As a result of the information age’s and digital environments’ influence on education and how people learn, more and more teachers have methods and strategies to use in the classroom. Let’s talk about microlearning!
Learn more about→How to integrate ICT in the classroom?
What is Microlearning?
Microlearning is “learning with minimal, fragmented, and interconnected content” (Alderete, 2021, p. 42). Therefore, it is a teaching method that adapts easily to the technological era and seeks to transmit knowledge in a flexible and scalable way. In addition, this learning strategy is widely used to learn about different study topics quickly, allowing conceptual appropriation using the resources that best adapt to students’ learning styles. One example of microlearning is video tutorials, which are frequently used to resolve questions about how to do or use something.
This type of learning is characterized by being brief, concise, frequent, digital, and mobile (Abrego, 2021). Besides being adaptable to different formats that seek to innovate education and be an alternative for teachers and students, microlearning is also based on dividing large content into small fragments, mostly through visual aids, allowing students to appropriate the concepts in a more effective way, but gradually.
However, in order to put microlearning into practice, we must first understand its characteristics:
- It must be brief: The content should be of short duration and easily adaptable.
- Technological tool: Due to the variety of ways learning capsules are used, they can be viewed on different formats or devices, allowing students to access them whenever and wherever they want easily.
- Variety: Microlearning provides the opportunity to teach differently, whether through video games, videos, slides, infographics, etc.
- Independent: Even though microlearning is divided into learning modules, each one must be independent and self-sufficient.
- Interactive elements: They allow students have a more significant appropriation of concepts through short videos, brief simulations, feedback, etc.
- Informal learning: Microlearning allows learners to acquire knowledge through micro-content structures or multi-task environments.
Learn more about→Importance of storytelling
Microlearning vs. Macrolearning
Microlearning can be defined as small content capsules lasting two to five minutes that attract attention and allow students to learn concepts in short periods of time. In addition, it is based on the implementation of audiovisual games and graphics, among other forms of audiovisual aids. Its content can be reusable and shareable. It can be used on mobile devices and computers, as well as different web platforms, such as social networks, educational portals, etc.
On the other hand, macrolearning is defined as the appropriation of concepts over a longer period, where courses or workshops are longer, lasting between 60 and 90 minutes or more.
One of the main differences between both learning methods is the study time and the approach of the material to be learned, since microlearning seeks to allow students to acquire knowledge about something specific to use or understand a tool or a topic in a short period of time. Another difference that arises is the way of teaching because microlearning is regularly used through technological means and audiovisual aids, allowing better interaction between students.
The learning process in macrolearning is typically more traditional, where learning takes place through the comprehension of readings that are a little more extensive and deeper, a great variety of resources can also be used, and the learning objectives can be more specialized than those proposed in microlearning.
However, it is important to clarify that, despite the differences between the two learning methods, they complement each other and provide the student with strategies, resources, and materials that help to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge in subjects under study inside and outside the classroom.
Microlearning Tools for the Classroom
Infographics: A way to present valuable information in a way that is easy to assimilate.
Podcast: Through this tool, students and teachers can share and appropriate knowledge in a lighter but concise way.
“Mini” games: Thanks to this tool, students can learn in a simple and quick way about topics seen in class. In addition, it allows them to strengthen collaborative work.
Mind maps: This tool can help both the student and the teacher to interrelate concepts through a concise representation of the topics being discussed in the classroom.
Social networks: This medium allows content to be brief and dynamic. One way to do this is through forums or short quizzes on the topics covered in the subject.
Short videos: This is a tool that allows knowledge to be abstracted through the audiovisual format.
Flashcards: Using this tool, students can remember information more quickly, such as important facts, word meanings, and mathematical formulas, among others.
Virtual learning scenarios in real contexts: Through laboratory simulators, students can understand and appropriate knowledge in a more dynamic way, learning through experimentation from contextualized situations in real environments for the understanding of the physical world. These scenarios allow for the discussion of particular subjects where the student, using methodological strategies, can internalize these concepts or phenomena in their daily lives, producing learning and significant experiences that last over time.
When discussing microlearning tools in more detail, it should be noted that laboratory simulators can improve students’ learning strategies and give them the opportunity to expand their knowledge through learning ecosystems that let them self-regulate their own learning.
As a result, we would like to extend an invitation to you to visit our website and social media accounts. There, we will explain how CloudLabs promotes learning based on challenges and experiences through a learning ecosystem that provides teachers and students with a variety of fun and innovative strategies and resources to apply in the classroom and improve the learning process.
Learn more about→CloudLabs at Elizabeth Public Schools, New Jersey.
References
Abrego, G., González, R., Cornejo, E., & De León, C. (2021). El microlearning en la educación superior. Semilla científica: Revista de investigación formativa, 285-292.
Alderete, C., Vera, P. M., & Rodríguez, R. A. (2021). Herramientas de Microlearning: propuesta de implementación en el ámbito universitario. In XVI Congreso de Tecnología en Educación & Educación en Tecnología-TE & ET 2021 (La Plata, 10 y 11 de junio de 2021).
