What is microlearning?

It is a way of training that splits a topic into very short units, of 1 to 3 minutes. Each one aims at a single objective, and it is done on a phone or a computer when it is needed.

How long should a microlearning pill last?

Usually each pill explains one concept in 1 to 3 minutes. In Snackson one comes out about every 2 minutes, and a full microcourse stays within 2 or 3 hours. The stopwatch is not the point: the pill should work a single idea and end with a question or some practice.

Does microlearning work for any topic?

It works better with things that are concrete and can be applied: rules, processes, product, safety, customer service. For more complex skills, combine it with practice, tutoring or live sessions.

What is the difference between microlearning and e-learning?

Microlearning is a way of designing e-learning: short, modular and tightly focused content. Traditional e-learning usually packs hours of content into a linear course.

Can microlearning be published in an LMS such as Moodle?

Yes. The pills can be packaged in SCORM or xAPI and published in a compatible LMS, such as Moodle, so you can see each person’s progress and results.

Can microlearning training be subsidised?

Yes, scheduled training can be subsidised through FUNDAE if the requirements are met. It is worth checking the mode, the duration and the tracking with whoever manages the training.

How do I start with microlearning in my company?

Pick a topic with a real problem, onboarding or cybersecurity for example. Split it into small objectives, make the first pills and see who finishes and what comes of it, before you scale up.

What is the difference between snackable content and microlearning?

Snackable content is a short piece that stands on its own: a tip, a card or a short video. Microlearning is a learning design, with an objective, an order, feedback and tracking.

How long is a microcourse?

A full microcourse stays within 2 or 3 hours, with one concept every 1 to 3 minutes. Chopping a long course into pieces is not microlearning.

What role does gamification play in microlearning?

Gamification helps people not to leave microlearning half done, together with short doses, the mobile format and a sending rhythm. It only works if it has a point. A simple mechanic is opening the content in stages.

What platform do I need to do microlearning?

You can use a microlearning platform of your own, your LMS (Moodle, for example) or a hybrid model. Snackson is a platform designed expressly for microlearning. If you already have an LMS, the courses can be published with SCORM 1.2 or 2004, although you lose things such as gamification or opening the content in stages.

How is microlearning measured?

Microlearning is measured with a few indicators: who finishes, correct answers and retries in the assessment content, useful satisfaction and, if you can, a signal from the job.

Guide in English · 14 chapters

Microlearning: learning in pills of a few minutes

A guide in English to what microlearning is, what it is made of and how to bring it into your company’s training.

Create microcourses with Snacksonarrow_forward Read the guide

A microcourse of 2 to 3 hours: one concept every 2 minutes. That comes to between 60 and 90. One pill, one concept.

01Understand

What microlearning is

Microlearning splits a topic into very short pieces, of 1 to 3 minutes. Each piece covers a single idea and is done on a phone or a computer, when it is needed.

Microlearning is used for company training, onboarding, compliance and to reinforce what a long course covered. It does not replace all training: it covers what people forget before they put it into practice.

The full article: what microlearning is and why it worksarrow_outward

A person checks their phone while sitting on public transport, in a gap of a few minutes.

Snackable content and microlearning are not the same thing

A piece of content being short is not enough to make it microlearning. It needs an objective, a sequence, feedback and tracking.

Differences between snackable content and microlearning
Criterion	Snackable content	Microlearning
Nature	A short piece that stands on its own: a tip, a card or a video.	Small modules, each with one objective.
Prerequisites	You do not need to have seen anything first.	It sits in a sequence: order matters.
Purpose	To remind, communicate, reinforce or spark interest.	To change a behaviour, or to show that someone can do it.
Feedback	Optional.	Almost always: a quiz, a scenario or a decision.
Measurement	Reach, and it goes out of date quickly.	Whether people finish it and whether they use it on the job.

Use snackable content to…

say something in the moment or reinforce a launch.

Use microlearning to…

change behaviour, pace an onboarding or certify skills.

Microlearning and snackable content can be combined: the path is the base and snackable content acts as reinforcement. Two typical mistakes are chopping up a long course and calling it microlearning, and looking only at opens or likes when what matters is the business.

Read the articlearrow_outward

02Understand

Key microlearning concepts

The microlearning terms you will come across, grouped by what they are for.

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03Understand

Microlearning compared with traditional training

Traditional training and microlearning each have a place. This table sums up what changes.

Comparison between traditional training and microlearning
Aspect	Traditional training	Microlearning
Duration	Sessions or modules of one to several hours.	One concept every 1 to 3 minutes.
Focus	A lot of syllabus in a single block.	One objective per pill.
Timing	On a fixed date, away from the job.	When the person needs it.
Device	A classroom or a computer.	Phone, tablet or computer.
Updates	You have to rebuild the whole course.	Change only the pill that was affected.
Reinforcement	Little, or none, once the course ends.	Spaced review is already built in.

04Understand

Why microlearning works

Seven reasons teams and companies prefer microlearning to a long course.

The forgetting curve and spaced repetition

What people learn is forgotten quickly if they do not review it. In microlearning, that review arrives just before they forget, and each time it is more spaced out: it sticks better and costs less.

No review
With spaced reviews
Review

An illustrative sketch to explain the idea, not measured data. Vertical axis: percentage of what was learned that people still remember.

The 7 reasons, in more detail, on the Snackson blogarrow_outward

05Understand

The hidden costs of e-learning

The price of an e-learning course is not what it really costs. These six items are almost never budgeted, and microlearning brings them down.

