How long is microlearning?
7 minutes or less (at least that鈥檚 what I heard at a conference).
Or it could be under 10 minutes (because that鈥檚 what an industry report said).
Or maybe it鈥檚 4 minutes and 20 seconds (because that鈥檚 the average duration of a YouTube video nowadays).
鈥淗ow long should it be?鈥 is the most popular question in the microlearning conversation, by far. People struggle with the term 鈥渕icro鈥 and want to specify a time requirement. With so many different microlearning explanations flying around, people are grasping to find some consistency in the concept. Since duration is a clear differentiator between microlearning and traditional tactics, that鈥檚 where the attention goes. But it鈥檚 not about making things shorter鈥攁t least not exactly.
To answer the question of how long a burst of microlearning should be, let鈥檚 start with our definition:
Microlearning is an approach to training that delivers content in short, focused bites. To be effective, microlearning must fit naturally into the daily workflow, engage employees in voluntary participation, be based in brain science (i.e. how people actually learn), adapt continually to ingrain the knowledge employees need to be successful, and ultimately drive behaviors that impact specific business results.
You鈥檒l notice that we didn鈥檛 include a duration requirement. That鈥檚 because there isn鈥檛 one. However, we did say that microlearning should be 鈥渟hort鈥 and 鈥渇ocused.鈥 Let鈥檚 unpack what those terms mean and how they answer the most popular question in microlearning.
Short learning fits their workflow
Microlearning is already shorter than traditional training methods due to the focus on a single objective. But there鈥檚 another factor to consider when it comes to duration: the audience鈥檚 time. Employees are often overburdened in the workplace, and they don鈥檛 have much extra time for training. This is especially challenging for operations employees who typically don鈥檛 control their own schedules and cannot participate in training away from work. Therefore, microlearning must also fit into the time they have available on the job. This could be 5 minutes just after clocking in for their shift or 3 minutes between incoming phone calls. This may not sound like much time, but can go a long way towards helping people solve meaningful problems.
Focused learning is more meaningful
Microlearning is focused on solving a specific, measurable business problem. This is the most important principle. Rather than try to teach an employe everything they may possibly ever need to know about a large subject, you focus on a single, meaningful objective. For example, rather than create a generic course called 鈥淪afety in the Workplace,鈥 you could provide a brief video, job aid and reinforcement questions focused on an immediate safety concern, such as how to lift heavy objects without getting hurt. This focus is what enables microlearning to be both shorter and more easily digested than traditional training content. It鈥檚 not about the duration: it鈥檚 about the focus.
So, how long should a burst of microlearning be? While there is no one-size-fits-all response to this ever-prevalent question, there is a clear answer. It should be as short as possible to address a specific, measurable objective and fit within the audience鈥檚 available time.