As our world becomes increasingly complex, many industries are looking for simplified answers in order to remain memorable. The eLearning industry is no different. At present, there is a rapidly developing trend spreading across this industry that you may be unaware of – and it is here to stay. Bite-sized eLearning! Or Nano Learning as we know it here at MetaCompliance.
The rise of mobile device usage, paired with limited time allocated to undertake the training means eLearning vendors have had to re-think the delivery of their course content. This has resulted in the shrinking duration of many eLearning courses, which isn’t a bad thing! Nor does it mean you are getting less than what you pay for. In fact, it’s a positive change and one that has been welcomed by experts across the industry, not to mention the countless employees who regularly sit through these courses. Nano Learning is the future and small informative courses are quickly taking their place in amongst the more traditional lengthier ones. Both of these types of eLearning have their place of course with different objectives in mind which we will cover below.
Nano Learning: What is it?
Traditional eLearning consists of a course between 30 minutes and 1 hour in length. These courses you can expect to be highly interactive and usually involve a quiz upon completion. They are designed with desktops and laptops in mind. Whist in some areas more in depth knowledge is required and these longer course types are perfectly suited, a lot of information can be conveyed easily and quickly with an engaging animated video lasting just 3 minutes or less. Enter the Nano eLearning course. Recently, a survey conducted by the Rapid Learning Institute discovered that 94% of Learning and Development professionals believe that bite-sized online learning modules were preferred by their learners, which is hardly surprising. But the burning question remains – is Nano eLearning as effective as traditional eLearning and what are the benefits?
1. Audience engagement
As the teachers amongst us will agree, the learning of information is audience dependent and it is crucial to understand your audience when tailoring content for them to consume and learn from. With today’s audiences leading hectic lifestyles distracted by multiple things at once, you can be guaranteed that a Nano Learning course is going to fit better into their schedules than a 30-minute watch. Top this with the fact that our employee numbers are increasingly belonging more to Generation Y who have grown up in a world of smart instant technology and constant distraction, bite sized learning is key to maintain their attention and guarantees that your message has been understood. Many will agree that it can be hard to focus for more than 20 minutes at a time, therefore Nano courses are the perfect solution.
2. Easily digestible information.
It is said by many memory specialists that we only remember 10% of what we hear and human brains have a limited capacity when processing new information. Information is much more likely to be processed and understood when presented in small nuggets. Bite-sized means the eLearning expert has taken out any additional, nice to have information which is not 100% necessary in order to come away with only the knowledge required. It also means more up to date information as it is easier to refresh content quickly and keep ahead of the curve when it comes to new information and laws without having to go back to the drawing board completely.
3. Nano eLearning is more aligned with Just in Time support.
When trying to make a decision or learn the steps needed to be taken in a situation, Nano courses are excellent in providing quick support at the required moment. The popularity of short YouTube tutorials based on subjects ranging from cooking to quick at home fixes just goes to show how effective these short bursts of learning can be and how they are preferred over more time- consuming methods of attaining the same information.
You can find out more about how our eLearning Nano series can help your organisation here.
What are your thoughts on Nano eLearning? Do you agree that it is highly effective? Leave a comment below!
