HIGHLIGHTS
- “Microlearning has a lot to do with learning to see the power of a small action”
- “Being alert to acquiring new skills allows us to offer greater flexibility, agility and capacity, to overcome the changes inherent in any job”
In the era of TikTok and reels, and other platforms where seconds-long videos compete voraciously for our attention, in-depth learning has become somewhat of a (revolutionary) backwater. Nowadays, in which increasing productivity is the order of the day, actually stopping to read and savor a book, over a period of weeks or months, comes across as rare (if valuable) and far removed from our instantaneous way of life. Here, in the era of irreconcilable opposites in which we live, it can feel impossible to extract the useful essence of content we are reading. Enter, thus, the world of hyper-edited information and knowledge, where, particularly in the corporate domain, microlearning systems come into play.
What will I learn from this article?
Microlearning has become an efficient and reliable way of acquiring new skills and knowledge during the frenzied midst of our daily activity. Such training models - designed as small nuggets of fast, practical knowledge, focused on a simple objective - allow us to attend a “rapid class” where what is learned can be applied immediately, optimizing our day-to-day functions. Microlearning has a lot to do with learning to see the power of a small action. During the day, we carry out many micro actions which take us 20 minutes or more: the journey from home to office, washing the dishes, scrolling before turning in for the night. Although those 20 minutes may appear to be a short stretch of time, it is certain that, multiplied by the number of days in a year, they add up to over 100 hours. So, think what would happen if we spent these 20 minutes focused on a nugget of learning, oriented either toward our work life or personal development: reading a short story or poem; listening to a podcast, or; learning a new process we can apply in our daily routine. Allocating a little bit of time every day, we would soon rack up over 100 hours of training.
Microlearning has a lot to do with learning to see the power of a small action.
In university and changing work environments, where technology is boss and processes are optimized at each step, getting used to learning gradually, something new every day, can transform our performance. Although in-depth education continues to be essential to guaranteeing the professionalism of our output, being alert to acquiring new skills allows us to offer greater flexibility, agility and capacity, to overcome the changes inherent in any job, especially those related to technology and innovation. Microlearning also helps us to keep our brains in form.
Who hasn’t felt “untrained” when beginning to learn a new job, accompanied by the sensation that they have “forgotten” how to learn? Neuroscience has demonstrated that the brain is not an organ in necessary decay, but can be trained and stretched depending on our habits. “Neuroplasticity” is the term that explains how the brain can change its functioning depending on the use we make of it, especially whether or not we train our memories or capacities to learn.
Being alert to acquiring new skills allows us to offer greater flexibility, agility and capacity, to overcome the changes inherent in any job.
In the book, Microlearning: short and sweet, Karl M. Kapp, professor at Bloomsburg University, states that microlearning consists of taking everything one needs to learn, doing it little by little and, over time, constructing knowledge, reinforcing it and facilitating the retention of this knowledge. Microlearning works by being fast, visual and easy, so that it can effortlessly be incorporated into our routine. One of the best-known examples of microlearning is the language app Duolingo, whose lessons of two or three minutes daily permit us to get to know a large diversity of different tongues. Learning a language effectively might require something more than little online puzzles, but this type of app functions as an incentive and an introduction to small notions that occupy just a few minutes of our day.
Other highly popular examples among users include YouTube, Coursera and social media networks such as Instagram and TikTok, where accounts exist to teach, through short videos, anything from Excel shortcuts to basic finance concepts converted into karaoke to a salsa beat, passing by art history as demonstrated in the Prado Museum account. Reading can also be done in nuggets. For example, the Poem-A-Day initiative, where subscribing to a poetry newsletter leads to a daily poem being sent to your inbox. And the platform Substack, which has become popular as an alternative to social media for reading short in-depth articles. Lack of time is no longer an excuse not to expand our capacities. On hectic days, in which we cannot sit down to enjoy reading a Tolstoy novel, it is still possible to find a small window of time to partake, albeit it briefly, in the marvelous pleasure that is learning.
Dalia Alonso holds a degree in Classical Philology from the University of Oviedo. Her writing reflects a thoughtful approach to major social and business challenges. She is currently an editor at Ethic magazine, where she covers topics such as leadership, productivity, and social and workplace transformation. She has also worked in strategic communications and storytelling for various organisations, helping to craft narratives that resonate with corporate values.