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.

When designing and facilitating training, we can gain inspiration from an important source: the human brain. Research shows that we naturally make better connections when listening to stories and that short bursts of learning helps us better retain information.

So how to we leverage these benefits for improved ROI on our training, and more engaging experiences for our modern learners? Laura Goodrich, Global Workforce Innovator at GWT Next, recommends cinematic microlearning. This approach combines storytelling and bursts of learning to improve content communication and transform training experiences.

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.

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.

Training Magazine Network session recap

The next big thing in learning, might be the smallest! Microlearning has the power to change the way we design and facilitate our training programs. But before we can move forward with leveraging this revolutionary approach, we have to first understand it at a fundamental level.

Jennifer Hofmann, graciously sponsored by Airclass, shared her proven model, Connecting the Dots: Incorporating Microlearning Techniques into Virtual Classroom Experiences, with Training Magazine Network learners.

Let’s define microlearning, its benefits, and associated limitations to help you add this learning technique into your repertoire. Want to see how microlearning can support a live online training session? Click here to watch the entire recording.

Are you moving towards blended learning with your modern instructional designs? Microlearning provides a viable approach for many training content pieces and learner support resources.

On the surface, microlearning may not sound like a universally accessible option. “My topic’s too complicated to teach in five minutes!” you lament. And you’d be right – using microlearning effectively doesn’t equate to compressing a three-day, hands-on training program into one five-minute explainer video.

Carla Torgerson provided a helpful use case that will guide you towards best practice during her informative BYTE session, Embracing Microlearning in Your Ecosystem.