Single-concept Learning
Single-concept, or bite-sized, learning is taking the global online education industry by storm. A natural response to the prevalence of mobile learning and an antidote to lack of time and resources in the workplace, bite-sized learning is ideal for employee education in South Africa.
Dennis Lamberti, the Managing Director of The Learning Studio takes a closer look at why corporates in South Africa need to be adopting this new learning approach.
In our fast-paced, technology driven lives, we are inundated with information and communication. We are busy, we are distracted, and our attention spans are compromised. At the same time, we are expected to know more than ever before to keep up with changes within the world of work.
It is therefore not surprising that many people find traditional corporate training overwhelming and ineffective. Reams of information and many of hours out of the working day does not make good business sense.
Employees are not going to effectively engage with, and retain, the information when it is presented in a long-winded manner, and through this old-fashioned approach, businesses lose precious working hours in the process.
The single-concept learning solution
Unlike the traditional approach, bite-sized learning is tailored to meet the needs of the modern learner. It enables people to engage with snackable nuggets of information on a PC, mobile phone, or tablet, anytime, anywhere. This information can be consumed on the go, during a coffee break or on a taxi.
The learning objects are focused on one concept, allowing people to savor, digest and retain the information. The content is designed to fit into their schedules, and to meet their most urgent knowledge needs, rather than disrupting agendas with lengthy lectures and irrelevant information.
These single concept learning bubbles are chained together or ‘chunked’ to achieve the required outcome of the programme and are scheduled at regular intervals. These intervals provide the necessary space for learners to absorb the information and allow the brain to be open to be ready for the next information instalment when it comes.
Bite-sized learning burgeons to meet modern needs
The factors that have contributed to the rise, and popularity, of bite-sized learning are varied and intertwined. The key contributors have been the demand for mobile learning, the increase of Millennials and Zoomers (Gen Z) in the workforce and the constant pressure faced by companies to develop courses quickly and at a low cost.
The Mobile Learning Market was valued at $27 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $280 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 36% from 2020 to 2027.
With this prevalence of mobile, many companies have started to implement device-based learning, following the lead from their employees who want to be able to access information on their phones, on the go.
Millennials and Zoomers, the drivers of the mobile learning market, are nearing half of the global workforce. These generations are our technology natives, comfortable with any device, application or digital innovation and completely immersed in the world of social media and instant messaging.
With this easy access to information comes a shortened attention span and the need for content to be exciting, dynamic, and hyper-relevant. Bite-sized learning is therefore perfectly suited to young working adults, and the ideal way to communicate, and educate, staff members effectively.
Snackable skills to upskill South African adults
The unemployment problem in South Africa can be attributed to a lack of skills, not a lack of jobs. There is a huge skills shortage in our country, and unfortunately there are not the resources necessary to tackle the problem head on.
Training is a necessity, but company pressure means that we cannot afford to take time out of the busy workday to focus on training, and often do not have the budgets to develop text-heavy, printed content that was used in workforce education previously.
In South Africa, more young adults have access to a mobile device than they do to a desktop or laptop computer. Therefore single-concept learning is a way to engage with South African adults wherever they are, in a way that is convenient, comfortable, affordable, and accessible.
With data costs still high, and WiFi not readily accessible everywhere, the beauty of single-concept learning is that learners can download the information when they are at the office, to be consumed later, when they are travelling, or they are at home.
The big benefits of going bite-sized
The biggest advantage to using single-concept learning is the improved learner engagement. Studies have shown that learners often find it hard to focus on course material for longer than 20-minutes at one time. This issue can be overcome by dispatching nuggets of useful information to the learner.
Another benefit is that once consumed, this information will be digested and retained more effectively. Humans, especially in our technology-centered lives, have limited capacity to process information. As such, bite-sized courses are perfectly suited to how our brains are wired, allowing us to comprehend and be able to recall these morsels of information more successfully.
Just-in-time support is a very important element of workplace learning. Rather than learning something just in case you might use it in the future, short learning modules can be engaged with in the moment they are needed. By providing real-time, relevant information, this enhances employee efficiency, and as such improves company productivity.
Single-concept learning is becoming prevalent across the globe and businesses in South Africa can ride the wave of this new learning methodology to empower their employees and improve productivity.