriculum represented by the following diagram. Course Course Introduction Module 1 Module 2 Course Assessment Course Summary Module Introduction Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Module Assessment Module Summary Micro Learning Assets Overview (Objective) Topic 1 Topic 2 Lesson Assessment Lesson Summary (Concepts, Fact, Principle, Process, Procedures) Reusable Information Objects Element 1 Element 2 Element 2 If your course structure looks anything like the flowchart above, it gives you a bird eye view of what goes into creating a course. You have modules, which are a set of lessons, along with the assessment and summary. Each lesson is made up of several topics, which also might have a session summary, knowledge check or assessment. Modules as well as lessons could be treated a microlearning elements which can be accessed independently, based on the learning objective and need. 14

15 Developing Microlearning Content Each lesson may consist of several topics which could be a set or combination of concepts, facts, principles, processes, or procedures. These topics will consist of elements such as graphics, images, diagrams, interactivity, or media elements that are used to explain the content shared in the topic. Each topic or lesson can be designed to function as an independent microlearning module. So, while your learners take the entire course at the beginning, you can allow them access to individual elements of the course (either a lesson or topic) in future, if they need to brush up their knowledge or access the information to take a decision on job. An element is too small and does not make sense on its own and therefore does not qualify to be a microlearning asset. Choosing the Right Content Format Your e-learning courses may consist of several types of content. Here are some of them that could be used as microlearning modules: Videos Interactive videos Infographics Interactive PDFs Whiteboard animations Kinetic text-based animations 15

16 Developing Microlearning Content Mobile apps Gamification Quizzes Flipped pre-work How-to demos Reference tools Performance dashboards It is obviously not practical or advisable to include all of these elements but you can certainly choose some of them based on your need. Your learners may just need videos that they will access via mobile devices. In which case, you will just have a library of microlearning videos to suit different audiences and their training context. Or, you may want to use microlearning to help employees perform a task. In such cases, you will need how-to-demos. Just ask yourself how the microlearning asset will help in learning or achieving business goals before you choose one. 16

17 UNIT 3 Microlearning in Different Training Situations 17

18 Microlearning in Different Training Situations Let s look at three different scenarios in which microlearning is used effectively. SCENARIO 1 Product Training to Diverse Audiences Jim is the product training manager of a large consumer electronics company. Recently, his organization released a new washing machine into the market. Jim s boss asked him to develop online product learning resources so that the company s sales staff, service technicians, and employees of channel partners are well-versed with the company s new product line. Here was a problem. Jim had a limited budget and could not create multiple courses on the same topic, targeting diverse audiences. At the same time, he could not compromise on the training content which may be either irrelevant or unsuitable to some people. Also, some content that he would share with his sales staff, he may not want to share with channel partners. The Solution: Jim got bite-sized learning modules created to suit his diverse audience. He put together modules together in a course, based on what he wanted his audience to learn. By combining different modules, Jim came up with three versions of the course one for internal salespeople, one for channel partners, and another for end users. Each of these modules could be independently accessed by his learners after they first complete the course via their mobile devices. 18

19 SCENARIO 2 Microlearning in Different Training Situations Learning Reinforcement for Process Training Chris is the technical training manager of a multinational petroleum company. Last week, the organization trained its staff on how to handle a complex, brand new piece of drilling equipment, using a one-hour video-based e-learning course. The course was well-received and Chris was sure that learners would be able to retain their learning and apply it to their jobs. But, to his surprise, learners had problems recalling the steps involved in using the equipment, after a month. The Solution: Chris got microlearning modules created in the form of videos. Learners could access these videos on their mobile devices, just before operating the equipment. Employees developed proficiency in operating the equipment after repeated practice over a couple of days. In addition to videos, Chris got infographics printed and prominently displayed in common areas. A digital version of the infographic was also made available to those who preferred that format. The microlearning strategy helped fight the forgetting curve. 19

20 SCENARIO 3 Microlearning in Different Training Situations Transforming Lengthy and Boring Legacy Courses Jack is an instructional designer, working with a large financial services company. Years ago, he had developed a 60-minute e-learning course on information security. The content of the course was very relevant to the job tasks performed by the target audience, and Jack spared no effort to make the course highly interactive. The course was doing fine until recently, when it received poor rating by his audience and very often Jack spotted his learners simply clicking through the Next button without really going through the content. The Solution: Over the years, the audience profile changed with many millennials joining his company. Many employees were also not confined to a fixed space at office, making it difficult for them to complete the assigned course. On realizing this, Jack got this legacy course broken down into microlearning modules which typically lasted 10mins each. Employees could access the modules anytime within the give timeframe and complete them independently. Smartphones today are what textbooks used to be before, courtesy microlearning! Once all the modules were completed, employees had to take the assessment to be certified. The course was well received and completion rates significantly improved. 20

21 Conclusion Employee training is crucial and an essential component for organizations today and involves a lot of time, effort, and resources. One way to maximize on the training content is to extend its life and make it accessible to learners beyond the initial training period. This can be done by incorporating microlearning assets within the larger training curriculum. Microlearning can be a great tool for performance support to employees by providing them with just the right content, in the format they prefer, when they need it the most. Therefore, it would be a smart strategy to have microlearning modules in alignment with e-learning courses, classroom training, and the larger training strategy. 21

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