If you are going to talk about costs with leadership, start with these three

Read the articlearrow_outward

1What percentage finishes critical training today?
2How often is it updated, and who pays for those hours?
3Where does the work actually happen?

06Apply

Where microlearning is used

Microlearning does not always replace a long programme or a dense certification. It is almost always the reinforcement, or the start.

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07Apply

What each profile expects from training

You do not need a different platform for each profile to do microlearning. What changes is who receives what and when, the format and what you measure.

Five job profiles —shop, warehouse, office, manager and compliance— linked by a microlearning pill.

What they expect

How to design it

Read the articlearrow_outward

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When microlearning does not work

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08Apply

How to apply microlearning, step by step

09Apply

Practical rules for designing microcontent

How a microcourse of about 2 hours is organised

A microcourse of about 2 hours is spread across about sixty pills, left to right and top to bottom. It starts with the objectives, alternates content and assessment, drops in a video now and then and closes with a summary.

Objectives and close
Information pill
Assessment content
Video

A rough sketch: assessment content every 3 or 4 information pills, and a video every 10 pieces of microcontent.

bolt

The microlearning paradox: when less is more

In online training, people used to say that one hour equalled 10 or 15 pages of authored content. In real tests, a 10-hour course was finished in 3 or 4. With a more concise approach, a 6-hour SCORM dropped to under 2 real hours, without losing what mattered. Stretching a course with locks or animations that add nothing only frustrates people.

Read the articlearrow_outward

Stated duration and real duration

Two cases from the Snackson article on the microlearning paradox.

Stated hours
Real hours

10-hour course

Stated

10 h

Real

3 to 4 h

6-hour SCORM course, redesigned

Stated

6 h

Real

under 2 h

Figures cited in the article “The microlearning paradox”. The bars for “3 to 4 h” and “under 2 h” are approximate.

18 tips to improve your microlearningarrow_outward Types of video in online trainingarrow_outward

10Apply

Gamification and how adults learn

Gamification and the way adults learn explain why some training gets finished and some is left half done.

A path of pills that open one after another up to a finish line, like a microlearning path.

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Gamification: press startarrow_outward Adult learning theoriesarrow_outward

11Publish and measure

Platforms: where to publish microlearning

There are four ways to publish microlearning, and they can be combined. The same company can have courses on the microlearning platform and others inside its LMS.

When it fits

Keep in mind

Hybrid model

MoodleClassroom and tracking

PluginConnects both

Gamified microlearningShort courses and mobile

People can enter from either side, and the results go back to the Moodle record.

SCORM in your LMS

Microlearning courseFrom the catalogue or your own

SCORM package1.2 or 2004

Your LMSMoodle, SuccessFactors, Cornerstone

Only the completion status comes back, and only when the course is finished.

What to ask of a microlearning platform

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Moodle and Snackson, togetherarrow_outward Microlearning on your online platformarrow_outward

12Publish and measure

How to measure whether microlearning works

To know whether microlearning works, pick a few indicators and separate two goals: bringing someone in, and building skills over time. They combine. They do not replace each other.

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warning

A warning sign

If in a microcourse 100% click and only 40% get it right, people open the content but do not understand it. Measuring only opens or likes says nothing about the business goal.

Read the articlearrow_outward

When reach is misleading

The example from the article: everyone opens the content, but only four out of ten get it right.

Reach
Learning

They click

100 %

They get it right

40 %

An illustrative example from the article “Onboarding vs training”, not measured data.

13Keep learning

Keep learning with the Snackson blog

See all articlesarrow_outward

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Go from theory to your first microcourses

Snackson is Adaptative Learning’s microlearning platform, built for company training.

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Meet Snacksonarrow_forward

14Keep learning

Frequently asked questions about microlearning

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Microlearning: learning in pills of a few minutes

What microlearning is

Snackable content and microlearning are not the same thing

Key microlearning concepts

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Microlearning compared with traditional training

Why microlearning works

The forgetting curve and spaced repetition

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The hidden costs of e-learning

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Where microlearning is used

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What each profile expects from training

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When microlearning does not work

How to apply microlearning, step by step

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Practical rules for designing microcontent

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How a microcourse of about 2 hours is organised

The microlearning paradox: when less is more

Stated duration and real duration

Gamification and how adults learn

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Platforms: where to publish microlearning

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Hybrid model

SCORM in your LMS

What to ask of a microlearning platform

How to measure whether microlearning works

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A warning sign

When reach is misleading

Keep learning with the Snackson blog

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Go from theory to your first microcourses

Frequently asked questions about microlearning

Microlearning: learning in pills of a few minutes

What microlearning is

Snackable content and microlearning are not the same thing

Key microlearning concepts

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Microlearning compared with traditional training

Why microlearning works

The forgetting curve and spaced repetition

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The hidden costs of e-learning

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Where microlearning is used

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What each profile expects from training

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When microlearning does not work

How to apply microlearning, step by step

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Practical rules for designing microcontent

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How a microcourse of about 2 hours is organised

The microlearning paradox: when less is more

Stated duration and real duration

Gamification and how adults learn

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Platforms: where to publish microlearning

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Hybrid model

SCORM in your LMS

What to ask of a microlearning platform

How to measure whether microlearning works

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A warning sign

When reach is misleading

Keep learning with the Snackson blog

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Go from theory to your first microcourses

Frequently asked questions about microlearning

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