I think you guys nailed the top application for this technique/technology other than student-facing uses: Pro-D. I was crafting a post about it and then there it was in the next section! (I’ll share it anyway as I have a link to a cool study I think everyone would really dig)
I think there’s a fantastic opportunity here in the realm of teacher professional development. According to this recent study https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-04482-001, when teachers were given evidence based literature to counter misconceptions they were found to accept the evidence only to revert to their old ways a short time later.
>>>The evidence of this study points to a need for ongoing supportive interventions rather than one-and-done PD day workshops as is common here in Canada and elsewhere. Microlearning modules seem like an excellent platform to facilitate this for the reasons you’ve highlighted.<<<
Some side notes:
(1) “According to an ATD report, the average amount of time for an ideal microlearning module is 10 minutes.” – this was based on a poll where they asked people what they thought was best. This is not scientific in any sense and gives no indication of systematically finding the optimum of an efficacy curve, which I think deserves further study if it hasn’t had already.
(2) On “What makes “micro” micro? ”
Perhaps there is no time limit or minimum. The nature of microlearning might mean that the length of a module suits the content, context, or both.
(3) Microlearning was initially introduced as stepwise, each step with goals toward a larger goal. But the science supposedly supporting microlearning was actually in support of REPETITION specifically. Not to say that the definition was wrong, per se, but this is a specific detail that should be emphasized and should inform microlearning module design >> Steps are not enough. Learners need iteration, which is one of the ideas behind the “spiral” model of learning. (This notion is conspicuously absent from the “4 defining characteristics”)<<
