Mobile Microlearning: A Natural Venue for Spaced Learning

It’s a triple play that could be a winner for learners andeLearning designers: using mobile-friendly microlearning to implement a spaced repetition or spaced learning program. These concepts intersect to empowereLearning and add a tool to the performance support toolbox:

• Microlearning,creating eLearning in small chunks that learners can access anywhere, at anytime, is a great strategy to engage learners in reviewing content presented inother formats and at other times.
• Amobile-friendly app or eLearning framework can push a daily reminder tothe learners, encouraging them to practice frequently or at the same time eachday. This is the principle used, for example, by the free online language-learningplatform Duolingo. With control over when and where they do the eLearning,learners are more likely to add the small microlearning units to their dailyworkflow.
• Themicrolearning modules can repeat essential information in new ways, connectingconcepts and expanding on earlier concepts. By offering spaced practice with key concepts or facts, this strategy enableslearners to refresh their knowledge and solidify their memory of theinformation.

Duolingo applies other key concepts of spaced learning,spaced repetition, and adaptive learning as well: Lessons repeat words andphrases introduced in previous lessons, mixing them with new words andconcepts, to refresh learners’ memories and test recall. If a student answers aquestion incorrectly, the missed information is offered again, sometimes inmultiple ways, within the same short lesson. Duolingo offers easy access onlineor using a smartphone app, so it’s very mobile-friendly. These features, whicheLearning designers can easily implement, exploit the way the human brainprocesses information and creates long-term memories.

Spaced learning and spaced repetition apply neurosciencefindings that show that learning with breaks gives the brain time to createpermanent memories and is more effective than constant stimulation of theneural pathways that form the biological basis for memories.

The forgetting curve, first defined by German psychologistHermann Ebbinghaus, describes the decline of retention over time. Ebbinghausalso described the now-familiar concepts of a learning curve and the spacingeffect—essentially, Ebbinghaus discovered that spaced learning and spacedrepetition result in stronger retention than massed learning or “cramming.”

While any sort of learning might have a learning curve—anincrease in learning over time or with greater exposure or experience—sometasks are more ideally suited to short, spaced lessons. While learningvocabulary in a new language is a common example, other material fits thisstyle of learning as well. Any topic where learners need to remember a largenumber of facts lends itself well to both microlearning and spaced repetition.Flashcard games like Tinycards drill learners—of any age—onlanguage, geography, science, and more. A similar app or game can be used toteach sales personnel the features of products, letting them review and testthemselves whenever they have a few minutes. Add in leaderboards to tap into thecompetition among sales reps, and learners have a fun, playful—andmobile-friendly—way to keep the myriad details of their company’s productsstraight. Even better, the games or flashcards are easy to update when productdetails change or new products join the lineup.

A different type of learning occurs in the brain games thatare popping up everywhere; for example, Lumosity offersa free daily drill. These use both microlearning and spaced repetition tochallenge learners to think in different ways, solve problems, or test theirability to focus on two or more tasks concurrently. These games drill and testexecutive function skills, such as planning and prioritizing, flexiblethinking, or working memory, rather than recall of factual information. Though researchdoesn’t support claims that practicing brain games at home for a few minutes aday can stave off dementia (see, for example, a study published in PLOS Medicine in 2014), the games do challenge learners touse different skills, which could translate to improved creativity andproductivity on their job tasks.

Microlearning games are easy to customize; designers canbuild them using content that teaches material and skills relevant to learners’jobs. And incorporating a spaced repetition paradigm offers opportunities topresent that information in a variety of formats: Designers can paraphraseinformation or use examples and stories to reinforce concepts and facts; theycan ask learners to apply information in different ways; and they can provide repetitionusing exercises, tests, discussions, simulations, and more.

Resources

Kelley, Paul, and TerryWhatson. “Making long-term memories in minutes: a spaced learning pattern frommemory research in education.” Frontiersin Human Neuroscience, Vol. 7. 25 September 2013.
https://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00589/full

Lampit, Amit, Harry Hallock,and Michael Valenzuela. “Computerized Cognitive Training in Cognitively HealthyOlder Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Effect Modifiers.” PLOS Medicine, Vol. 11, No. 11. November2014.
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001756