Microlearning within Web-Based

Communities of Practice:Microlearning for on-the-job practices and development

of skills and knowledge

November 19, 2009Janet Clarey, Researcher and Analyst

Brandon Hall Research LearnTrends09

…occurring at the most minute of levels…minutes or seconds of time.” – Hug & Friesen, 2009

• Low time commitment

• small chunks• short effort• narrow topics (but complex as a whole)

Hug & Friesen, 2009

Learning Object?

Just-in-time?

Differentiators

1. No formal teaching structure2. Situated3. Not dependent on time or place4. No grades / ratings / certifications5. Relies on peer-to-peer interaction6. Relies on interaction with Internet media7. Not stored in a central repository8. Folksonomy approach to tagging vs.

standardization9. Unorganized and unmanaged

“Microlearning as a term reflects the emerging reality of the ever-increasing fragmentation of both information sources and information units used for learning, especially in fast-moving areas which see rapid development and a constantly high degree of change,” – Langreiter & Bolka, 2006

Differentiator

Knowledge worker

Conversations get smaller

Courses get shorter

Classes get fragmented

Process is controlled

© Photographer: Geotrac | Agency: Dreamstime.com

“I’m only as good as my network.”

Summary

1. Research in this area is new and minimal.2. Many people are exchanging ideas about

microlearning but it lacks a consistent definition.

3. The microlearning process can be studied in the framework of learning in communities of practice (social).

4. There is a need to address the realities of learning in the digital age.

Microlearning ReferencesBrown, J.S. (2006). New learning environments for the 21st century: Exploring the edge. Change. September/October 2006

Güler, C., Altun, A., & Aşkar, P. (2008). Teacher trainees as learning object designers. (Paper) Microlearning and Capacity Building. Proceedings of the 4th International Microlearning 2008 Conference. Innsbruck, Austria. http://www.microlearning.org/proceedings2008/ml2008_proceedings_final.pdf

Hierdeis, H. (2005). From meno to microlearning: A historical survey. Didactics of Microlearning: Concepts, discourses and examples. Waxmann Verlag. http://books.google.com/books?id=E5hUxZjy4JAC

Huberman, B.A., Romero, D.M. & Fang, W. (2008). Social networks that matter: Twitter under the microscope. Social Computing Lab, HP Laboratories, Palo Alto, CA and Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Hug, T. & Friesen, N. (2007). Outline of a microlearning agenda. Didactics of Microlearning: Concepts, discourses and examples. Waxmann Verlag. http://books.google.com/books?id=E5hUxZjy4JAC

Hug, T. & Friesen, N. (2009) Outline of a Microlearning Agenda. eLearning Papers, September 2009. http://www.elearningeuropa.info/files/media/media20252.pdf

Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Linder, M. (2008). The shift toward microinformation. Microlearning and Capacity Building. Proceedings of the 4th International Microlearning 2008 Conference. Innsbruck, Austria. Retrieved April 5, 2009 from http://www.microlearning.org/proceedings2008/ml2008_proceedings_final.pdf