Create microlearning in 6 simple steps!

What is microlearning?

Microlearning is the perfect way to silence complaining colleagues when they talk about another dull training session. Negativity surrounding online learning often arises because e-learning modules are too long or lack variety. Or because people feel they have to learn things they already know. Are you an HR professional and does this sound familiar? Then it is high time to consider how to make learning more fun.

In our view, offering short learning interventions is a great way to motivate your colleagues. Not because a short lesson simply shortens the 'suffering', but because it is a powerful method of knowledge transfer. It inspires people instead of boring them. For this reason, microlearning is perfect during the onboarding of new employees.

Fun fact: microlearnings are sometimes called learning snacks. Think of them as a healthy snack! It’s a moment of enjoyment that provides energy and is good for you, too!

Microlearning definition

What actually is microlearning?

Microlearning (or micro-learning) is a short learning intervention for a brief learning activity.

Perhaps you would like to read more about: what is e-learning?

It is, in a sense, a mini e-learning. It is used to reinforce important knowledge and to make information accessible and sustainable. A good application of this is performance support. This means employees get exactly the right information they need to perform optimally. Just like during the onboarding of your new colleagues!

Want to know more about a successful onboarding process? Then also read: Onboarding program example (bol.com & AWL).

In addition, it works well to offer content that ensures knowledge remains permanently in memory. This is also known as knowledge retention. Furthermore, microlearning also achieves good results when practicing behavioral change. For the latter two, microlearning is used in combination with macro-learning moments, such as classroom training or e-learning.

Microlearnings are quick to find when you search for them, and you finish them in about 3 minutes. Microlearning is all about acquiring knowledge in extremely small, bite-sized pieces of content, also known as micro-lessons. The fact that microlearnings are short and punchy is seen as one of their biggest advantages. However, that does not mean you can put them together in a snap. No, you have to think carefully about the design of your learning journey. You need to ask yourself whether microlearning is an appropriate learning solution and what kind of content suits the target audience. Only then can you develop your microlearning in 6 steps.

But first... Would you like to download the Onboarding Checklist for free?

Good news: you can now download the Onboarding Checklist with just a few clicks.

This document contains several crucial points that are part of a new colleague's onboarding period. This way, you won't forget anything and can get started right away!

The 6 steps to creating microlearning

Step 1: Determine the goal of your microlearning

Give meaning to your microlearning. You do this primarily by determining its goal. In doing so, you answer the question of why learning is necessary. Make sure the goal is SMART, so that even after completing the learning journey, you can evaluate whether the microlearning delivered what you expected.

This is an important first step that you really should not skip. Evaluating your microlearning is essential for improving your training in the future.

Step 2: Determine the target audience

With a persona, you get a clear picture of who your target audience is and what they do or do not want. Once you have this clear, you can better tailor the microlearning content to these specific needs. Logically, you address a young person very differently than a 60-year-old senior. If you don't take this into account, it often means your short learning intervention will completely miss the mark.

In this case, learning is just like marketing. You have to ensure that you convey the right message to the right target audience. A great tool is creating a learning persona - a kind of buyer persona, but for your learner. There are many buyer persona templates on the internet that you can easily adopt.

Step 3: Create a learning journey

With a learning journey, you determine the steps that need to be taken to learn something. After all, learning happens in steps, or rather: in micro steps! You don't become a pilot after reading a single article, but you take a great many steps to become one. By tailoring the learning journey to the persona, you uncover where the big and small learning challenges lie.

Learning interventions could offer the solution to the challenges you have found. Next, determine whether the learning intervention can be narrowed down to a single learning goal.

If this is possible, you know you can shape the learning intervention as a microlearning. After all, for a single learning goal, a short learning intervention works best.

Step 4: Determine the microlearning content

Microlearnings are short chunks of knowledge and can take different forms. A few examples:

• Podcasts
• Videos
• Infographics
• GIF files
• PDFs

If you know well what your persona is looking for, you will make a good choice for the right type of content. Just like with a snack, you have to find out which learning snack your learners like. You wouldn't hand a banana to someone who would rather have a protein bar, right? ;-) Chances are they'll leave the banana lying there...

If you are creating a series on one topic, it is smart to choose several types of content. That way, you get variety during the development process yourself, and the learner gets variety while learning, too. It is always more fun to be offered different types of content.

Also read in this blog about blended learning and how important it is to offer your learners variety! 

Often, every learner has a certain preference. One person prefers to listen to a podcast, while another absorbs knowledge more easily by reading a big block of text. Something for everyone - that is the art.

Step 5: Create the microlearning

Once you know what type of content you want to put the knowledge into, you can start the development process. What this process looks like depends on the chosen learning intervention. Is it a video? Then you will create a storyboard and/or scripts.

If it is about podcasts, you can start by writing the texts. Is it an infographic? Then you look for suitable visual elements that can help convey your message.

In this phase, too, pay close attention to what the persona wants and what suits them. The infographic has to appeal to the target audience, so it is important to design it attractively. For example, the attention of a somewhat older target audience is often easier to capture if the visual elements have a formal look.

Once you have created the microlearning, it is important that the learner is also informed about it. That means you need to think about the marketing of the microlearning(s).

Do you already have a fixed group of learners you want to go through your microlearning? Put them in an LMS! You can store an unlimited amount of content in it. Pluvo, for example, is widely used to share microlearnings ;-)

Did you know that many HR professionals use Pluvo for onboarding new employees? You can set up onboarding for new employees in your own academy with just a few clicks!

Step 6: Evaluate your microlearning

A good learning path also means that you, as the creator, evaluate how your target audience experiences the learning journey. So, ask for feedback regularly and make adjustments where necessary. We wish you the best of luck with creating microlearnings. If you need help or want to practice these steps, you can take the masterclass at Let’s Learn! or have your microlearnings created for you.

How to measure the learning outcomes of your e-learning!

Written by Helma van den Berg, microlearning expert at Let’s Learn!

Want to create microlearning yourself? Or need microlearning examples?

If you have become interested in creating microlearning, you have come to the right place. Please contact us, or discover the possibilities on our website. We can also always show you a few microlearning examples for some inspiration ;-)

Want to get started with microlearning right away? Schedule a call with our team.