In an age where continuous learning is widely becoming a mutual goal for both employers and employees, it is vital for a company to supply learners with a structured eLearning environment. Part of what conveys a stable structure of the learning environment is the ability to optimize the learning time and efficiency.
Workers, in general, work hard and are consistently busy people leading busy lives. Taking time to learn something new, either concerning their work or for self-improvement, may also be consuming time where the worker could be actively accomplishing a key task.
Multitasking between a multitude of tasks in conjunction with the digital distractions people commonly face paints a realistic picture of the challenges employees struggle with every day to be able to focus on a specific project for an extended period.
Electronic tools such as e-mail, voicemail, instant messages, video conferences, texts, and corporate cell phone accessibility; all contribute to overwhelming people. Added to this fact, studies show that in a typical 8-hour workday, approximately ninety minutes per day can be lost merely by employees checking their business e-mail.
Moreover, according to LinkedIn's 2020 Workplace Learning Report, one of the top factors that prevent teams from learning is that they don’t have time to learn at work, but nearly all workers do see the career benefits of carving out time to learn.
Given that time is of the essence, employees are eager to have at their disposable micro, on-demand, personalized learning experiences that can be accessed at the right time, without having to invest hours consuming content.
eLearning professionals can use the following techniques to maximize student learning time and efficiency (in other words, help learners know all the required information in the least amount of time):
You probably have the main objective for your eLearning course clear before starting out. However, each module should also have its own singular objective clearly defined.
The reason behind this theory is simple: Having one unique and simple goal in mind makes it easy for learners to focus and realistic for them to achieve once the module is completed. By designing your micro modules with this simplicity in mind you are contributing to the learning process and providing students a huge opportunity to actually retain this key knowledge and APPLY it back at work as soon as possible.
Also read: 4 Tips on How to Convert Long-Form eLearning Courses to Micro Lessons
Expectations are changing in the learning world. As mobile device adoption continues to grow, so the way we train workers should continue evolving to adapt their current behaviors and expectations. Designing courses with a mobile-first approach and using the appropriate responsive technology can increase the student’s ability to learn anytime, anywhere.
After all, Mobile isn’t just a new technology trend. It’s an entire mindset change about how content is designed and delivered.
This represents a huge opportunity to leverage the multi-purpose abilities of smartphones. Users can move seamlessly from text to videos, to reference websites, to sharing apps. This takes an entirely new approach to how training programs are designed. The learner is now in control of their own learning. That’s why we now need to be mobile-minded in order to provide better learning experiences.
The takeaway: Make mobile your first consideration in eLearning content planning, not just as a way to retrofit old course content to a new platform. Design your training programs to be delivered on a mobile device from the outset.
Other important takeaways:
Read more:
Why Video is a Must-Have for Your Mobile Learning Strategy
Embracing a Mobile Mindset for Learning and Development
5 Essential Mobile Learning Design Rules You Should Be Following
Gone are the days when all employees will sit for hours on end listening passively to training sessions. Today, people learn non-linearly and actively, on the go, in short bursts when they can find time, and across a variety of devices.
Microlearning's quick format allows learners to take advantage of short breaks throughout their day instead of interrupting it for long hours at a time. They can focus on something for 5-15 minutes and then move on to more important issues. It’s more realistic to request the completion of a bite-size 10-minute lesson per week than a 3-hour course from your employees.
"8 out of 10 L&D professionals favor microlearning because their learners prefer it". More Micro-Learning Stats & Benefits in this article.
There are two key ways MicroLearning can be effective for students to gain knowledge of the training course.
Read more: Start Thinking Micro-Moments
If you want to start applying the principles of Micro-Learning to your eLearning design take into consideration these valuable implementation tips.
Companies that have users at their core are looking to provide more efficient and effective learning opportunities to keep their workforce motivated and engaged.
Has your company implemented any of these methods? Tell us about your experiences in the comments.