S
hort e-learning courses are very successful. You need to consider using it in your corporate training initiatives. According to a study done, the modern learner can devote 1% of their time at work for professional development. If they have a 40-hour work week, that means 24 minutes a week. This is a little less than 5 minutes a day.
Obviously, employees cannot go without any training for long. For one, constant training will help make them feel that they are important and valued in the company. This can help lower the turnover rate in the company. Not only that, the knowledge and skills that they will get from the training will help them be more productive. When employees are productive, the business becomes very profitable.
While training is important, we all know that busy employees feel stressed when they are taken away from their tasks for too long. So how do you deal with this dilemma? You opt for short e-learning courses.
Also known as microlearning, there are 4 important key elements that will make it a useful tool for online training programs.
It has to be short
This is a given. As mentioned earlier, the 40-hour work week of a busy employee can only spare 5 minutes every day for training. This is the perfect length for your bite-sized courses. You can extend it to 10 minutes if you will not make the training happen on a daily basis – which is actually very rare. Extending the course until 10 minutes should be good enough. It should have enough time for you to discuss something significant and relevant for the employee. This does not have to include any group chat or discussion that you may want to facilitate further learning and online camaraderie.
It has to focus on one idea
Since you only have so much time in the e-learning course, you have to make sure you only focus on one idea. You will not only meet the time limit, it will also help the learners focus. They can concentrate on that single idea and that can leave a more lasting impact on them. If the topic is complicated, you still have to break it down into smaller and more simple ideas.
It has to have practical applications
Nobody will waste their time on something that they know cannot be applied in their lives. Make sure the practical application of the course is clearly stated and demonstrated. Not only that, it has to be something that can be used immediately after the course. Skills that can make things more convenient and easier is always a good focus in e-learning courses.
It is user-friendly
Finally, the short course should be easy to use. Make it compatible with mobile phones so the learners can access it anytime and anywhere. You should also think about the format that you will use. Ideally, you want the learners to be able to get the concept and lesson within a few minutes. If this is something that they can apply immediately, it will also make the course even more successful.
Make sure all of these elements are a part of your e-learning course. This will help make it as successful and effective as possible.