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How to Use Microlearning in Your Course

By: Alexis Bryan • October 26, 2023
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Online learning has changed. Learner behaviors and habits are more fast-paced and efficient, so there are new needs course creators have to consider. It’s no longer enough to just have great course material and subject matter expertise–delivery methods are just as important. 

To create engaging courses that fit the needs and habits of learners, course creators should consider microlearning. Microlearning is the perfect mix of effectiveness and efficiency. Many online educators are even using it to provide a better mobile learning experience, increase engagement, and improve learning outcomes. 

Let’s explore what microlearning is and how you can use it in your online courses. 

What is microlearning?

By definition, microlearning is a teaching approach that delivers short, concise chunks of information. 

Microlearning content can be broken down into microcourses. These courses can be anywhere from one to 15 minutes. Typically, the most common and effective microcourses are around five minutes. 

Since the duration of microcourses is so short, content focuses on one specific goal or task. After all, the main purpose of microlearning is to help learners retain information and meet specific learning objectives. 

Breaking down information this way makes it easier to digest and remember material. But microcourses can even be used as refreshers or reinforcements for longer courses, which we’ll discuss more later on. 

Examples of microlearning 

Microlearning can come in a variety of formats. Here are some of the common ones: 

  • Videos. Short videos can be taken from longer videos or webinars or you can create your own. 
  • Text, articles, or blog posts. These can be short pages that are easy to scroll and skim through. 
  • Infographics. Visually represent data, processes, or other concepts. 
  • Quizzes. Quickly test learner knowledge with short quizzes, which can even be gamified. 
  • Audio. Similar to videos, audio recordings can be useful for microlearning, especially for mobile learners.

There are no right or wrong choices when it comes to microcourse formats. But give these a try and see what your learners prefer. 

How to use microlearning in your online course

When done correctly, microlearning is a great way to increase learner engagement, retention, and outcomes. Let’s dive into how to use it. 

Break up course material 

As a course creator, chances are you have courses already. They may be long or more traditional. But for microlearning, you’ll want to break them up. 

Think about your learners and what would be manageable for them. Break course material up into small, bite-sized chunks of content. Be sure that your microcontent focuses on only one task or concept at a time. Remember, the goal of microlearning is for learners to retain information. 

You’ll also want to decide how often your microcourses are delivered or available. For example, don’t make all the courses available at once if you have concepts that build upon each other. 

Depending on your course, you can deliver courses throughout the day, week, or month. This helps learners digest material and stay engaged. 

Keep courses short

When you’re breaking up course material, consider how long each microcourse is. The longer it is, the less effective it will be, defeating the purpose of microlearning. 

Most online educators find success in microcourses that take around five minutes to complete. When it comes to video and audio, this timing is more straightforward. Other microlearning formats may take more or less time depending on the subject and learners. 

Regardless of your format, it’s best to be straightforward in microcourses. Avoid unnecessary or confusing information. This helps keep content short, sweet, and to the point. 

Make sure it’s mobile friendly 

Every course creator should make sure their course is optimized for mobile use. Learners want flexibility. They want to learn wherever they are–especially on their mobile device. 

Mobile learning is more popular than ever, and microlearning plays a large role. When you make microcourses mobile friendly, nothing is in the way of learning. Going through courses is frictionless. 

It even helps learners establish new learning habits. For example, they can choose to finish a five-minute microcourse everyday on their lunch break. After all, microlearning goes hand-in-hand with mobile training. 

Reinforce longer courses

Earlier, we mentioned that microlearning can be used as a form of reinforcement. Longer courses can be harder for learners to grasp. But microlearning can help them in a few different ways. 

For learners that have completed longer, traditional courses, use microlearning as a summary of concepts or a refresher. It’s easy to forget things, so try practicing just-in-time delivery, or sending summaries out right after course completion.  

You can have a few microcourses that each focus on one concept at a time. Microcontent could be a video recap, checklist, or quiz. This way, learners can easily go to the microcourses instead of rummaging through an hour-long course. 

Try microlearning with LearnDash

Microlearning is an efficient, modern approach to elearning. Try it out to improve engagement and learning outcomes. 

Not sure where to start? LearnDash LMS, the most powerful learning management system for WordPress, offers many features to help you implement microlearning. Provide quizzes, gamification elements, dynamic content delivery, and much more. 

If you don’t have a course yet, LearnDash makes it easy to create one. With course templates, a drag and drop builder, and easy onboarding, you’ll get your first course created fast. Try it yourself in the LearnDash demo

Alexis Bryan

Alexis is a member of the content team at StellarWP. As a content marketing specialist, she enjoys writing, being creative, and working with the greater team on all things WordPress.