Are you excited to try out microlearning, but unsure when to use it? Below, we outline eight common workplace situations that benefit from a short-form course. Each situation includes a sampl...
Published 2 years ago
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There are some great templates here! I am always interested in streamlining learning experiences, so microlearning has always piqued my interest. I did notice a lack of evaluation or practice at the end of most of these courses. Is there a particular rationale for that in microlearning?
We’re so glad you’re enjoying the templates, Carmelita! And that’s a great question about whether microlearnings should or shouldn’t have evaluations and practice activities. I think the big picture is that microlearning is similar to any other type of content in that it can serve a number of purposes. It might serve as a follow-up training refresher to leverage the spaced practice effect—or it can be used as a just-in-time job aid or for simple FYI knowledge transmission. Because the purposes vary, evaluation and practice activities may or may not be called for.
For these specific microlearning examples, we’ve moved away from adding assessments in the following situations:
1. Simple information transmission. This includes templates such as the Company Newsletter, Executive Update, and Open Enrollment. We might also cut an assessment when we want to focus on the bare essentials and the content is simple enough that a practice activity feels unnecessary.
2. Just-in-time job aids and quick-reference guides. We avoid assessments when the microlearning is designed to be used in the flow of work (Desk Stretches, New Hire Checklist, and Performance Review). And we also don’t want to bog down employees who are using microlearning frequently as a quick-reference guide (Software Training).
3. When learners are asked to apply what they’ve learned through specific action items. This last situation I believe you could make a case for either way (adding an assessment or leaving it out). We left out assessments on the Tips for Better Naps and 5 Allyship Roles microlearnings because they included specific action items that we saw as serving the same role as a “practice what you've learned" activity.
But the great thing about the templates is that they’re easy to adapt. So you can totally add an assessment to any of them should your use case call for it. Spot the Phish, Gossip-Proof Your Workplace, How to Stop Using Ableist Language, and Recovering From a Workplace Mistake are all examples of microlearnings that we felt called for assessments.
I hope that provides some insight into our thinking so far! But I’d also be curious to hear thoughts from you and other L&D professionals.
For these specific microlearning examples, we’ve moved away from adding assessments in the following situations:
1. Simple information transmission. This includes templates such as the Company Newsletter, Executive Update, and Open Enrollment. We might also cut an assessment when we want to focus on the bare essentials and the content is simple enough that a practice activity feels unnecessary.
2. Just-in-time job aids and quick-reference guides. We avoid assessments when the microlearning is designed to be used in the flow of work (Desk Stretches, New Hire Checklist, and Performance Review). And we also don’t want to bog down employees who are using microlearning frequently as a quick-reference guide (Software Training).
3. When learners are asked to apply what they’ve learned through specific action items. This last situation I believe you could make a case for either way (adding an assessment or leaving it out). We left out assessments on the Tips for Better Naps and 5 Allyship Roles microlearnings because they included specific action items that we saw as serving the same role as a “practice what you've learned" activity.
But the great thing about the templates is that they’re easy to adapt. So you can totally add an assessment to any of them should your use case call for it. Spot the Phish, Gossip-Proof Your Workplace, How to Stop Using Ableist Language, and Recovering From a Workplace Mistake are all examples of microlearnings that we felt called for assessments.
I hope that provides some insight into our thinking so far! But I’d also be curious to hear thoughts from you and other L&D professionals.