Glossary
Microlearning: definition
Microlearning is training delivered in very short sequences, a few minutes at most, each focused on a single idea or action. People use it at the moment they need it, often on a phone.
In practice
A microlearning sequence has one objective, a short length (30 seconds to 5 minutes) and a clear ending: a reflex to remember, a rule to apply. It can be a video, a card, a quiz or a notification.
Short video suits it well. The largest study of online course videos (6.9 million viewing sessions on edX) found that shorter videos are far more engaging, and that the median viewing time does not exceed 6 minutes whatever the video’s length (Guo, Kim and Rubin, 2014).
Example
Instead of a one-hour cybersecurity module, six one-minute videos, one every two weeks: spotting a fake email, the fake CEO call, passwords, updates, backups, who to tell. See the phishing awareness use case.
What microlearning does not do
It makes things stick and reminds; it does not replace longer training for a complex skill, nor practice. It works best alongside a programme, not instead of it.
Related terms
Blended learning, forgetting curve, Bloom’s taxonomy.
Sources
- Philip J. Guo, Juho Kim, Rob Rubin, How video production affects student engagement: an empirical study of MOOC videos, ACM Learning at Scale, 2014.
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