Fall is right around the corner, and a combination of in-person and remote learning is more prevalent than ever. Whether you’re a corporate trainer, L&D specialist, K-12 educator, college professor, or manager—there’s no doubt that many of your lessons and plans are now optimized for e-learning.
The ever-changing current environment has also brought to light new challenges in the training and learning spaces. Learners in general likely have shortened attention spans, many in-home distractions to keep at bay, and technology blips. Well, and trainers and teachers are facing the same!
This begs the question: what’s a quick and easy-to-implement solution to help battle some of these virtual learning challenges? Microlearning! The Bob Pike Group team offers tips for adding in small bits of microlearning into your e-learning regimen to keep learners engaged before, during, and after your virtual sessions.
Instead of wordy slides create infographics that are visually appealing, then make them available to learners to download. They are sure to access these long before they open old slide decks for the information they will quickly need.
Infuse gamification in your e-learning sessions to give learners the opportunity to play short games on their mobile devices as part of the training. Use app sharing to distribute short gamified assessments (quick quizzes or surveys) throughout the training program or beyond to check on knowledge retention.
- Preview videos and podcasts
Sending out a video link prior to your virtual class helps to get the introductory stuff out of the way so you can dive right into the heart of the course content. And rather than playing a whole podcast during a live virtual lesson, play just the first minute or two and encourage learners to finish it after.
- Optimize use of the whiteboard
Create activities where learners can generate content (no more than 2-3 minutes) and share it to the whiteboard. Also as the trainer, you can share job aids on whiteboards so you can explain how to use them in context, and mark them up as you present. When a great whiteboard is created, grab a screen shot and share with the class to be used later. Instant microlearning at its best!
Paste top takeaways in the chat as you are summarizing the content to reinforce key messages and encourage learners to copy your messages to reference later.
- Send out links and a post-class email
End class a few minutes early and send learners to your blog posts or other sites so they can quickly capture and reinforce key points or answer discussion prompts. When the session is over, use email to share logistics, objectives, and action items that need to take place.
- Encourage quick student interactions after
Use file transfer to send editable worksheets that learners can complete using app share. Encourage learners to share their top takeaways at the end of the lesson on message boards, wikis, or discussion areas that are dedicated to your course content.
These are just a few ways microlearning can be infused into your virtual training program. Check out more information from The Bob Pike Group on effective ways to add microlearning bursts into your classroom and online training! From a free downloadable resource guide to free webinars-on-demand, you’ll learn how to cover more ground in less time while keeping material concise and participants engaged.
