In this day and age, the world is everchanging. Not to mention the career market, new interests in hobbies, and technology. Luckily, throughout the years, the internet has accumulated various free resources. From podcasts to YouTube videos, the majority of things you’d like to learn about are right at your fingertips — you just have to take the extra step to learn them. This is where microlearning comes into play.
In this guest post, Kayla Montgomery shares her approach to microlearning. Make sure to inspect the infographic.
What Is Microlearning?
Microlearning is a learning process that breaks topics into highly specific lessons to build your salary and budget. This allows learners to build understanding and confidence at their own pace. Not only that, but lessons are tailored to your needs to help users retain more information. Most lessons can be learned while traveling, driving, or even when your completing tedious tasks around your living area.
The Benefits of Microlearning
As you may imagine, being able to learn just about anything on the go can be compelling enough. You’re able to turn your downtime into productive time. For instance, if you’re driving in the car to work in rush hour traffic, you could be listening to an informative podcast to start your morning out on the right foot. Whether that be a podcast that talks about health and fitness, career tips and tricks, or lifestyle improvements that could up-level your lifestyle. You may not dread having to sit in hour-long traffic ever again.
Flexibility
One of the biggest benefits is accessibility. You’re most likely able to access tools as long as you have WiFi or strong cell service. If you know you’ll have limited cell phone access, you may be able to pre-download your lessons to avoid any connect mishaps throughout the way. You could be learning things while riding the bus, riding your bike, or even completing tedious tasks around your living area (like cleaning).
Specialization
Another benefit is being able to learn whatever you’d like to. There are various podcasts and YouTube videos that share a specific tool or resource for you to learn for free, but it’s most likely specific. For instance, if you look up videos on how to start a podcast on youtube, you may be bombarded with all the basics. From there, you may have to conduct additional research to learn more about growing this platform and positioning yourself as an expert.
Quick Turnaround
You could simply Google search your questions and the answers could be right in front of you in record-breaking time. Plus, all the information you need on the subject may be condensed into a short 15-minute podcast. You could have a question about something and have it learned in a few hours or so. That’s one of the advantages to microlearning and the growth of the internet.
Easy Accessibility
As always, you’re able to get these lessons wherever you’re able to get excellent cell service. Whether you’re out and about or sitting at your work computer, as long as you have cell data and great reception, you most likely are able to download a valuable lesson to be learned. For instance, if you’re grocery shopping and wanting to research how to create a sustainable blog, you could type that into the search tab on your podcasting app and see what lessons come up! Pick your favorite to monetize your time while spent at the grocery store.
Learner Focused
Instead of having to enroll yourself in classes, or meet up with a trusted professional, you’re able to learn when you want and how you want. Most of the time, you don’t have to pay extra to access learning tools whenever you want. If you really buckled down and wanted to learn how to create an animated visual for your website, you most likely could have it learned and created in one night. Other tools like Skillshare offer premium learning tools at a price that may or may not be useful to you.
Engaging
Of course, if you’re researching something you’re interested in, you most likely are engaged with the subject. Since these lessons are normally condensed into a small time frame, you may feel more engaged throughout the lesson. Back in school, you may have noticed your attention wandering throughout the hour to the two-hour long duration of the class. When microlearning on the fly, you’re more likely to pay attention since it’s only taking your attention for a short period of time.
The Disadvantages of Microlearning
Oddly enough, there are disadvantages to microlearning, but there are only a few. Just like many learning platforms or classes, you have to take the time and effort to derive as much information as you can. Even though these tools can be great for building your career, side hustles, and hobbies, they may not be as easy as they look. Keep reading to see what trouble you may run into when starting out your microlearning journey:
It’s Not Immediate
Your results are immediate, and you may get frustrated at the start. For instance, if you want to learn how to build a website on your own, without any templates, you may learn a lot via online resources but it most likely will take some time to learn. Coding a website can be hard, but once you take the time to practice and keep learning new skills, you’ll have it perfected in no time. Keep in mind, projects like creating a website may come with consistent updates that’ll put your and your learned skills to the test.
It Isn’t Easier
Along with that, lessons learned in a short period of time aren’t always learned faster. Even watching a video on a certain task you’d like to complete may require you to rewatch it a handful of times to fully grasp these skills. As we mentioned throughout this article, the information you’re learning is condensed into short lessons that realistically could take a lot longer to teach. Due to that, most lessons are extremely packed with useful information shared every minute of the way. So grab your notebooks and be prepared to learn as much as possible!
Some Topics Don’t Work
Since these topics are extremely niche, you may not find what you’re looking for. While you may want to create your own blog from scratch, you may run into some issues along the way that you don’t understand. You may have messed up the code, but you don’t know where or how to fix your mistake. When you don’t know what exactly you need to be searching for online, you most likely aren’t going to stumble upon it. You could either do immense more research to figure it out on your own or hire a professional to help get the job done.
There’s Work Upfront
You may think that shorter lessons may not require as much effort, but it may actually be the other way around. Since most lessons are trying to cram as much information into a short learning module as possible, it may be overabundant with information. Meaning, each minute is extremely valuable and crucial. You may find yourself having to pause every so often to catch up on your notes or listen to it a few times to ensure you’re hearing everything correctly.
3 Ways to Begin Microlearning
Now, you may have an idea of where you’d like to start, but you may want to create an execution plan to ensure you stick to it. For instance, studying with a group can help you learn faster, feel open to asking questions, and keep you accountable for completing the lessons you’d like to complete. Here are our three tips to being your microlearning experience:
Game Groups
Start by creating a list of goals within your industry of interest. Research different resources and make a list. From there, reach out to those around you that may have the same interests as you to see if they’d like to join. You’d be able to create a community of people that could help support you throughout this journey, and make it a friendly competition to who can do the best work. Not to mention, you’ll always be able to reach out to someone you trust to help out.
Video Clips
As we’ve mentioned throughout this article, videos are a great way to learn. You could utilize free online video resources, like YouTube, or invest in a more professional platform like Skillshare to learn new skills. If you’d like to foster a community of those around you that are interested in learning as well, YouTube may be a better option for you!
Podcast Playlists
Podcasts are another great learning tool. You can research different industries you’re interested in and you may be able to find experts in that area of study. Not only are you able to find lessons you’d love to learn, but you’re able to subscribe to experts that are always spilling their best-learned tips and tricks to success. You’re able to learn valuable lessons in a matter of minutes rather than hours, weeks, months, or even years of learning through your own lived experiences.
To learn how to level up your skills with microlearning, check out our infographic below!
Author Bio:
Kayla Montgomery is a digital content marketer who helps Mint create helpful and compelling stories worth sharing. Her background in digital marketing and creative writing has led her to cover unique topics ranging from business to lifestyle. In her spare time, she enjoys working out, writing for her own blog, traveling, and exploring all the in’s and out’s Austin, TX has to offer. To learn more, connect with Kayla on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayla-s-montgomery/
