5 Examples of Microlearning Frameworks That Could Benefit Video Course Creators

Microlearning Is About More Than Your Video Course Content (Use it Everywhere)

We’ve covered what microlearning is and why course creators would be wise to employ it in their offerings if they don’t already. There’s a summary of some popular examples of microlearning platforms in that post.

But many of those examples are more informative and aspirational, intended to help you to consider why you might want to jump into microlearning in the first place, or refresh your take on it.

But what about some actionable examples, including of how to utilize the power of microlearning to market and sell your course content?

We’re glad you asked!

Here are five additional examples of microlearning frameworks that you can adopt right away to help grow your enrollment and increase student engagement. We’ve organized them first by type, and have included a specific example illustrating each format.

1. Short Video Tutorials

We probably don’t have to spend too much time explaining how short video tutorials fit into microlearning frameworks. We’ll assume you know the basics in this area.

But it’s worth repeating why microlearning is an effective framework for your video course content. Breaking up topics into shorter, more digestible chunks increases the likelihood of keeping your students engaged. It’s also been shown to increase retention.

Other advantages to short videos, as a microlearning tool:

– They’re great for introducing and slowly exploring new topics

– They can help provide new or additional context for ongoing course offerings

– They’re an effective method for delivering background information or reinforcing ideas
Convenience and speed are factors, too, when it comes to short video content. Shorter videos are easier to create (most of the time), and can be quickly uploaded to your video hosting platform.

Example: TED-Ed

TED-Ed utilizes microlearning to deliver animated videos that explain complex concepts in a simple way. Their videos are usually less than 10 minutes long, and cover a wide range of topics. Check some out to see effective microlearning in action.

2. Interactive Quizzes and Assessments

Quizzes and assessments are often the first pieces of supplementary content added to video courses, and they’re a great way to build microlearning techniques into your course content.

Interactive content like quizzes help to:

– Promote engagement

– Increase retention

– Confirm knowledge transfer

They can also plug into any adaptive learning frameworks that might overlap with your microlearning systems. In this way, you can use quizzes or assessments to drive data-driven assessments of learning progress, and to identify areas of weakness (or strength) for particular students.

Quizzes are also an opportunity to promote student engagement by adding some fun into your course. By re-packaging smaller pieces of information in the form of questions, video course creators can help students retain information and/or to reinforce core concepts from preceding modules.

Example: Kahoot!

A game-based learning platform that enables quiz and survey creation, Kahoot! offers integrations to many learning management systems (LMS) and video hosting platforms. Quizzes are usually timed, which encourages learners to focus their attention in order to score higher. There’s also a social component available on the platform, which can produce some friendly competition among students.

3. Infographics

Stay with us on this one.

While infographics might be more popularly associated with static presentations, eBooks, and social media posts – they can also play a powerful role in a microlearning approach to your overall course content and your efforts to market your course.

Infographics offer a comprehensive example of microlearning principles:

1- They break down complex information into smaller, more quickly accessible pieces

2- They make information more engaging and memorable, which can improve retention and understanding

3- They’re easily shared and accessed online, making them a convenient and scalable way to deliver content

Consider also that many infographics can be easily converted into simple animations, or planned as animations from the onset. Done well, either in this fashion or in the form of simple social posts for supplementing your course(s), they can help drive leads for new students and/or promote sharing if offered as samples of your course content and general approach to instruction.

Example: Venngage

For examples of infographics in action, or to experiment with creating your own, check out Venngage. Designed for businesses and professionals, Venngage offers a wide variety of templates created to support educational content. Other great options for creating infographics include Canva and Visme.

4. Interactive eBooks

With these next two examples, we’re getting into microlearning frameworks that support video course creators by helping to fill their marketing funnel, as opposed to looking directly at course content.

An interactive eBook is obviously different than a video course. It’s quite common, however, for course creators to capture leads for their offerings by creating and marketing an eBook to prospective students.

eBooks differ from blog posts and other top-of-funnel content in that they generally offer a deeper and more detailed look at a given topic. Some can get quite long, and might not represent a good example of microlearning. Many however, are shorter. When written and organized in the right way (short chapters!), eBooks can serve as a great sample of the same content that you might include in deeper detail with your course modules.

Example: Kotobee

A popular platform for creating eBooks is Kotobee, which empowers course creators to publish interactive books for use in formal education settings as well as for business. In addition to supporting common eBook formats like EPUB and PDF, Kotobee supports interactive elements like media, assessments, and some gamification tools.

5. Podcasts

Many successful video course creators either started in podcasts or decided to build a podcast as a channel for funneling audience members to their course offerings.

On the content side, a podcast can be an effective method for experimenting with ideas that can eventually be repurposed into course content. At the same time, you can build audience with a podcast that you can later market to when selling your course.

Course creators can also use a podcast as supplementary content. For instance, if your course is about starting a business, a matching podcast could include interviews with successful entrepreneurs. While many podcasts run long, since they’re easier to produce than videos and often modular from episode to episode, they can often be considered a form of microlearning. There are also many examples of podcasts that run shorter than the perhaps more common hour-long episode.

Example: The Online Course Show

There are so many podcasts to choose from for an example, but The Online Course Show seemed a good choice for the current discussion. Hosted by Jacques Hopkins, The Online Course Show features long-form interviews with top course creators on how they got started or how they’ve succeeded, as well testimony and advice on current trends. And, yes, Jacques sells his own course and also markets coaching services on his site, in addition to running his podcast.

Conclusion: Take a Comprehensive Approach to Microlearning, for Maximum Impact

Simply put, microlearning is an excellent match for today’s short attention spans and high expectations.

By combining short video lessons with other frameworks and formats for microlearning, course creators can ensure they stay competitive. Students and prospective students seem to learn more, faster, with course content and supplementary materials that deliver a lot of information in smaller portions that can be quickly consumed, with this structure then repeated and scaled up as necessary.

You can do the same in creating your own microlearning content. 

Leverage podcasts, infographics, and similar formats to capture and keep attention and interest. Build your course around the same material, in pieces that are more detailed and informative but structured to match the incremental pace that audiences want. Keep the ideas coming, and deliver them well, and you’ll be on your way to success with microlearning.