Guild Report Shares Expert Views on State of Microlearning

Microlearning, as a concept and as an approach to learning,gained traction in 2017. It is poised to become one of the hottest eLearningtrends of 2018. Problem is, there’s no standard definition of whatmicrolearning is or where it is best applied.

When eLearning trends, technologies, and terms emerge, TheeLearning Guild customarily takes a leading role in facilitating communitydiscussions around these phenomena. Referring to digital learning, the Guild’s executive vice president, David Kelly, said, “Myintention is not to necessarily define it, but to start a conversation aboutit. That’s what we do at the Guild. We provide a platform for the community toengage in discussions to make sense of changes and trends in our industry.”

His statement—and the goal—apply equally to microlearning.

In pursuit of this goal, the Guild reached out to eLearningleaders across the industry—microlearning experts who will speak at the Guild’supcoming Summit, Microlearning: Beyond the Buzzword, as well as those who’ve presented workshops andsessions at Guild conferences.

Eight experts answered the call to assess the state ofmicrolearning in 2018. These leaders shared their definitions of microlearningand their assessment of its strengths—and weaknesses. They also described wheremicrolearning fits into an eLearning ecosystem and described significant waysthat designing microlearning differs from designing longer-format eLearning.They even offered tips for instructional designers aiming to create effective,engaging microlearning to offer training, refreshers, and performance support.

The contributors were Dan Belhassen, JD Dillon, DianeElkins, Roni Floman, Ray Jimenez, Summer Salomonsen, Tanya Seidel, and RyanSeratt.

Varied definitions of microlearning

“Rather than a stand-alone strategy or tactic,‘microlearning’ is a trendy way to express the change in mindset thatapplies many familiar L&D tactics in ways that better align to the needs ofthe individual employee. The term itself is just a buzzword that,unfortunately, often distracts from the real message,” said Axonify’s JD Dillon,a Learning Solutions columnist.

Several contributors cautioned against definingmicrolearning primarily based on the length of content or its format, and mostagree that merely breaking long-form content into smaller chunks does not turnit into microlearning.

Like the concept of digital learning, microlearning isfounded on a recognition that the way people seek and access information haschanged dramatically. Learners’ expectations are shaped by the way they behaveas consumers and everyday citizens.

Dan Belhassen, of Neovation Learning Solutions, said that eLearningis often not designed for the way modern learners access and use information.“You and I, we go to Google—we don’t launch an eLearning course to find outabout something,” he said, pointing out that most people look for the minimumamount of information that will quickly answer their question or solve animmediate need.

Microlearning meets that need: “It’s a brilliant strategythat meets learners where they are now,” said Grovo’s chief learning officer,Summer Salomonsen.

Read the full report to learn:

• Why it’s time to discard microlearning mythsthat focus on the length or format of content or fixate on learners’ attentionspans
• Areas of education, training, and performancesupport where microlearning shines as an instructional approach
• The importance of integrating microlearning intoa comprehensive, multimodal eLearning strategy
• Why a significant paradigm shift—a “leapfroggingof the mind”—is required to design microlearning, enabling eLearningprofessionals to adopt new approaches to creating, formatting, and evaluatingthe effectiveness of microlearning

The eLearning Guild’s research report, The State of Microlearning, is out today. The research report itself isavailable to Guild members who have purchased a content package.