Microlearning refers to short and targeted educational experience, in which a single objective is to be achieved. This is gaining traction in recent years due to the advance of technology. Now, learners can engage with contents using high band-width connection pretty much anywhere at anytime. Furthermore, the short and focused contents imposes a reasonable level of cognitive load on learners, making them feel more confident and less frustrated.
On this section, I shall present a learning activity that I have experienced first hand. In this activity, I learned a new tool that is relevant to my job as an instructional designer. This should serve as an example of a microlearning experience. This page consists of three parts:
- Tool identification and description
- End product of tool use
- Reflection on learning process
Part 1: Tool identification and description
- Name of the tool: WordPress – a free online website hosting service
- Tool URL: wordpress.com
- Description of the tool: This is an online, cloud – based, and free platform that allows any user with an Internet connection to create and host their own website. Users can choose the name of their website, create sub – pages in the site, add their contents (including texts, images, videos, hyperlinks, etc.). Not only that, one can also change the design and color of his or her site as desired.
Part 2: End product of tool use
The end product of this tool is exactly this website. As you can observe, I can put up blog posts (although there is only one post, since this is not a requirement of the course to post), provide text – based as well as image – based contents. People can navigate through the website using easy – to – see tabs and can also contact me through a contact form. They can even follow my website.
Part 3: Reflection on learning process
This part is divided into 5 short paragraphs. I will begin each paragraph with the question that it answers. In addition, in these paragraphs, I will highlight the applications of the learning theories in this course.
Why did I choose WordPress? At the beginning of the project for this course, I was presented with many different options in terms of the tools to use to create a website. At first I was quite inclined to use Google site, as I use Google pretty often. However, at the end I wound up using WordPress because I have actually used WordPress to create a blog before. The time was long ago, so I don’t exactly remember how I did then, I just had the impression that this has got to be easier to use. In my opinion, this relates to one of the basic assumptions of Andragogy: learners draw from prior experiences. I chose this tool precisely because I have had some experience with it.
When did I start working and why? The timeline for this project is 2 months, and I do not have to submit my final portfolio until the end of Week 8. However, I decided to start right away and try to put in as much contents as possible since week 1. I think that early preparation always leads to better outcome. This is the lesson I learnt the hard way from my work experience (which is again an idea from Andragogy)
How did I go about building the website and why? It is logical to build my website based against the rubric given by the course provider. Hence I did just that. While I was building my website I managed to learn new functionalities. For example, after a few trials I managed to add an image (such as the infographic). Notably, there are two different kinds of image addition in WordPress, one is the addition so that only the creator can see, the other is so that both viewers and the creator can see. I consider this an example of constructivism and experiential learning: I slowly built the website as well as my knowledge of the tools based on trials and experiments.
Who did I consult while building the website and why? It is almost impossible to complete a project, a website in this case, without some input from other people. Since this course is online and learners are scattered around the world, it is only realistic for me to look at published portfolios of fellow learners to get some ideas of how they design their website and present their contents. For some topic, such as Andragogy, initially I did not know how to begin getting my point across, but thanks to my fellow learners, I found a way to get started. I consider this an example of social learning from constructivism and also connectivism. Here the network of learners seem to have a better collective idea than the individuals.
What end product did I create at the end and how I feel about it? I finally managed to create this website, in which the amount of contents is only possible because I started on time. It will still take a little bit more effort for me to polish and complete everything, but I sure am happy about what I did. I managed to learn a lot and hopefully I can get a good final result.
Learning theories on Edx 