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Students’ attention spans have become increasingly shorter due to the immediacy of technology. Therefore, pedagogical strategies that include short, impactful lessons have become enriching for teachers’ use in the classroom.
“Microlearning” offers a way to acquire new concepts or reinforce those learned through short information segments adapted to the curriculum. Aaron Taylor, Director of the School of Human Resource Management at Arden University, explains that some research shows that condensing voluminous content into small parts relieves cognitive load for better understanding.
The length and format of microlearning lessons may vary. Students’ attention spans are usually less than 10 minutes, so, in general, these units or micro contents fit within this parameter.
The Thinkific report, Digital Learning Trends 2023, found that 60% of people learn new things from short YouTube, TikTok videos or Instagram reels. However, various activities, such as interactive quizzes, surveys, brainstorming, and concise presentations or discussions, are also forms of microlearning that promote concentration.
Tendai Charles, Director of the Digital Education Research Centre at British University in Dubai, suggests that instead of presenting a 60-minute video about a specific topic, divide the subject into a series of videos three to five minutes long to focus on detailed information.
What are some of the benefits of microlearning?
This approach helps students with different learning styles and needs and supports teachers’ ongoing training for new or improved classroom lessons. The journalist Pepa Agüera de Haro brought together three microlearning benefits:
- Dynamism and versatility: the material can be consulted at any time, and its variety of formats and information representation contributes to learning at any level of training.
- Motivation: students manage the time and pace of their learning; because of the ease of use, students do not always realize that they are learning.
- Knowledge retention: for some students, concrete experiences make remembering lessons easier during their education.
Jana Brunken, Senior Learning Designer for Visual Design at Ansrsource e-learning, states that microlearning works because people feel less overwhelmed by focusing on key concepts to store in their long-term memory. In addition, microlearning personalizes the educational experience through self-directed learning paths that the person can resume whenever required.
This resource also contributes to learning hard skills by answering specific questions. For example, for students seeking to take vital signs, the lessons can be short enough to maintain their work rhythm and, simultaneously, instructional enough to review and complete the activity at the right time. Reinforcing soft skills is more complex; however, addressing these topics in extended programs that bring different perspectives and reinforce particular concepts or scenarios is possible.
Recommendations for incorporating microlearning in the classroom
Dulce Julissa Salas Benavides and Jesús Alejandro Salas Benavides, instructional designers at Tec de Monterrey, share some tips on how to add microlearning capsules in educational sessions. They consider that those who impart this knowledge must organize the topics hierarchically so the students can deepen their understanding as they progress through the content.
Both suggest following the steps below:
- Define the learning topic.
- Describe the objective to be achieved.
- Select the medium (audio, video, text, others).
- Structure ideas with the help of templates.
- Choose and create script-supported content.
- Upload or send the content to students.
The authors propose focusing on a single topic, concept, or idea for a better probability of being concise and achieving the established purpose. Therefore, the explanation must also be clear.
The presence of creator-educators
Thinkific content marketer Maddie Martin describes a 2023 transformation where entertainment creators generate educational content. Various digital creators see education as an opportunity to increase their income; they consider it necessary to have high-quality material and a nucleus of people interested in the subject.
Given this panorama, as the options to access particular information expand, the need for people to create educational products with solid arguments and evidence to avoid misinformation also increases.
Challenges to contemplate
Jana Brunken wrote for Thinkific that there are several challenges to implementing microlearning effectively. Sometimes, independent microlessons can be lost if they belong to a broader learning strategy or concept. Also, addressing complex topics can be difficult, but these brief contents can complement detailed information.
A microlearning unit may not sufficiently support in-depth discussions; additional resources may be offered to inspire these conversations. Although microlearning opens learning paths, they may not always be clear, and students still need a guide to apply the knowledge acquired to their advantage.
Microlearning serves not only students but also lifelong learners and teachers who seek to be more informed on a topic or to update themselves for their roles. These small-dose contents can complement or enhance the impact of curricular activities. Understanding microlearning’s functionality and limitations helps to leverage it as a knowledge resource. How would you add micro contents to your class material?
Translation by Daniel Wetta
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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
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