Pedit is a tool that can be used also for nanolearning.
A quick search online will show you that these terms are used about a broad variety of techniques and methods. As always, someone has registered them with .com, and made the terms “theirs” with a very narrow definition. Often combined with a software product they’re selling.
The terms “micro lesson” and “nano learning” are often used interchangeably. But in Norsk Nettskole, we’ve chosen to use “Micro lesson” to mean the format we use when we’re facilitating “nano learning.”
If we look through all the instances as a whole, however, we do find some similarities that can help us on our way to a definition or description of what these terms mean.
Look at the video in the end of this article.
A micro lesson is a short learning session, often just 2-10 minutes. It can be done immediately if it’s delivered with a notification on your cell phone, or be accessed as a resource if you need that particular knowledge.
A micro lesson is often designed for handheld units, which means it can be shown or done anytime and at any place. The micro lesson is often muti-media rich. The broadband technology and the popularity of hand-held units has accelerated this phenomenon. The micro lesson often has a very narrow and defined topic, therefore, it provides learning results even when it is used on its own. The micro lesson can be accessed as a resource after its initial use. When it’s produced, therefore, there’s a focus on reusability, and it’s made available through search.
The micro lesson opens for further learning through links to additional information. Therefore, it can work as a trigger for a longer learning session. A series of micro lessons can be an entire course, but can just as easily be elements made to support larger lessons in an online course. A micro lesson can also be used as support and preparation for location-based learning, the way we often see it in the method “flipped classroom”. Micro lessons can be distributed to employees independently of courses or scheduled training. Used this way, it contributes to a continuous stream of professional enhancement, or as an information channel. In Norsk Nettskole, we like using micro lessons as a reflection assignment or an interactive exercise mid-week – in the middle of the participant’s everyday life – when they’re participating in larger, web-based courses. Most often, this will be a multiple-choice exercise, which demands reflection and decision making. The course holder registers and gives feedback on the micro lesson, as if it was a normal exercise.
To summarize, micro lessons can be used in a number of ways:
- Introduction of a new topic
- Repetition as part of the learning process
- Reflection on parts of the learning process, meaning something that ensures deeper learning
- Interaction with learning materials or other people involved in the course
- Information completely separated from courses or studying but as a running information channel in the workplace