Microlearning

Microlearning

Closing The Skills Gap

Depending on which online resources you read, the skills gap is either real or it isn’t. At Wranx, we’re of the belief that the skills gap, a term used to describe the disparity between those who are unemployed looking for a job and organisations with jobs that can’t find skilled candidates to fill them, is very real, and that it’s something organisations need to overcome in order to solve the biggest organisational challenge of the 21st-century; filling open positions with suitably qualified and skilled employees. According to last year’s Talent Shortage Survey conducted by the Manpower Group, 35% of 38,000 employees reported some difficulty filling jobs due to a lack of knowledge, skills, and talent. So, closing the skills gap is something organisations should work on immediately. But how should they go about it? A quick search online will reveal plenty of stories about the skills gap with US-based figures and examples to back them up, but there’s few UK-focused articles that discuss the skills gap and what organisations can do to close it. So, here’s our thoughts. If you’re looking for ways to close the skills gap, the answer to all of your problems might be more obvious

18 Sep 2014 · 4 min read

Microlearning

How can e-learning content and a learning management system complement each other?

As with other areas in business, learning and development has its own raft of specialist words and phrases. These, of course, help people working in the field to convey ideas clearly and precisely, but they can be confusing for those who don’t have expertise in the area and end up being wrongly used. Two phrases that are often used interchangeably, despite meaning different things, are “e-learning” and “learning management system (LMS)”. The reason for this is that there is some overlap of what they are and both have become more widely used with the rise of the internet. A simple way to understand the difference between the two phrases is that an LMS deals with the administration of learning, while e-learning deals with its actual delivery. More detailed definitions are as follows: · E-learning: learning that people do with the use of a computer or similar technology. · Learning Management System: software used for the administration, tracking and reporting of learning and development programmes. An LMS is one aspect of e-learning, but is no use on its own. In short, it needs some learning to actually manage. This is where your e-learning content comes in. Although an LMS can be

2 min read

Microlearning

How can microlearning and Spaced Repetition help with employee onboarding?

Starting a new job can be an intimidating experience, even before you have to try and remember the huge amount of information that is typically involved. Inductions for new starters can cover organisation structure, HR procedures, health and safety, equipment overviews, job requirements, training and development programmes, meetings with colleagues and more – so how can we be expected to remember all of this in one go? The short answer is that we can’t. Our brains simply aren’t geared up to remember a large volume of information at a stroke, or to easily recall small, specific bits of information that may have been buried within it. Although we know this, don’t expect induction procedures to change much. Time and cost pressures mean that most companies still take the approach of throwing all the relevant information at a new starter, hoping that some of it sticks and filling in the gaps later as required. This isn’t the most efficient approach, but adding microlearning and Spaced Repetition into the equation can make a big difference. Microlearning breaks topics down into tiny pieces. It aids the learning process because it suits the brain’s ability to learn short, easily consumable segments, rather than overwhelming

3 min read

Microlearning

Spaced repetition, gamification and microlearning: a glossary of e-learning terms

E-learning has done a huge amount to reduce the cost of training for businesses, make it easier for them to deliver and make it more convenient for employees to do. As it has exploded in popularity over the last 20 years or so, though, it has also spawned a whole raft of new learning approaches, technologies and terms. This can make the e-learning landscape a minefield to navigate. If you’re not familiar with what certain terms mean, how can you understand what is being discussed, let alone what learning and training solutions your company should opt for? With that in mind, we’ve pulled together a glossary of e-learning terms to help you along the way: Asynchronous learning – Learning from resources that allow students to progress at their own pace. Authoring tool – A platform that allows a teacher or learning provider to create learning content. Blended Learning – Learning from a mix of different mediums, such as online resources and classroom teaching. Certainty-based learning (or confidence-based learning) – An approach via which the learner indicates how sure they are about knowledge, thereby measuring self-assurance as well as competence. Collaboration technology – Platforms that allow learners and teachers to communicate

3 min read