As an approach to eLearning, microlearning has a lot ofappeal:
- It’s less expensive to create than long, complexeLearning courses and often takes far less time
- Learners gain control over their time andschedule when they can complete eLearning in short bursts whenever they havetime, rather than having to set aside a half-day or longer
- The brevity of microlearning forces a narrowerfocus, which can eliminate extraneous information
- Much microlearning is highly portable—accessibleon a variety of devices—meaning that learners can take it with them and are nottied to desktop or even laptop computers
But the diminutive size and scope of a microlearning projectmight introduce the temptation to cut corners, such as skimping on design. Thiswould be a mistake. Well-designed eLearning demands attention to both theinstructional design and the visual design (see “Instructional Design and Visual Design: The Pillars of Great eLearning”).
Here’s why: A key element of instructional design isproviding information in a way that learners will understand. This meanschunking information into coherent blocks. Whether each block is a five-minutemicrolearning module, a 30-minute eLearning course, or a six-week virtualseminar is irrelevant—the information within must be coherent andcomprehensible.
“If the message is flawed, it is verydifficult to create designs that can help supplement the message,” CrystalRose, The eLearning Guild’s manager of web development and design, said in anemail interview. “Proper design can help break updifficult-to-understand content by chunking the content or creating graphics tohelp explain those concepts.”
The eLearning must be accessible to learners. This meansthat they are able to use it when and where they need it. It also means thatthe visual design—the presentation of the information—must be clear.
Appearance matters
Visual design matters, even in smallpackages. While learners are less likely to get lost navigating throughmicrolearning than in larger modules, they still need a coherent visualpresentation of information.
“Poor visual design can impair the success of eLearning forseveral reasons,” ConnieMalamed, a learning and visual design consultant and author, said in anemail interview.
- A cluttered design makes it difficultto process information.
- Lack of clarity impedes learners’ability to focus on what matters. “This wastes time and could cause people to miss the keypoint,” Malamed said.
- A random or messy design impairscredibility. “Inother words, it looks unprofessional, so how accurate will the content be?”Malamed said.
On the other hand, if the informationis incomplete, inaccurate, or irrelevant, the most gorgeous visual design inthe world won’t help. “Idon’t think visual design can compensate for flaws in the instructional design.They more or less should move hand in hand,” Malamed said.
Design is design is design …
The approach to designingmicrolearning is similar to that used when designing any eLearning.Instructional designers scope out a project first, identifying the learninggoals and format. You can present microlearning, like longer eLearning, asvideos, text, or games; you can also present it graphically, as infographics oranimations. In fact, using instructive graphics can be enormously helpful inreducing the amount of text; a short video or infographic can illustrate aprocess far more succinctly than written instructions.
Malamedrecommends sketching out a series of thumbnails—“small sketches thathelp people visualize ideas.” That can both spark creativity and help designersidentify a coherent flow. “Youcan draw six to nine small rectangles on a sheet of paper and brainstorm ideas,layout, interactions, etc.”
“Withagreement on a general approach, I’d start playing around with design ideas ina graphics program (PowerPoint, Photoshop, Gimp, Canva, etc.) and come up withsome styles that will work for the audience, content, and approach,” Malamedsaid.
Focus on the audience
As with any eLearning, a focus on learners and their goalsis important:
- What do learners need to take away from theeLearning? Are you reminding them of information that they’ve already learnedor teaching them something new?
- Where are they likely to use the microlearning?Graphical presentations might not work on smartphones, so the size of learners’screens is a factor to consider.
