Whistle
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Blog
    • White Papers
    • Contact Us
  • What We Do
    • Whistle Payments
    • Microlearning
    • Insights
  • Schedule a demo
  • Try for FREE
  • Sign In
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
microlearning best practices

5 Microlearning best practices

Tips for a better microlearning program

by Richard Nava

Microlearning is one of the best ways to retain knowledge and introduce new concepts in today’s technologically adept and social environment. The Association for Talent Development (ATD) in 2017 revealed that users preferred this method of learning as it was on-demand and not as overwhelming and research shows it can improve knowledge retention by 20%.

Taking advantage of modern microlearning platforms requires current, long-form content (hour-long video archives or binders of PowerPoint decks) to be adapted and migrated to the shorter more interactive format – not always an easy task. 

As companies begin to shift to microlearning platforms and content formats, it is an opportunity to address not just shorter learning chuncks, but think about how a learning program can actually produce the desired business outcomes (improve retention, productivity, safety, etc.)  Here are some suggested best practices when setting up your microlearning content. 

1. Mobile at the top of your Mind

Your audience will most likely be engaging with your content via a mobile device. This means your key elements (videos, quizzes, and readings) must cater to the mobile, on-the-go experience. In the ATD Microlearning research report, 59% of the participants indicated that 2-5 minutes was the ideal length of the included activity. The most popular forms of media being consumed today are short videos (example: Youtube, ) or very-short format videos (TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn). Research shows the most popular video lengths are 4.3 minutes and 15.6 seconds respectively. This means videos should be no longer than 5 minutes, and readings should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete. 

Keep quizzes under 20 questions with a pass rate of 80% or higher. The lower the question count, the higher the pass rate should be. 20 is definitely on a higher-end of question amount, but keep in mind that questions in a microlearning platform should be quickly answered, taking less than half a minute to answer.  

2. Begin With a Single Question

When mapping out your module, start with the main question that the user should be able to answer by the end of the module. Then, begin writing follow-up questions that circle back to the main idea. These follow-up questions are your chapters. Be sure each chapter only does 2 things: First, it answers the follow-up question. And second, it gives a better understanding of the module’s main idea. By starting with a question, you will know exactly what you need to include in your module or chapters to clearly answer it. 

3. Trim the Excess

Given its short-form nature, you don’t have a lot of time to tell a lengthy narrative or provide several examples. Instead, you must keep your content direct and to the point. Only keep what is necessary to understand the module’s concept. Leave out anything that doesn’t add value or a deeper understanding of the module or chapter’s central topic. With quizzes, make sure questions pertain to the necessary knowledge needed when completing the module or chapter. Trim out any questions that are “extra” or repetitive.

In the Whistle platform, we create learning appendices so additional information can be provided that might not be critical to the ideal learning path, but it does not add clutter or cognitive load that can distract from the more important learning points.

4. Keep it Conversational and Engaging 

Keeping content upbeat and conversational will hook the audience in, keeping them involved and curious. Videos with quick animations, memorable images, and sound effects can result in higher engagement and information retention. That said, there is a fine line between upbeat and cheesy. Always review your content before publishing it to your audience. If it feels more cheesy than upbeat and casual, you may need to edit a bit more.

If you aren’t sure how to gauge the production quality of your content, ask your audience! Include your employees in the process of perfecting your content by piloting with a test group, reviewing the content rating data on your Whistle Reporting, or use a Whistle survey to collect feedback from your audience. After all, they are the ones who are engaging in the content – let them tell you if your content is enjoyable or not. 

5. Concepts and Context Dictate Your Form

Knowing your audience and objective should dictate how you develop your content. If your objective is to inform your team of a new product or how to operate specific machinery, your form and delivery can be pretty straightforward. However, if your objective is to deliver an abstract concept, such as “Recognition in the Workplace” or “Being a Better Leader,” it will be slightly more challenging, as a complete understanding of these concepts isn’t necessarily a linear path and requires more energy from the brain to organize and process abstract concepts. This is where Whistle’s Best Practices really become key. 

Not everything, but most things, are fit for Microlearning

It’s important to note that not everything can be mastered through Microlearning. Repetition and hands-on experience are still the number 1 way to learn. When mapping out your content, understand where the limits of microlearning will reach for your objective. Microlearning can be an excellent tool for a full understanding or an excellent introduction to an involved process. 

Richard Nava

Richard Nava is a Technical Client Success Manager at Whistle responsible for helping clients create and manage microlearning programs on the Whistle platform.  Nava’s background spans software engineering, client management and game design giving him unique insights into how technology intersects with great client experiences.

