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The practice of microlearning is a new trend in education that has gained momentum since 2018 in response to the various stimuli or distractions students face every day.
The practice of microlearning is a technique that divides learning into small capsules of brief content, which must fit the time span during which the brain maintains concentration to acquire and retain knowledge.
In other words, information must be broken down into small, easy-to-remember fragments . For example, these RAE capsules contain small pieces of content accompanied by images that can be memorized easily:
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Why apply microlearning in the classroom?
Have you ever heard the popular saying “Don't bite off more than you can chew”? This holds true in the classroom and has been confirmed by various studies showing that the concentration a person applies to a task depends on the stimuli and experiences their brain has been exposed to.
On this basis, we must bear in mind that learning and concentration evolve in incredibly different ways from person to person. The educational trend of microlearning therefore aims primarily to transform lengthy, tedious instruction into precise, concise teaching that, most importantly, helps students retain information.
Techniques for applying microlearning
Microlearning is based on breaking a large topic down into lessons lasting ⏱️ a maximum of 5 minutes and then reinforcing each lesson with fun technological tools, such as:
Infographics
Present images containing valuable, condensed information. Remember that “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
Podcasts
Podcasts are a storytelling resource whose advantage is that content can be downloaded and listened to at the user's convenience. You can find more information in our article: “Using Podcasts in Education”
Animations
A wealth of easily digestible animated content can now be found online. One example is the Magic Markers channel.
Gamification
Gamification is a modern learning technique that brings game mechanics into education. You can find more information in our post: “Five Free Tools for Applying Gamification in the Classroom”
Let us use distractions to our advantage
As mentioned above, the many channels through which students receive information every day can be very helpful. For example:
Platforms such as Netflix can be used to have students watch a film or documentary at home.
Debates can be generated through Facebook, Twitter, or forums. As teachers, we should not fear these technological tools, but rather use every available medium to our advantage.
Focusing on students is microlearning's most important characteristic, since it proposes that, once the teacher presents the day's lessons, students can collectively choose the order in which they want to learn them, without being bound to a specific schedule, creating a sense of ownership and interest in each one. And why not interconnect them, intentionally bringing the mathematics topic into the communication and language lesson?
By putting this new trend into practice as a teacher, you can achieve well-rounded learning that is fun and, above all, meaningful.