Microlearning is Still the Next Big Thing: Here’s Why

Despite long-running jokes about shortening attention spans as the modern information age ground through MTV and the social media eras, the truth is that our relationship with time has fundamentally changed.

The days of completing a long formal qualification such as a degree and then occasionally having a professional development refresher, are quickly heading for the dustbin of history. In almost every profession and industry, the pace of change means that learning must be continuous and agile. It’s a data-driven world where best practices can change in the blink of an eye. This is a perfect situation for microlearning, which is focused on quickly closing skills and knowledge gaps where required to adapt to a changing environment. It’s not deep learning, but applied learning aimed at solving specific problems on a continuous basis. We spoke to interactive video expert, HiHaHo’s Mark Visser (pictured) on the power of the approach and why interactive video is going to be an essential medium for microlearning in future.

It Breaks Down Barriers to Learning

According to Mark, one of the key benefits of microlearning in the form of an interactive video, is how few hoops the learner has to jump through in order to get to the actual learning content. By using unique URLs and self-contained learning videos, learners are just a single click away from being introduced to something new and useful. Q: Tell me about the problem that interactive video addresses.

A: “The most important thing is easy access. With old school e-learning, it is always behind a thick wall. With interactive video, you can start to think in terms of microlearning, there is no obstacle” “With this approach it’s possible to learn anything at the moment you really need it”

4 Key Reasons to use Interactive Video

It’s Granular!

Using short interactive videos as units of microlearning provides one of the most straightforward ways to collect highly-granular information about learner behavior. Because each microlearning interactive video is a complete cycle of learning at a small scale, it gives you the chance to build a solid model of effectiveness and rapid iteration of improved designs.

It’s On-Point

In a longer lesson model, it’s possible for the learning to completely lose sight of what they were meant to learn in the first place.

Q: How is interactive video superior to a traditional lesson structure?
A: “To attract a learner, you need to place focus, which is usually short. In interactive video, you can focus on the thing he or she needs at that moment”

Greater control over focus means that there is little concern that focus will be lost for the few minutes the video lasts.

Just-in-Time Learning

Traditionally, we tend to think of learning as a discrete activity that happens prior to the application of knowledge. Often quite a long time beforehand, in fact.

A: “With microlearning, we have the opportunity to provide learning when it is contextual and just as it needs to be applied.Mark brings up the brilliant example of an automated machine that fails, where anyone walking by can scan a QR code and get a quick lesson in how to resolve the problem”

“It’s brilliant because no one has to do the learning if the machine never fails and anyone who is available can fix the problem – if it does arise”

It’s an Easy Fit

Changes to key systems such as an LMS or existing training infrastructure can be expensive and painful. That’s one of the great things about this interactive-video approach to microlearning.

Video is an add-on to existing processes. It runs on-top of what an organization already has.

Greater control over focus means that there is little concern that focus will be lost for the few minutes the video lasts.

Mark likes to refer to this as a “learning booster”:

Q: Where does interactive video sit within the training infrastructure?
A: “We say that together with what you already have (elearning, coaching etc.) let’s try to make it more effective by adding learning boosters”

“It’s these boosters that can support real-world performance”

Interactive Video in The Retail Industry

In the fast-moving world of retail training, microlearning is quickly finding a home for itself.

Q: How does interactive video work in the retail field?
A: “It is useful for two things (1) for customer satisfaction, to teach young employees and (2) is coaching on the job. We provide learning boosters so they can serve themselves once a week or every two weeks.

Q: So they can be contextual as well? they can be implemented at any stage of the process where most necessary?
A: Of course! But it’s all up to you (the learner). You could watch a small piece of content, or continue on.

A: It makes learning modular, which can make it more fun. We like to say:

“Don’t waste time & resources re-learning, only learn whats really important by making it more fun”

Mark says that each retail outlet have their own unique clientele and require slightly different experience sets compared to each other.

In this case, a database of modular microlearning videos with interactive scenarios acts as a coaching system that maintains performance standard and can help staff rapidly adapt to changes.