Technology driven highly globalised modern work-spaces have one thing in short-supply- ‘TIME’. The virtual office cubicles are required to cater to clients in different time zones, 24×7. Amid such an intense work regimen, however, organisations can ill afford to give professional training and development of talent a go by. The panacea lays in quick adoption of microlearning skills – a new age concept of instant, result oriented learning technique.
Cost effective smart learning tool Organisations are fast realizing the importance of microlearning. It is found to be cost effective and an efficient way of imparting knowledge to the workforce as against through lengthy, expensive and time-consuming learning modules that barely attract learners. A recent survey revealed that about 50 per cent of learners in an organization care two hoots about heavy doses of learning. They would rather prefer microlearning with its short and focused content that is easy to imbibe and apply effectively to address the specific needs of the organization at any given point of time.
Knowledge in bits and pieces, good Increasingly there are growing votaries of microlearning for training professionals and in-house talent development in organisations. And, the reasons are not far to seek. Delivery of knowledge in bits and pieces, in ‘bite-sized’ formats helps transfer learning with 17 per cent efficiency, the Journal of Applied Psychology in a report has pointed out.
Desired business outcomes Human attention has a maximum span of 11 minutes. Microlearning packs more power of knowledge in a training module in the form of micro nuggets, infographics, serious games, assessments, micro podcast, micro presentation and explainer video to grab the attention of learners to deliver the desired workplace business outcomes in the shortest possible time.
Bite-sized learning materials easy to digest No wonder, microlearning has proven to be more efficient than the traditional long-term training modules. The ‘bite-sized’ learning materials are not only easy and fun to read but also deliverable on varied platforms over devices such as mobiles, laptops and computers. So learning becomes more focused and an on-the-go thing. No longer, office spaces are the only place of learning. Learning and training becomes a round the clock affair and significantly it is happening at a timing of learners’ choosing.
Make learners focused A more focused learner, free from the pressure of memorizing and remembering voluminous often irrelevant knowledge not sure about how to use them effectively to different situations to prove their efficiency, is an asset to the organization. And, microlearning makes it all possible. Learners find it easier to retain, digest only small bites of information and absorb the same without much effort.
Why most preferred ?
- It’s a smart way of preparing professionals for bigger more important roles in organisations.
- The very nature of microlearning content helps the process.
- Here the learning goals are small and so the targeted outcomes.
- Most of the microlearning content set one or two learning goals with about four to five likely outcomes.
- All these factors also make microlearning the most preferred method of training among the Learning and Development unit in-charges [94 percent].
Learner’s disenchantment Mostly, the traditional training methods suffer from learners’ disenchantment. They therefore seldom make any impact on business outcomes. For workers long drawn courses are not only difficult to digest but they also come in the way of their routine work in organization. All these result in a slow but sure death of learners’ interest in learning and updating skills. Microlearning has the potential to reverse this trend of ‘ZERO’ learning.
Short and to the point ‘Why, then, is all the focus only on microlearning? Skeptics well entrenched in traditional learning and training systems may very well ask this question. Though still in its nascent stage, microlearning is slowly taking roots largely due to its flexible, short and to the point teaching techniques.
It is a win-win situation for all – learners and organizations investing on their learning. Microlearning rules out the need for hiring instructors and hold physical classes for learners thus helping organisations cut down on expenses. More significantly microlearning is liked by the learners. That is the USP of microlearning and makes it a promising learning tool of the future.