2020 was a year that witnessed a myriad of changes in the workplace, society, and how we interact, work, play, and…live. In the world of learning and development, perhaps now it’s time to catch our collective breath, and review what we’ve done. 2020 was a year when members of the learning and development community (YOU!) were leaned on heavily to re-purpose, re-develop, and sustain professional development of the workforce in the pandemic.

Summary: As it turns out, evaluating a virtual training program is just like evaluating any other instructional program. The challenges lie in what you measure and how you interpret the results. The good news is that current modern virtual classroom platforms give you a variety of tools you can use to assess the effectiveness of your instructional delivery and its effect on learners.

Anyone familiar with ADDIE can tell you that the last step (the “E”) is evaluation. The challenges that people misinterpret what that step means-not seeking to evaluate the learner, but rather the learning program. Effective program evaluation requires careful planning prior to design to identify key data measures and means to collect the data prior to implementation.

Not only do current global circumstances demand training go digital, but, over the last few years, industry experts have promoted the value of virtual blended learning. This virtual model offers a number of critical advantages, like:

• Adaptability of programs (designers can update individual content pieces as information changes)
• Personalization of learning experiences (based on the needs of specific learner groups, they can engage in certain blends – or segments of programs)
• Application of knowledge (learners can apply new information within the context of work between live sessions)
• Practicality of design (designers can match each learning objective to an authentic treatment, and order the components in a logical progression)

How can you hit the ground running with your digital blend so it effectively achieves its goals, supports learners’ needs, and instills confidence in its efficacy? Start with solid design and purposeful communication.

With the Thanksgiving dinner trimmings put away in the states, the busiest time of year begins to take on a life of its own.

With inboxes and fireplaces equally a-blaze, personal professional development and corporate training can wind up on the back burner. What can learners and learning leaders alike do to keep missed training opportunities from piling up like snowdrifts? How can you make your next blend more magical than the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies?

If you were unfamiliar with L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz and read a description of the elements of the story, you’d likely see a list something like the following:

• a haunted castle with flying monkeys, a poppy field
• a tornado in Kansas, a village populated by wee folk
• a forest of talking foul-tempered trees
• a cornfield with a sentient scarecrow
• and a yellow brick road (YBR for short).

Virtual classroom learning and microlearning have become commonplace in corporate training. Both options adapt beautifully to the modern classroom, which strives for adaptability, flexibility, and accessibility. At face-value, though, the connection between this EdTech option and this design model seems ambiguous at best.

There are different points of view on how assessment in microlearning actually plays out. There are some variables to consider when sorting out what learners actually gain from these nuggets of information.

The good news is that microlearning is assessable. In fact, there's even research to prove it.

Microlearning Is Working

Lenny DeFranco, in his article,  Why Microlearning Drives Over 20% More Information Retention Than Long-Form Training, shares findings of a 2015 research study highlighting the link between microlearning (chunked in three different sizes), and corresponding assessment questions. The results: microlearning has macro impact on learning.

If you've been reading the latest posts, you're now pretty well primed in microlearning, from what it is to where it fits in the learning lifecycle.

Because microlearning is a "hot" trend, there is some wiggle room around its design, implementation, and use. Yes, some aspects are constant (i.e., it reinforces specific skills), and some are, well... interpretive, like how many minutes constitute "short" bits of time.

Scaffolding (sequenced, leveled instruction that leads learners to mastery) falls into that last category. Ask a few digital learning specialists about where it rests in microlearning, and guess what? Yep, many will have different points of view, a few of which I will share here.

What’s Really Important?

In a previous post, we provided some insight into the trending topic of microlearning. Because it's so popular and supports the way business is being done, there's lots of movement in the industry to put it into action. But, we need to make sure that it is done the "right way" for our learners.

Let's look at some of the important elements of quality microlearning that can guide the development and design process.

Think about how you best learn. If you're anything like me—always on a tight schedule, short attention span, prefer pictures to words—small chunks of information in one sitting are about all you can manage.

Microlearning is clearly what we need! It's not a new method (don't forget the primeval flashcard), but technology has changed its presentation, delivery, and use. And made it more USEFUL because of its accessibility.

And, most important, it instantly captivates learners—learners just like us.