eLearning during a pandemic: Embracing the benefits of microlearning

Over the last 18 months, organizations have had to adapt almost everything—from the way they author learning content to how they deliver training. With challenges like learner engagement and employee isolation in mind, L&D departments will likely continue adapting learning programs to a new way of work for the foreseeable future.

In this extract from our eBook, we look at how microlearning helped learners and organizations alike.

As global audiences reacted to the pandemic in early 2020, there was a seismic shift to remote working. This opened the door for eLearning to become the go-to way of reaching global audiences. What does this mean for your content authoring strategy going forward? How can you tap into the trends that we’re seeing now and use them to inform your eLearning program?

What is microlearning?

Microlearning is targeted learning—delivered in concise, bite-sized chunks—that focuses on a specific product, feature, or service in easy-to-consume learning modules. While microlearning as a concept is nothing new, our friends at LEO Learning noted the pivotal role it played in the quick transition from in-person to virtual learning. This was especially important for companies that rely heavily on hands-on training, like those in the automotive or construction industries.

Microlearning became a great way for L&D teams to create different learning scenarios in order to accommodate blended learning opportunities.

How learners were impacted

The pandemic has prompted business leaders to take a long look at processes, with a focus on ways they can be more agile. With the disrupted work/life/home balance, learners wanted quick and to-the-point content—especially as roles shifted and time-bandwidth shrank.

Learners also needed personalized content to keep them engaged and on-task amid increased distraction. This was especially helpful as businesses shuttered and the social element of work was lost during remote work. Microlearning became a preferred way for learners to sharpen existing skills and explore new ones.

It also helped content authors create individualized content that could be quickly and widely consumed. These concise, smaller chunks of content became more digestible—a necessity when most of us were at capacity during the pandemic months.

How can microlearning be adapted into your current program?

Microlearning can be upcycled from any existing course material and converted into bite-sized training content. This gives learners quick, familiar content that is reinforced by repetition in smaller amounts of time.

You can get started by taking long videos and breaking them up into shorter, focused microlearning videos. If you’re working with a lot of written material, find specific sections or topics and create independent, concise blurbs. Taking the time to create microlearning opportunities can have big benefits for learners, such as:

• Targeted learning courses that can be used as refreshers to reinforce learning.
• Increased completion rates as learners can access shorter, bite-sized training materials from anywhere (mobile, tablet, desktop).
• Increased retention rates of the material learners are studying.

Big thanks to the folks at our sister site, LEO Learning, for sharing the customer insights and feedback that helped inform these ideals. LEO Learning help customers in the automotive, finance, and banking sectors (to name a few) by giving them the tools, content and strategies to transform learning at a global scale.