Need Analysis on Micro-Learning

The Prompt:

At Teach For India, fellows/educators use a variety of pedagogical structures like “Inquiry Based Learning”(IBL), “Concrete Pictorial Abstract”(CPA), 5S, 5E?etc. to deliver their content to the students in an engaging way, but all the structures currently in use are incorporated in the long lecture format that ideally runs for a duration of 40-50 mins.?

However the average attention span of a child is mere 16-24 mins.?This number further comes down to just 4 mins?in case of online learning. For this reason we would like to design a self-paced e-learning course on “Micro-learning”?which will upskill the fellows to supplement their current ped. strategies with micro-learning principles that would enable them to cover learning objectives in short bursts of information [10-12 mins]?which will be far more digestible by all the students. Micro-learning works best by adopting a?‘little and often’ approach.

?:: Consequences if the needs are not addressed:

?[1]?Since the attention span of Gen Alpha?is very short (avg.8 mins), it’s highly likely that most of them tune out of the classroom despite using multiple attention grabbers & CFUs.

?[2] A/c to?Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve, students only retain 21%?of what they learn within a month. Hence, fellows would need to schedule multiple revision classes just to keep up with the forgetting curve.?

The need for the course:

A self-paced up-skilling course about “creating micro-learning solutions” should exist because the fellows/educators?are currently not able to hold the attention of the entire class in long lectures of 40-50 mins. in duration.

Learner personas:

:: Shally is a new joiner at Teach For India, she has recently undergone the TFI training and is now deployed as an educator in Grade 5.?Although she has learned various pedagogical methods during her training but while implementing the same in the classroom, she’s unable to see the desired level of outcome shifts. Students tend to tune out of her classroom after a while and when questioned during “Check For Understanding”, they are unable to recall the information just taught to them. This makes Shally frustrated and she wonders what more she can do to hold the attention of the class for longer duration. Shally has a laptop & high speed internet at her disposal. She is equipped with basic computer literacy and is proficient in MS office.

?:: Shireen is currently in her second year?at Teach For India. She teaches 43 grade 7 students at a PMC school. While she already has 1 year of experience working with the children and she has figured out a couple of hacks like call-outs, activity based learning and personalized learning to hold attention span of her students in her class but still she feels that all her students are not fully attentive during the entire duration of the lecture. She is keen to learn about new structures to improve the same but is skeptical about the extra work that she might have to do to implement the same as she has very limited bandwidth.

?:: Chirag teaches Math and Science to 42 students in a low income private school. His class previously had severe BMC breakdowns and a certain set of students from his class have very short attention spans. Also their previous grade knowledge is not at par. Chirag has tried everything that he learned during his training but still a certain section of students just seems to be dis-invested in him. He is keen to know what more he can do to bring a shift in behavior of his students. He wants to understand what exactly is the cause of dis-investment among his students and how he can bring alive the interest of every single student in his class. He is very proficient with technology and has a laptop, high speed internet and various tools and softwares at his disposal.?

What this course is about:

My course will address the need by teaching learners about these major themes:

:: What is micro-learning?

:: What does micro-learning look like? --> Examples: demo videos, demo 1 pagers etc. to build knowledge.

?:: How to create a micro-learning experience for your class-room? --> Various digital formats like short video, short one pager, a short interactive quiz. [Building the skill]

?:: Scenarios where micro-learning could be applied. --> Understanding various topics and scenarios to which micro-learning could be applied. [Building the skill]

?:: Advantages of micro-learning.

In this case, the need is to upskill fellows in micro-learning to cater to the shorter attention span of students without any learning loss. As fellows are already aware about various pedagogy methods incorporated in long lecture format, we here need to make them aware about short video formats, one pagers and mini-quizzes [all components of micro-learning] which tackles the very specific learning need of students that can get covered in very short span of time that is in alignment with the average attention span of the students.?

The learning environment:

1.?Learners:?All the learners are located across various regions of India, hence the same time zone. All of them have basic to intermediate proficiency using computers. 50% of the learners went through online training and have hands on experience using LMS tools like Google Classroom while the rest 50% had an in-person training, hence their knowledge with using LMS might be limited but since they have proficiency with basic computer skills, they should be able to pick things up regarding using a LMS. All the learners are trained in pedagogical methods across long lecture formats and have first hand experience with the same as well.

?2.?Facilitators:?Facilitator is currently serving his second year at Teach For India as an educator for K-12 and has a solid understanding of different ped. structures. He is familiar with the course content and the instructional design principles being used.

?3.?The domain and discipline:?Main domain is cognitive; we’ll be working with constructive alignment and backward design.

?4. Technologies:?All participants have access to a high speed internet at their homes since a major chunk of their deliverables are handled remotely. The internet expenses are covered by the firm, hence everyone has an internet connection.