(Microlearning) tool of the month: Guidiance

Microlearning is a trend in online learning, so the tool of the month is a microlearning tool: Guidiance. Microlearning originated from the idea of learning on the fly, via your mobile. Just as you do a game on your mobile in the train or waiting for the bus, you could also quickly learn something via your smartphone. Some people do that with the Duolingo app, for example, quickly learn some words in a foreign language. Microlearning often consists of several bite-sized chunks of content of limited size, which can be a video, a short text or an infographic

When to use the microlearning concept?

Microlearning can be linked to a training programme as a follow-up activity. It can also be separate, standalone for example microlearning replaces protocols on paper. What I see around me is that microlearning is used as an approach in three different ways:

1. Performance support (so can be accessed at any time)
2. Mini-course (then the subject must be well-defined)
3. Part of blended learning design before or after a meetup

Of course, you can not achieve the same depth with microlearning as with a course, e-learning module or training. So you have to think carefully about what you use it for. It lends itself to short delineated subjects such as 'Wash your Hands' or a 'Latte Art for Baristas' course. For inspiration for applications, read our dutch blogpost with examples such as onboarding and the example of micro-learning about kingdom affairs.

Personally, I use the word microlearning as a didactic approach, I hear that many people also use 'microlearnings' as a noun, then it's about the content, the bite-sized chunks.

Microlearning tools

You can implement microlearning with the tools you already have available. For instance, using a newsletter by mail and Moodle. You can offer it via Whatsapp. Or it can consist of short videos via a video platform. New tools are also available that specifically focus on microlearning. I thought it would be fun to test one of these tools. I choose Guidiance because it looks nice and you can test it for free with a group up to 10 people.

Guidiance

Guidiance.com has the bad luck that Google is on the outlook for typos. Google thinks you make a typo and mean guidance, so pay attention to the i :). So go directly to guidiance.com, not through a search engine. You can create a free account and you can easily set up a micro-learning mini-course yourself.

After creating your first course, add content via 'Add', which can be a video, text, photo, quiz or link. You can indicate when your participants receive the content and if you want to schedule it over a certain time (day 1, day 2 etc). I got 2 test mini-courses: one to become a barista and wash your hands course.

You invite participants by mail after creating a group. Participants must download the (free) Guidiance app and receive the content via the app. This means that you make your own mini-course via laptop or desktop, but participants take part via the app.

What else can you do in Guidiance as a host? You can also create events and view the activity in your group via statistics. I find it very simple and clear. You can easily create a mini-course, add people. I also think it looks attractive. You can indicate whether participants can comment on the sources. I would not call it a social tool, it is really focused on sharing content and quizzes. Recent development is that you can easily place courses where you want: on your website or in other software. See an example here. 

More microlearning tools and apps

Besides Guidiance there are many other microlearning tools en apps. For instance:

• Directknow 
• Powerapp
• Knowingo
• Edume
• Edapp
• Conveyour

Want to experience a microlearning course? 

Join in some free options to experience what it is. Here are two possibilities:

• Google Primer offers various microlearning courses
• Gohighbrow offers courses of 10 days in your inbox

PS. Guidiance now has a partner program: this program is aimed at trainers who serve a clear business target group. During the program Guidiance helps you to create a successful scalable training product. In this way they guide you from creation to marketing and sales, so that you ultimately generate a continuous turnover stream through online training. For more information, please contact Guidiance via info@guidiance.com.

The skillset of a blended trainer or facilitator: technology is overrated

This week I co-organized the #Trainingtrends2018 session in Utrecht (the Netherlands) with some 90 participants. It was fun. Amazing that we are already working on blended designs for 10 years and for some this a really new area. I think the change is relatively slow because it is shift in mindset.

The current mindset

Which of the following arguments for not investing in blended training do you recognize?

• For learning, intimacy is needed which you can only achieve face-to-face
• I feel completely energized when I am standing in front of a group
• I am quite technophobe/ I have little interest in working with technology

Why would you invest in blended training?

Blended training and coaching is becoming the norm. This means that clients are increasingly asking for it. The problem with standalone training days is often the transfer to practice. Karin de Galan describes a nice research example in which a blended trajectory provides better practical results. Students learn osteopathy and practice the treatment of a shoulder complaint in the classroom. However, they do not feel equipped to apply these skills in practice. When the design is blended and the students receive two more online assignments with feedback, they have more self-confidence to apply what they learned.

Clive Shepherd heeft een mooi voorbeeld van een blended onboarding programma. Who has not experienced an introductory program which consist of your first day. You have a program of briefings by all departments which pour a lot of information on you. In this blended onboarding case Nicole is joining a new organization. She starts online, hence she is already well prepared when she enters the organization and conversations with colleagues are more interesting and relevant. She has mentors during the first six months. That way she can get up to speed. 

Another example which I experienced myself: I recently received an explanation from a barista how we could make delicious cappuccino. Unfortunately, I did not volunteer to do it and I have forgotten about it. If I would have some videos available about preparing the milk I would watch them right before preparing the cappuccino.

A blended program has more contact moments than face-to-face training sessions. This implies that your participants are more likely to engage with the topic (spaced practice). I am hence convinced a good blended program can therefore achieve more effect. But .... of course there are also bad blended programs!

We underestimate the required skills 

In order to design a strong blended program, you need new skills. On the one hand, this is sometimes underestimated. For example, a trainer starts working with a online platform from the idea that it can not be that difficult. After all, you also taught yourself how to LinkedIn isn't it? On the other hand, there are trainers who fear the technology part, get paralyzed and do not venture into blended learning. They think: "this is not for me". I believe the needed technology skills are overrated, but the other skills underestimated. 

The five most underrated skills of blended trainers 

1. Being able to ask participants questions about experience with and interest in online tools. This is necessary to decide the toolset, the learning curve of participants in using these tools and support for onboarding participants online. Without this you risk the empty online platform and subsequently everybody saying: "it doesn't work, we need to get together".
2. Being able to design a strong blend instead of a one-off event. This requires experience with online and blended trajectory. Spacing is new, online activities. Think from the participant perspective which combination of online and face-to-face learning activities will be powerful.
3. Choosing the right online learning activities. It is my experience working with trainers and facilitators that they are great at this once they realize that you can also translate face-to-face training methods to online. I never understood why this is not logical for everyone. 
4. Online facilitation. Here, too, trainers already have a lot to offer. However, there are new dimensions to learn: online you have to ensure that people find their way online. You must also be present in a different way. More often and shorter. Sometimes you need to be more directive.
5. Last but not least: being able to choose a toolset from different platforms and online toolset. This is often a whole new area for trainers and coaches. It helps to realize that a good blended design can work in a variety of platforms. 

(image throug wikipedia)

What you see is that the latter skill, the technology, is overrated (and feared). However, the other four are equally important or even more important. The blended trainer is actually an amphibian. He / she can work on land (face-to-face) and in water (online).

Besides skills you have to believe in it

More important than skills is perhaps the mindset. You have to be convinced of the added value and the power of a well-blended design. Once you experience how you can have a huge effect on supporting the learning process of your participants you will definitely start to enjoy it.