Training Industry Magazine - Fall 2016 - 13

- KAR L M. KAPP, Ed .D.

TOOLS IN LEARNING

STEP BACK AND

DISENGAGE
to

There are all kinds of distractions
plaguing each and every one of us. In this
election year we have the distraction of an
unconventional candidate, in our pockets
we have the distraction of a smartphone
and in the world around us we have
the distraction of unrest, violence and
uncertainty. It's no wonder employees
are seemingly more disengaged at work
than in any time in history.
This age of disengagement and
distraction hasn't gone unnoticed in
the learning industry. To the contrary,
the learning industry has moved to
providing distracted employees with
shorter learning "bursts" or "chunks" of
content. This phenomenon has been
dubbed "microlearning."

WE SHOULD GIVE
LEARNERS THE
TIME TO WRESTLE
WITH BIG ISSUES.
Microlearning provides a little bit
of training over time so distracted
employees are unburdened from sitting
in front of a computer for an hour and
are relieved from being subjected to
hours of lectures. Instead, content is
delivered right to their phone in hopes of
engaging them for a few moments and
then having them return to work. The
goal is to become a positive distraction
and engage them for a moment and
then let them continue with other
distractions or, actual work.

LEARN
The research is clear that microlearning
does have a positive impact on certain
learning outcomes and can lead to
measurable workplace results that help
increase both learning and profits. The
old paradigm of engaging the learner
for hours seems to be dying a rather
quick death.
However, we shouldn't be so fast to
throw out the baby with the bath
water. Microlearning has its place and
is a powerful learning tool. But what
happened to careful, thoughtful, timeintense learning? If we really want
to engage our employees in solving
problems, behaving in an innovative
manner and developing creative new
products, we really ought to think about
giving them the fleeting commodity of
time. In my experience, people who are
given time are the ones who can become
completely engaged in an activity and
we know that engagement leads to
learning and highly positive outcomes.
Perhaps, in addition to microlearning,
we should introduce the idea of deep
learning. Deep learning is the act of
taking time to engage with content,
ideas and concepts over a concentrated
period of time. We should give learners
the time to wrestle with big issues like
new product development and new
market exploration in a location free
of distractions.
I attend a great deal of conferences
and almost every event is filled to the
minute with activities. And on every

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - FALL20 1 6 I WWW.TRAININGI NDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

break everyone is checking their
smartphone. What if we really thought
about engagement and about creating
a structure to achieve larger learning
goals, like how to think strategically or
how to overcome product stagnation.
We would probably take an approach
that provides the learners with time for
reflection and time to connect the dots
- time to engage.
It's not that microlearning is bad.
It most certainly is not. It's that the
industry seems to be swinging the
pendulum toward an approach that
includes nothing but microlearning.
In an attempt to move the pendulum
toward the middle, we need to balance
microlearning with other approaches.
We need learning environments where
time is given for deep engagement
with content and issues. We need to
allow learners to struggle with new
ideas, we need to set aside time for
reflection and we need to step back
to a higher level and try to connect the
dots around us. Creating these types
of learning environments will lead
to engagement and to the learning
outcomes we desire.
Karl M. Kapp, Ed.D., is a professor of
instructional technology at Bloomsburg
University. He studies and chronicles the
convergence of learning and technology and
is the author of six books and the Lynda.com
course, "Gamification of Learning." Email Karl.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Fall 2016