Whistle is the first learning platform to integrate the key elements that drive business outcomes – ability (microlearning), motivation (micropayments and recognition), cues (AI informed nudges and recommendations) while removing friction (simplified design and mobile centric approach).  Together these multiply the impacts of microlearning to maximize the impact on business outcomes.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

Categories

  • Behavioral Science
  • Data Science
  • Employee Retention
  • Employee Turnover
  • Incentives and Rewards
  • Manager Training
  • Manufacturing
  • Microlearning
  • Onboarding
  • Press Release
  • Training
  • White Paper
  • Pizza Parties Are Not the Answer to Your Retention ProblemsMay 6, 2022 - 2:22 pm
  • Employee RetentionYour Employees Are Not Quitting Because of Compensation. Learn the Real Reason Behind Employee Retention.May 2, 2022 - 3:55 pm
  • Whistle Press ReleaseWhistle Closes on $3.2 Million Seed Funding RoundMarch 1, 2022 - 4:35 pm
  • Employee Rewards: Time is the EnemyJanuary 31, 2022 - 7:47 pm
  • Great onboardingThe 4 Elements of Great Employee OnboardingNovember 13, 2021 - 2:36 pm
  • categories of learning contentThe 4 Categories of Learning ContentNovember 9, 2021 - 3:57 am
  • 5 Microlearning Best PracticesOctober 14, 2021 - 6:00 pm
  • Employee turnover is at an all time highOctober 13, 2021 - 6:17 pm
  • The hidden risk of diversity training, and what you should do about itSeptember 21, 2021 - 8:30 am
  • Manager training is costing you millions, and you don’t even know itAugust 31, 2021 - 10:21 am

Whistle logo - grey

Whistle helps companies make better investments in people to improve retention, productivity, and profitability. The Whistle platform integrates patent pending payment and microlearning tools with AI and business intelligence so companies can investment in, measure and continually improve the value of their people programs.

Whistle, empower the employee experience.

Click here to add your own text

Phone

Email

LinkedIn

Twitter

Whistle

Who we are

  • Our thinking 

What we do

  • Whistle Payments
  • Microlearning
  • Data ingestion and visualization 

Contact us

Press and Media

Whistle Systems Inc. (c) 2022        Privacy Policy        Terms And Conditions

Employee turnover is at an all time high categories of learning content The 4 Categories of Learning Content
Scroll to top

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Whistle
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. See below for out full marketing website privacy policy.

Privacy Policy - Marketing Website

Version: 9-2-2021

Data collected on the basis of consent

Upon your request and expression of consent, we collect the following data for the purpose of marketing to you. Your data is not used for any other purposes or shared with third parties. It is removed upon your withdrawal of consent or your request to stop being marketed to.

Contact Information

Email address, first name, last name, company name, and a description of how Whistle can help you: this data is collected when you fill out and submit the contact form displayed throughout the Website. 

The contact information is transmitted and stored in our contact management system so that we can keep track of our interactions (email, meeting notes, downloading resources from our website) over time.

Periodically we will send product updates, policy changes or other information we feel is relevant to our clients or potential clients.  These updates are typically sent via email.  People receiving these emails can opt out of additional communication at any time.

Retention period: the aforementioned data is retained indefinitely so we can continue to market to you according to our content and marketing strategy. 

Data collected on the basis of legitimate interest

Based on our legitimate interests, we collect the following data for the purpose of running this website. Your data is not used for any other purposes or shared with third parties. It is removed upon your request.

Statistics

The website uses a minimal build of Google Analytics, a service which transmits website traffic data to Google Analytics servers in the United States and allows us to notice trends to improve the user experience on our website. This minimal build processes personal data such as: the unique User ID set by Google Analytics, the date and time, the title of the page being viewed, the URL of the page being viewed, the URL of the page that was viewed prior to the current page, the screen resolution, the time in local timezone, the files that were clicked on and downloaded, the links clicked on to an outside domain, the type of device, and the country, region, and city.

You may opt out of this tracking at any time by activating the “Do Not Track” setting in your browser.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on the Website may include embedded content (e.g. videos, charts, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor had visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Your rights pertaining your data

If you have filled out the contact form on this Website, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we rectify or erase any personal data we hold about you. Please send your request to privacy@wewhistle.com

  • The right to withdraw consent
    • The right of access
    • The right to erasure
    • The right to rectification
    • The right to data portability
    • The right to object
    • Notification of data breaches
    • The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

 

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.