If you see that your users are leaving your courses halfway through, it may be a sign that your courses are not easy to grasp. One way to solve this problem is by introducing microlearning modules to your LMS.
Microlearning modules are a process where complex topics are broken down into small, easily digestible chunks.
These bite-sized lessons typically last just a few minutes and focus on a single learning objective, making it easier for your learners to absorb and retain information.
In this blog, we will cover the benefits of microlearning in developing easily understandable modules for your online course.
Keep reading to learn more about microlearning modules and how to create one for your courses.
What Are Microlearning Modules?
Microlearning is a teaching method that breaks down difficult material into small, manageable pieces to help students reach certain learning goals.
These lessons are usually short, lasting from a few minutes to anything under ten to fifteen minutes. Microlearning focuses on a single topic to make things clearer and more engaging.
Due to their short length, these lessons are perfect for modern learners with short attention spans and busy schedules, making them perfect for education on the go.
If you notice students dropping out of your courses, it might be high time you introduced microlearning modules to your platform. This teaching method uses various forms to meet the needs of different learners.
These include short videos, interactive quizzes, assignments, and infographics that are easy on the eyes.
Benefits of Microlearning Modules
These days, people’s attention spans have dropped to sub-goldfish levels – if you think that’s a joke, there’s research to back it up.
Although you can’t increase people’s attention spans, there are ways to make your course hold their attention for much longer.
By breaking your course into microlearning modules in your LMS, it will no longer seem like a mammoth task to your users.
And with the help of interactive materials, your courses will stop being a chore and might even become a pleasure for your students!
Just think about the small pleasure of checking off tasks from your to-do list. The same principle applies – your students will be spurred by the satisfaction they get from advancing through their course with ease.
Here are some key benefits of microlearning modules to back up why microlearning modules are so important.
- Enhanced Retention: Short, focused sessions improve memory and retention.
- Increased Engagement: Interactive and diverse formats keep learners interested and involved.
- Flexibility: Learners can access content conveniently, fitting learning into busy schedules.
- Cost-Effective: Reduces training costs due to shorter development cycles and reusable resources.
- Just-in-Time Learning: Provides specific information right when it’s needed, supporting the immediate application.
- Scalability: Easy to update and expand with new information or to customize for different audiences.
Things to Consider While Creating Microlearning Modules for Your LMS
If you can’t wait to try microlearning modules in your LMS, hold your horses! We’ve done some research and have compiled a list of things you need to bear in mind to make your modules as effective as possible.
Content Relevance
Make sure your modules are as lean as possible and only contain relevant content.
This can be trickier than you think, especially if you’re passionate about your subject – you may want to rhapsidize about any and every detail related to your topic.
However, not everyone wants this level of detail, so it’s better to reserve the superfluous information for another, more advanced course.
If your course is beefed out with too much content that doesn’t directly relate to the module topic, you could alienate or overwhelm a bulk of your learners.
Relevance drives engagement and motivation, allowing your users to finish the courses they were struggling with.
Here are a few things you can do to ensure content relevance.
- Survey learners to understand their needs and interests.
- Align content with real-world applications to enhance relevance.
- Customize scenarios to reflect the learners’ actual work environment or daily challenges.
- Update content regularly to keep it current and applicable.
If you plan your micro-content this way, it’ll be easier for your users to understand. The relevance will also lure them into completing one module after another.
Clarify Learning Objectives
Lack of clarity about a course’s objectives is often why many users lose interest in a hefty course.
That’s why one of your main goals with the small modules should be to give clarity about what the users are learning.
The learner should know what they will learn before they start the module, giving them a clear understanding of why it’s relevant for them. This can help spur heir motivation through challenging sections and through to course completion.
Here are some tips that’ll help you provide clarity about learning outcomes.
- Define concise objectives at the beginning of each module.
- Use action verbs to make objectives dynamic and achievable. For example, instead of saying “Understand the basics of programming,” say “Write a basic program using Python.” This approach makes objectives more actionable and gives learners a clear target to aim for.
- Align assessments with these objectives to measure learner success accurately.
- Communicate expectations clearly to learners at the start.
By ensuring these practices, you can make your users hooked on your micro lessons.
Engaging and Interactive Content
A well-known technique used by in-person teachers to maintain student attention is periodically asking questions.
Even the most dedicated students can sometimes let their focus drift. By making your classes interactive, you provide an additional incentive for them to stay engaged with your material.
Interactive content has a similar effect in online courses. Ending each microlearning module with a quiz or assignment requires students to demonstrate their understanding of the material.
The instant feedback from these quizzes helps keep students motivated to continue or highlights areas that need revision before they proceed.
Here are some ways to make your courses more engaging and keep your students on track for success:
- Incorporate quizzes to make learning interactive.
