How to use bite-sized learning for training

With industry developments growing rapidly, your company has to constantly implement new practices and regulations in your workplace. If your team doesn’t adapt to these changes, they’ll be unequipped to handle future shifts in their tasks, work environment, or skill set.

Luckily, learning new concepts and skills doesn’t have to be a major commitment. It can be easy, fun, and done anytime through bite-sized learning. Get to know this educational concept to start including long-term learning practices in your company’s operations.

What is bite-sized learning?

Bite-size learning, or microlearning, is the practice of learning through small bits of information. This is different from traditional forms of learning like through a lecture, seminar, or course. Instead of receiving information over an hour-long session, learners can digest smaller bits of data in shorter bursts of time.

It’s like comparing how a 20-minute YouTube video and a few minute-long TikTok videos can cover a subject. A YouTube video can give a comprehensive introduction to any topic. Meanwhile, TikTok videos will discuss its essential details and don't have to be watched in a single session.

With short-form content, bite-sized learning focuses on meeting development goals making it a good choice for upskilling, refresher training, and other corporate training. It gives you all the necessary information for a certain skill or topic in an engaging way. Even when it's complex, bite-size learning helps your team know and use the necessary skills for their growth.

Benefits of bite-sized learning

Bite-sized learning can help us learn on the go while we focus on other things. Just because it's smaller and less exhaustive than other forms of learning doesn’t mean it's less effective. It has unique benefits that make it an easy inclusion to today’s companies and organizations.

• Higher retention rates

The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve suggests that it gets more difficult to recall newly gained information as time goes by. After an hour passes, you’ll only be able to remember about 40% of the information.

Bite-sized learning fixes this issue through a concept called spaced repetition. It’s a learning method where lessons are redone in separate intervals to help establish the concept in your learners’ minds. A 2016 study on spaced repetition concluded that it improves the recall of key concepts and skills. This, in turn, helps learners use that newly gained knowledge for complex tasks like problem-solving or project planning.

• Flexible training

One of the hardest parts of learning is the logistics of planning a session. Scheduling, activity planning, and resource management are some of the challenges that you have to manage to finally train your team. If one of your resources is compromised, like if your activities didn’t go as planned, it’ll affect the overall learning experience.

Bite-sized learning programs don’t have this issue. Implementing one only requires you to plan your lesson, create a course, and set a deadline. It’s up to your team to decide when they want to study their assigned lessons. Microlearning is simple to deliver, all you need is the educational content for your team.

• Improved participation and engagement

Conventional forms of learning like seminars and lectures can be difficult to engage with when your team has other tasks for the day. But with bite-sized learning, they can take their time and fully immerse themselves in your prepared lessons.

This is one of the reasons microlearning is great for hospitality, healthcare, and other industries with busy daily operations. When your lessons are quick to understand and digest, it’ll make learning easier to do in the workplace.

• Cost-effective implementation

Training is costly. You need enough resources to reserve rooms, hire guest speakers, and other things to create an effective learning session. With new teams, demands, or workplace changes, it can become an expensive activity over time. 

With bite-size learning, you can invest your resources in high-quality learning material that can be used multiple times when needed. No need to spend time or rent space for training when your team can learn wherever and whenever they can. This is also why bite-sized learning is best for hybrid or work-from-home employees.

How to implement bite-sized learning

Now that you know what bite-sized learning can bring to the table, it's time to put it into practice. Use these steps below to start using bite sized training for your next development program. The end goal of implementing this type of learning is to build a consistent training program and encourage your team to develop over time.

Step 1: Identify learning goals

The most crucial step for including bite-sized learning in your workplace is establishing your goals. This type of learning is best done with clear and measurable goals in mind. The more determined your goals are, the easier it’ll be to create and find courses for your program.

Some examples of goals include developing a new skill, making sure your team follows the latest industry protocol, or developing them into subject matter experts (SMEs). You’re also free to choose goals that need complex topics because microlearning can make them understandable for your team.

Step 2: Research for material

Once you’ve chosen your goals, the next step is to create the learning material. Start by researching what your team needs to learn to achieve the goals you’ve set. When you’re researching, make sure to use primary sources that are timely, credible, and comprehensive for high-quality information. You could also consult an SME to get their insights and perspective.

Step 3: Choose a learning medium

With your information prepared, it’s time to put it on paper. Engagement is key to success with bite-size learning, so choose a medium that fits your company’s audience and schedule. Here are some mediums that you can use:

• Videos

You can use a series of short videos for demonstrations, lectures, or introductory training. It’s a good option when you need to teach your team how to perform a certain task. The combination of creative visual and audio elements can help make your videos memorable and captivating.

• Infographics

If your company doesn’t have the resources to support audio learning material, you could use infographics. It’s an efficient way to distribute brief but essential pieces of information to your team. It’s also effective when your employees need to go back to your training material regularly.

• Learning apps

The best way to maximize the benefits of bite-sized training is to use dedicated microlearning apps or learning management systems (LMS) like SC Training (formerly EdApp). It can create bite-sized learning courses, deliver them to your team, and report back with real-time learner statistics.

SC Training also has gamification and custom achievements in its courses, greatly increasing your program’s participation rate. Your team will have fun growing their skills and studying new concepts. This is why investing in an LMS like SC Training can rapidly implement a continuous learning culture in your company.

Step 4: Measure success

After you’ve selected a medium and delivered the training program, your team’s newly gained knowledge should show some changes in the workplace. Pay attention to any improvements or outcomes that come as a result of your learning programs.

Step 5: Improve your program over time

When you’ve noted the impact of your program and gotten feedback from your team, make the necessary changes. Eventual improvements to your program are important so you can reuse it for new employees or edit it when there are new changes to the workplace. A robust bite-sized learning program helps create a company culture that always seeks improvement.

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