EVALUATING MICROLEARNING EFFORTS--EXAMPLES & TEMPLATE INCLUDED

EVALUATING MICROLEARNING EFFORTS

One of the most common problems of learning designers when designing a solution is "How do I measure the program's success?" The task of measuring and evaluating training programs should be considered in the initial plan ensures designers know what to achieve with their learning program. Though there are speculations that measuring training can be daunting and time-consuming, Microlearning makes its evaluation much simpler and more attractive because it focuses on discrete performance needs that ensure the evaluation is straightforward. Reflect on the following questions when planning for evaluation which will be helpful to measure later on; (download the Microlearning measurement table here!)

?????I.????????What I'm trying to achieve with the microlearning resources?

???II.????????Does addressing the critical performance improve business outcomes?

?III.????????How critical is the task or skills that microlearning resource support?

?IV.????????What kind of metrics will be used and why?

???V.????????Does the organization have the capability to capture those metrics?

?VI.????????What are the tools to capture the metrics and data?

Type of Data to Capture

Qualitative Data

Qualitative data is the commentary view of the learner's experience that focuses on descriptions and details. Several types of qualitative data could be recorded, including testimonials, survey responses, interviews, case studies, and many more. Qualitative data generally reflect how successful the learners are after completing the program.

Quantitative Data

Quantitative data signifies the data that can be summed up, averaged or manipulated to provide a numerical efficiency value. For instance, data like the number of downloads, number of times accessed, likes and dislikes, scores, badges earned, number of page views, and completion rate are often measured to portray microlearning content's efficiency holistically. In other words, quantitative data tells how helpful and exciting the resources are to learners. The next level of quantitative metric related to business outcomes reflects the behaviour change of learner's impact on the job, including a reduction in customer complaints, increase in task execution speed, increase in sales conversion, and many more. ?

Data Collection Method

Survey

Since microlearning programs generally focus on specific performance objectives, it is recommended to keep the survey short. Often, Likert Scale Survey has been used to make that easier to answer and parse reports.

EPSS, LMS, LXP

These tools are the option to deploy microlearning resources and capture data. It is not always clear what metrics are available and can be used to collect the data as each system varies according to supplier configurations. We recommend talking with suppliers to determine the exact type of metrics attainable.

xAPI

xAPI is an excellent tool to collect data about a wide range of experiences learners attained during their training. xAPI is slightly different from SCORM, where SCORM allows for tracking courses opened or completed and the score from a test and the end of the module. xAPI tracks detailed data, including,

??????????????I.????????Number of views, likes and shares of microlearning resources

????????????II.????????Learning experience data such as where learners pause a video, stop out, what time they access the materials, how long they spent time on the resources, etc.

Apply the measurement model

In the previous article on Microlearning & its fittings, we have highlighted Togerson & Iannone (2020) 's ways to implement Microlearning and let's take a closer look at how to measure each.

1. Preparing Before Learning Event

As described earlier in the previous Microlearning related article, Microlearning can be used to prepare learners before a training event. The idea is to equip learners with the anticipated knowledge and skills for the intended training. For instance, giving an interactive infographic microlearning learning content to a group of the sales team before sales training could help them recall and identify some crucial information during the training.?

2. Follow Up to Support Learning

In this instance, Microlearning can be used to reinforce learning objectives post the learning events. It can be an extension piece of information, knowledge, and skills that are critical yet couldn't be attached to a learning event due to some reasons. The method of reinforcing knowledge post-learning event can be as follows;

?????I.????????Send an email to debrief the training program and add some additional quizzes.

???II.????????Email campaign to notify additional new skills that would be beneficial to apply and examples.

?III.????????Pulse questions to encourage retention and application of the fundamental concept.

3. Standalone Training

Microlearning resource, in this instance, is specific to address the performance needs and quick to consume learning solutions.?

4. Performance Support

Microlearning is a great option to provide performance support; just in time, answer when learners need to accomplish their job tasks. All they want is short and faster. Here are a few examples of Microlearning to support performance;

?????I.????????Mobile app to support easy access to information

???II.????????Job aid

?III.????????Infographic

?IV.????????Short video tutorials

???V.????????Short slides

Measurement and evaluation of Microlearning for learning solutions should be an integral part of the design and planning process. For those who may feel hard to measure, there are a lot of tools and resources to get the job done. The evaluation metrics tell the story about the success of Microlearning and, more importantly, the rate of users adopting it for performance success and improvement.?