Micro-courses, idea or reality?
Creating a set of micro-courses that together form a cohesive whole is a concept that demands careful planning. A single micro-course doesn’t constitute an educational endeavor. However, many interrelated micro-courses not only establish an educational platform but also lay the foundation for cultivating personalized learning.
How does it work?
Firstly, investing in building a library of interconnected micro-courses is a strategic endeavor. By that, I mean that there is a strategy and a plan in place right from day one to continue adding more micro-courses that complement the existing ones. If there isn’t one yet, then the plan must exist for the very first micro-course to serve a purpose and function within the offering.
Let me provide an example. Let’s say that manufacturing company X is going to establish a learning platform that will serve as the foundation to enhance employees’ skills in Quality Management, Production Planning, and Six Sigma. All these areas of knowledge are interconnected, and aspects of Quality Management and Production Planning can be applied and reused in Six Sigma.
Create a plan
Starting to create micro-courses without a holistic approach doesn’t establish any structure. Instead, creating a plan for what each area should include and how they relate to each other creates structure and a roadmap for which courses to produce, among other benefits like avoiding unnecessary duplication. It’s also a definite advantage to use the same terminology, graphic design, and presentation style so that users can understand that they are interconnected regardless of where they start studying the courses.
Create structure
Creating a well-thought-out structure and then adding micro-courses that fit into that puzzle also provides the company with a plan for which courses to create, when to publish them, and a cost estimation model for the entire educational initiative. More about cost estimation models will be covered in an upcoming article on calculating the benefits of education.
Download the guide: “3 Steps to Structure Your e-Learning Course into Micro-courses”
If the plan is initially made with a consistent structure and presentation model, the educational platform becomes easy to manage. Understanding which courses need to be developed to establish a solid structure becomes clearer, and the maintenance of courses also becomes more apparent. With micro-courses, not only is a logical structure created for the company, its employees, and the team responsible for producing more courses, but they also form the pieces of a puzzle where each piece has its designated place. If an update is needed to keep the entire platform up-to-date, it can be done without affecting other courses.
Start at the right end
So, my advice to companies in the planning stage of creating an educational platform is to first develop a strategy, a rough plan, and then start adding the content that is most needed within the company. Focusing solely on LMS systems and technology won’t lead you forward. It’s the idea and strategy for the content that matters. By doing so, the company has embarked on a journey in the right direction.
Patrik Löfvin
NXT Learning
