By Lakshmi Mittra, VP & Head, Clover Academy
The importance of upskilling and reskilling cannot be undermined in today’s world. Digital technologies have changed the way enterprises function and serve their customers. Businesses need to integrate new-age technologies such as cloud, AI and ML into their operations to streamline processes and enhance customer experience. This makes skilling of the talent an imperative.
However, the traditional methods of skilling and training do not appeal to employees anymore. As the new generation enters the workforce, the traditional methods of skilling are increasingly getting replaced by new-age digital methods such as Microlearning and Nanolearning.
One needs to be mindful that Microlearning and Nanolearning, though similar concepts, are not completely alike. Microlearning aims to deliver nuggets of knowledge within the time frame of 2 to 5 minutes. Nanolearning refers to learning in bite-sized packets. ’Nano’ refers to something that’s of nanoscopic size. Hence, we can say it is the more compressed form of Microlearning.
Nanolearning: A shift in the way training is being imparted:
Nanolearning only has a split second to grab the learners’ attention. Hence, it needs to deliver the content effectively, which leaves the learners coming back for more. For instance, on social media platforms, such content generally start with humor or a shocking fact to catch the audience attention.
Similarly, corporate trainers need to leave the traditional methods of training such as lengthy courses or videos and come to the point of discussion immediately – or risk becoming irrelevant. Although brief in nature, nanolearning delivers informative pieces of content that directly aims to solve the problem at hand. In addition, learners can scroll up and down or click on a notification to open, read, and share learning content. As a result, the learning content becomes widespread and more accessible than ever before.
Since, nanolearning content is brief and precise, it is not only easy for the user to consume but also for the trainer to create and deliver.
Below mentioned are the benefits of Nanolearning that enterprises can reap:
It fast-tracks learning – Nanolearning fast-tracks learning as it delivers highly relevant and concise information to the learners to enable them to get familiar in the subject of their choice. For instance, learning how to create google sheets on the drive. In addition, the entire training content can be divided into nuggets of information that can be sent as follow-ups to reiterate the learning and strengthen concepts.
It makes learning highly accessible – Since these bite-sized content pieces are available on digital channels, they are highly accessible enabling learners to consume content on the go.
It is more efficient – Traditional learning models required years to build and were expensive to design, roll out, and maintain. Whereas, nanolearning reduces the size of the content significantly, thereby making it easier to create and deliver. It also enhances the efficiency of the content as it becomes too focused and detailed.
Conclusion:
Nanolearning is a natural progression to Microlearning and it is significantly transforming the learning and development industry. It enables enterprises to use highly innovative learning methods to provide bite-sized information to their employees that best suits their immediate work requirements.
