As I prepare for the coming Fall semester, I am reminded of a series of five articles I wrote on the subject of microlearning for this blog. The basics of microlearning are that it involves presenting smaller chunks of materials for your students to learn. Doing this makes the overall content more digestible for students. See my previous article http://www.trendingineducation.com/2015/08/micro-learning-basics.html. There are definite benefits to microlearning as opposed to cramming a great deal of information down students' throats.
One of the key benefits of microlearning in an online course is that you can present students with a multitude of materials related to a topic. The beauty of this approach is that students can pick and choose what they want to learn more about for the topic. Microlearning is a great way to present custom pathways to learning that empower students to control the way that they interact with your course materials. Microlearning allows students to learn on their own and at their own pace. For instance, teachers often ask me how to present PowerPoint materials such as chapter summaries on their course websites. This article http://www.trendingineducation.com/2015/09/creating-custom-learning-pathways-with.html shows you ways to present supplemental materials like PowerPoint in "learning nuggets" while promoting learning independence in your students by using microlearning in your courses.
There are quick and easy strategies that you can employ to use microlearning in your current online courses. The nice thing is that it doesn't require a major overhaul but just a few tweaks. This article from my blog archives, http://www.trendingineducation.com/2015/08/easy-micro-learning-strategies-for.html details how you could convert your lectures, assignments, homeworks, instructional videos, and even your feedback to students into microlearning "nuggets".
By designing your online course with microlearning in mind, you can empower your students to take charge of their learning and move away from the "almighty" teacher model that often stresses out many teachers. The goal is to facilitate learning, not cram it down students' throats. Provide enough learning nuggets each week about a topic or topics so that students can take whatever learning path is comfortable. Also, don't forget to be multi-modal!!! So, if some students prefer to learn by text; provide the textbook chapters or articles to read. If other students prefer a presentation; provide the PowerPoint or multimedia. If students need to be shown something step-by-step; provide a quick screencast or video. Mix it up and try to provide several ways for students to learn the course materials. This article http://www.trendingineducation.com/2015/09/course-design-tips-for-micro-learning.htmlshows you how to chunk the information from your course into digestible topics for students. It also has ideas for presenting it "multi-modally" by using such as audio, video, presentations, etc.
Have a good semester!
Have a good semester!
