About Microlearning

Microlearning has emerged as a tool found in the K-12 educational setting due to the increased use of mobile devices and other mediums. As schools have increasingly added tablets to their curriculum, microlearning is one trend that has emerged from this. Microlearning overlaps with the topic of mobile learning in both theory and in practice (Semingson et al., 2015). With the rise of online learning in the K-12 setting, microlearning has been found to be an important tool in this setting, but can also be applied across all teaching settings, including face-to-face and hybrid/blended classes.

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When microlearning is appled to the K-12 educational setting, one can look towards the theorical work of Theo Hug, who has described microlearning as an “abbreviated manner of expression for all sorts of short-time learning activities with microcontent (Semingson et al., 2015, p. 474). Hug (2010) argues that microlearning is a useful concept that offers “flexible and dynamic alternatives which are needed in view of medial, societal, and environmental changes” (p. 48.). Hug (2010) cautions that microlearning is not just one approach among many different approaches, but is instead a perspective that can be applied across many different aspects of education (p. 48).

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Mobile devices have been largely ruled as the leading medium for microlearning content in the K-12 setting. Theo Hug (2010, p. 50) explains that mobile devices are important for microlearning for multiple reasons:

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• Content found on mobile devices typically is microcontent
   

• Attention spans and periods of time are relatively short in many cases of mobile application settings
   

• Screen sizes are smaller
   

• Greater potential for developing content for both formal and informal contexts
   

One important concept in K-12 microlearning is the student as author of microlearning content. According to Semingson  et al. (2015), student-centered learning has gained attention in recent years (p. 475). Microlearning has the potential to empower students by allowing them to take ownership of their education as they create their own content. K-12 instructors have implemented student-created content through mediums such as microblogging, micropodcasts, Twitter, and more.

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For resources about microlearning in the K-12 setting, please see our resources page.