- Set different types of assignments to keep your course varied and your students on their toes.
- Use multimedia elements like videos, animations, and audio clips to cater to different learning styles.
- Create challenges or gamified elements to add excitement and competition.
- Encourage social learning by integrating discussion boards or group activities.
Bite-Sized Formatting
The main purpose of microlearning modules is to break down your large course into easily digestible content. Keeping each module concise helps to keep learners focused and prevents burnout.
To prepare such bite-size courses, you need to be careful about lesson duration, topic selection, and other aspects. Here are a couple of them for you to quickly have a look.
- Limit module duration to 5-10 minutes.
- Break complex topics into subtopics that can be quickly digested.
- Focus on one key takeaway per module to avoid cognitive overload.
- Use clear headers and bullet points to structure content visually.
The more at ease you can make your learners feel, the better your chances of student retention.
Feedback and Assessment
Another trick for customizing learning materials is obtaining users’ opinions or feedback. Building your microlearning modules based on your students’ preferences will increase their interest in completing the courses.
- Add surveys after course completion and ask for feedback to improve and adapt future content.
- Include feedback forms at various stages of the course to gather insights on what’s working and what isn’t.
- Offer quick polls or questionnaires within the modules to understand learners’ preferences in real-time.
- Encourage students to share their thoughts and suggestions directly through course platforms or discussion forums.
Accessibility and Usability
Ensuring that microlearning modules are easily accessible and user-friendly encourages consistent engagement. Accessibility removes barriers for learners with disabilities, while good usability enhances the learning experience.
You can make sure of these by practicing the following tips.
- Follow web accessibility standards to cater to all learners.
- Design for mobile-first since many learners will access content on their phones.
- Keep the user interface simple and intuitive to minimize learning curves.
- Test usability with real users to identify and correct navigational issues.
These considerations will help you break down the courses into effective smaller packages. Your overall course completion rates and learners’ satisfaction will increase if they find the courses easily accessible.
Create Microlearning Modules for Your Courses Using MemberPress
Since you know how effective microlearning modules can be and what to consider while creating them, we think you’re ready to create them for your users. That brings us to the question: How are you going to do that?
Well, that’s where MemberPress comes in. It’s a membership plugin that can help you easily create microlearning modules and manage students. You can obviously do a lot more with this plugin, but for now, let’s get straight into creating microlearning modules for your students.
Step 1: Download and Install MemberPress
Choose and purchase the best MemberPress plan for your needs. Unlimited courses are available on all MemberPress plans!
That means that you can make your courses as granular as you like, breaking down big topics into more digestible courses.
Then follow the steps in the video below, or our knowledge doc to download and install WordPress.
Step 2: Activate the Courses Add-on
Next, follow our knowledge doc to install and activate the MemberPress Courses add-on.
Then you’ll be ready to create your courses!
Step 3: Create A Course!
Now you have all you need to start creating your course. The add-on is designed to be intuitive to use, but it’s still a good idea to check out our guide to MemberPress Courses to get an overview of exactly what you can do with it.
Step 4: Create As Many Microlearning Modules As You Want
Remember, the key to microlearning is to break your course down in to manageable lessons and modules.
With MemberPress Courses you have total flexibility to add as many modules and lessons as you want to your course, making it easier to break down.
To do that, click the Curriculum tab next to the Course page.
Click + Add Section to add a new module…
…and + Add Lesson to add lessons within the modules.
And rinse and repeat as many times as you like. It’s as easy as that!
Step 5: Add Interactive Elements to Make The Modules More Interesting
To make your microlearning modules more interesting, you can add a quiz for every module using MemberPress. Simply click the + Add Quiz button next to the + Add Lessons button.
What about a certificate to give your students an extra boost of confidence about their capabilities? Simply switch to the Certificate tab from the MemberPress Courses option.
Enable the certificate on this course button. You can also set up the necessary details for the certificate, such as a logo, title, instructor name, and footer message.
Start Using Microlearning Modules in Your LMS Today!
In conclusion, microlearning lessons are a great way to improve the learning experience and encourage more people to finish their courses in your LMS.
By breaking down hard topics into bite-sized pieces, you make learning easier and more fun for your users.
Remember that the key to making microlearning modules that work is to keep them relevant, be clear about the learning goals, and make sure the material is exciting and fun to use.
As we’ve talked about, keeping these things in mind will help you create lessons that not only interest students but also meet their needs as learners.
If you want a strong tool to help you implement these plans, check out MemberPress. It has everything you need to create and manage microlearning lessons that can change how you teach.
Let us know in the comments below whether you’ve used microlearning in your courses yet. What changes have you seen in how engaged and able students are to understand course materials?
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