Snapchat

5 Things It Can Teach Us About Microlearning

Snap, doodle, and send. Snapchat allows users to snap photos or shoot videos that then disappear after they’re sent to and viewed by other users of the app. Snapchat has garnered huge attention over the last few years as the newest (and biggest) social media app to make waves.

So Why Is This Important To The L&D World?

At first glance, Snapchat might not seem like the solution to your training. In fact, the brevity of the medium is the exact opposite of the traditionally long — and tedious — training that employees are used to. So using a 10-second shot to get your point across might seem darn near impossible. But you’d be surprised to know that Snapchat is actually at the forefront of some leading industry trends. By 2025, millennials are set to constitute 75% of the workforce and the data tells us that the vast majority of them use Snapchat. If executed the right way, this app can serve the following learning needs of this demographic.

Flexible Storytelling — The beauty of Snapchat (and Microlearning in general) lies in its ability to tell stories in a short amount of time. Although the immediate parameters of Microlearning might seem daunting, using short pieces of media to tell a larger story is a key component of helping employees retain information.
Quick Consumption — Users can stay in their workflow while consuming Snapchats because each snap lasts 10 seconds at the most. This is one of the key aspects of Microlearning that has driven its rise to the forefront of the learning world: users can quickly take in information where and whenever they need it. More traditional styles of training don’t work in these kinds of work environments because they would either disrupt workflow or not be worth the time to watch.
More Engaging — It’s less time consuming to create a Snapchat because you can only create a short video or one-line photo annotation — your focus is on crafting one specific point. This results in Snapchat hosting nearly five times as many posts as Instagram every day, despite having a much lower number of users. Micro-media can drive this level of engagement with e-learning, too. All of this ultimately means it’s easier for trainers to make and push out material. 
Easy To Use — Millennials have been around social media and technology for the majority of their lives. They’ve grown up with social media and understand how to use it. With some 400 million snaps sent on Snapchat every day, there’s a good chance your employees are already using it. Being digital natives, millennials are hardwired to consume media in short packages, so complementing that mindset and the technology that goes along with it stands to make your training far more likely to engage this growing segment of the workforce.
Rapid Content — Rolling out a new product? Need to update a policy? Turn to Snapchat. Because of its candid nature, no one expects Snapchat videos to have as high a production quality as a YouTube video. And Snapchats can be filmed and distributed quickly with next to no cost or time compared to more traditional training content — meaning you can make and deliver Microlearning quickly.

Smart Phone = Smart Content

You can make great eLearning content. It’s easy. The tools are already in your hands. Check out our video for how you can make amazing videos by using only your smart phone.

See the Video

How You Can Use Snapchat

Seeing as how we’ll be delivering e-learning to digital natives like the Millennial Generation for years to come, exploring the frontier of what Microlearning platforms like Snapchat can do probably isn’t a bad idea. But to get you started, here are some ideas on how you can incorporate Snapchat into your eLearning.

Storytelling — string together a series of 10-second videos to tell a story. Each piece can teach a specific skill set or idea. Just make sure your video is relevant and to the point. Remember, you only have 10 seconds to work with.
Skills Training — Some skills can be hard to teach in larger modules. How do I get the cheese on that hamburger to a perfect point of meltiness? What’s the perfect way to seat a guest? These simple and crucial skills can be more easily consumed and perfected through microlearning. And it allows you to publish highly relevant content right away.
Gamify Your Training — Snapchat has a variety of fun ways for users to interact with photos and videos. You can even create and customize your own geo-filters. Encourage employees to take videos of themselves doing the training and add fun drawings or filters to it.
Immediate Support — Because of its immediacy and privacy, you can use Snapchat to provide support to your employees. Give them the opportunity to snap questions back to your team and respond immediately with advice or tips.

Snapchat has shown the popularity and impact of the micro-content and although the technology is young, it shows promise in the world of eLearning. Companies that can harness the technology first stand to profit big from it. So get out there and start snapping!

By February 9, 2018
All, L&D Best Practices

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