Our digital lifestyle is impacting our attention span. Is your microlearning online training library keeping your corporate learners interested? Or are there some minor updates that could have a major impact on knowledge retention and employee engagement?
How Small Updates To Your Microlearning Online Training Library Can Bring Big Changes
Short-and-sweet is what corporate learners are looking for. If all your online training resources were tied up in hour-long sessions, your participation rates would be falling at record speed. But you’re smart. You’ve caught the microlearning wave and have started thinking about how to provide bite-sized modules. Whether you’re looking to meet the demand for Just-In-Time online training, or just want to increase course completion rates, microlearning online training assets are the way forward. So, what should your microlearning online training library look like in these fast-paced, distraction-filled times? From video to games, social learning to infographics, microlearning can be a diverse and varied experience.
Microlearning Online Training Library Benefits
A comprehensive microlearning online training library provides the organization with a wealth of online training resources:
- Gives corporate learners control over their online training choices
- Reduces online training costs for more comprehensive courses that may be overly detailed
- Enables Just-In-Time online training
- Provides fast upskilling when the opportunity arises
- Creates anytime, anywhere learning opportunities
- Helps real-world application
- Prevents cognitive overload and increases retention
- Caters for a broad range of learner preferences
- Essential for sales, safety, compliance, software, new hire, product knowledge, and process online training
Assets You Should Hold In Your Microlearning Online Training Library
There are several quick additions that can make a real impact on your microlearning online training library. Some you may have already. In which case, make sure the content is up to date. Others, you may not yet have considered. Here are some microlearning online training assets you had probably thought of and tips to shore them up for maximum impact:
1. Webinar Snippets
“Chunks” of video content from a webinar, leadership seminar or investor presentation. Reevaluate these snippets to ensure that they’re still relevant and see if you can break them down even further to improve retention. You might also consider adding embedded links and follow-up activities to enrich the online training experience.
2. Infographics Combining Existing Text, Graphics, And Images
Clear the clutter, such as extraneous images, and look for blocks of text you can minimize.
3. Quick And Easy “Home-Videos”
These may be in the form of senior leader interviews or recorded skill demonstrations. Transfer knowledge effectively by following these rules:
- Storyboard content first
- Include one learning objective per video
- Represent information visually using graphics where possible
- Be careful with audio not to overpower the visual
4. Quick Serious Games
A great way to temporarily immerse your corporate learner in your subject matter! Choose a section of your online training content with real-world application and use a game to train up your corporate learners on a specific skill. Ensure that your current microlearning game line-up still aligns with learning objectives and doesn’t cause cognitive overload. For example, every game should focus on one sub-topic or task instead of trying to cover too much ground.
5. Branching Scenarios And Real-World Simulations
Real-world simulations should focus on a single step at a time so that corporate learners are able to absorb the information. Which also allows them to mimic the behaviors. Verify that your branching scenarios and simulations feature relatable characters and situations to facilitate practical application.
Quick Adds You May Not Have Considered
1. Social Plug-Ins
Social learning can become a microlearning asset. Expand the online training experience to include peers and Subject Matter Experts. Incorporate online discussion boards in your microlearning online training library. Target specific groups and keep the conversation flowing by setting challenges or posting questions.
2. Topic-Focused Podcasts
Sharing a selection of podcasts relevant to recent or upcoming online training is a great way of immersing a corporate learner in the online training course. It helps to encourage further research and gets corporate learners thinking more broadly. You can even invite corporate learners to guest host their own podcasts for the microlearning online training library to cut costs and improve knowledge retention.
3. Checklists
Step-by-step walkthroughs of a task or process act as a “cheat sheet” prompt when on the job. Checklists are also a great way to encourage employees to explore the microlearning online training library on their own. Determine which online training resources align with their gaps and goals, add them to a personal list, then check them off as they go.
4. Corporate eLearning Blogs
Have you considered using corporate eLearning blogs, either external or internally generated, to raise interest in a topic? An eLearning blog created by a corporate learner that has previously completed the same online training course, showing the real-world applications, is incredibly powerful.
5. Real-World Examples
Provide short case studies or stories to give corporate learners a new perspective. Consider making them interactive, using video or cartoon-style branching scenario to increase engagement. Personal anecdotes are another great way to showcase skills in action.
6. Self-Evaluations
Pop quizzes give corporate learners the power to evaluate their own performance and progress. Focus on a specific idea or concept to keep the quiz brief and targeted. Which also allows corporate learners to quickly spot areas for improvement that they can remedy with other resources of your microlearning online training library.
A well-stocked microlearning online training library is a thing of wonder. Imagine the power you give to corporate learners by inviting them to look up a relevant topic and engage interactively and instantly. Maybe they quickly want to refresh themselves on a policy or system. Maybe they have an absence to fill and need to provide a quick burst of training on the day. Provide the right context in your communications and put the online training resources in the corporate learner’s hand. They will then be able to dip in whenever they need or want.
You can push microlearning online training resources based on your own analysis: perhaps you need to roll out an update to a process. Identify the relevant job roles involved and invite them to access the resource: a video or an infographic, for example. Keep your microlearning online training library up to date with the latest approaches and technologies, and keep your corporate learners coming back for more.
Microlearning is here to stay. Our aim is to help you do it properly so that both your learners and your organization realize the benefits of this highly effective core element of any thoughtful learning strategy. Download the free eBook Microlearning That Engages: A Guide To Successfully Drive Employee Satisfaction and discover more!
