Blended Learning, Create Impact

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER: TRUTH OR MYTH? 

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘knowledge is power’, but what does that mean exactly? Should we set up a plan for world domination? Or is a small start the way to go? Let’s dig a little deeper to find out what that power entails. Do you have pen and paper at hand? You’ll want to take notes. 

Written by Karolien Vos

Self-development 

In a world where knowledge is at your fingertips, it’s still a challenge to stay on top of your game. There’s a true information dump whenever you explore the wonderful world of the internet. So where to begin? 

On a personal level, it’s best to start with your passions. Learn more about your existing interests and expand on what’s already there, self-development being the key word here. Getting to know more about a subject or two can be enormously empowering. It makes up perfect conversation starters and your motivation to keep learning will go through the roof. 

Another benefit of continuous learning is an increased improvement of reasoning and critical thinking. And that, my friend, is the key to an educated and fulfilling life. 

Digital learning 

It’s not for everyone, the online version of deepening your knowledge. Some people get overwhelmed by the number of online courses. But we can’t deny the benefits to outweigh those arguments. Let’s sum them up, shall we? 

  1. You can choose your own subjects 

Want to learn about dog breeding, marketing or nail polish? That’s ok, the world wide web has got you covered. There is something to learn about anything you can imagine. The world is your oyster.  

  1. Learn whenever and wherever you want 

We don’t always have the time to go to a classroom to learn new things. Digital learning holds the solution to that challenge. It ensures that you can find the information at a time and place that suits you. Imagine the possibilities if you could use your mobile phone. A win-win situation, if you ask us!  

  1. You can learn at your own pace 

Digital courses guarantee your ability to learn on your own time, when it suits you best. This doesn’t only make it more efficient, but your confidence will get a severe boost as well. Because you can use online learning to stay ahead of the curve with concepts that are constantly changing.  

Professional evolution 

If you want to expand your professional knowledge, there are plenty of ways to get you started. You’re learning on company time, so you’ll want to make it as quick and easy as possible. There are several ways to do so. Let’s take a look, shall we? 

  1. Face-to-face 

The most traditional and commonly used method of corporate education has always been face-to-face education. Imagine losing a whole day when you could be tackling your endless to do-list. It’s not ideal, right? 

  1. Digital learning 

Part of the solution is digital learning. You can start your knowledge intake whenever you want, in the comfortable vicinity of your very own workspace. Taking into account the lack of travel time, Digital learning is definitely the prettier little sister of classroom learning. 

  1. Blended learning 

Incoming: Blended learning! This is a relatively new approach to teaching and training which makes digital learning central to the learning process as a whole. It augments traditional methods without seeking to replace them by using a reliable, imaginative, online learning platform as a compliment to in-person training sessions. We think we found a match! 

The only way is up! 

Whether you prefer reading self-development books, learning in a classroom or going digital, the outcome stays the same: You improve your professional skills, as well as your own confidence.  

Be sure to keep those educational juices flowing because knowledge paves the road to the top. Or as Benjamin Franklin put it: 

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” 

Would you like some more guidance?

We’ve got your back! Simply contact us at hello@mobietrain.com.  

Employee Engagement, Microlearning

The Art of Content Writing revealed in 10 Tips

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, how do I write the most engaging content of them all?” If only there were such a thing as a spell for brilliant content writing, am I right? Well, sorry to disappoint you… But we have something even better up our sleeves! Simply use our magic acronym ‘MOBIETRAIN’ and you’re off to a great start! So how does it work, you ask? Let’s dig right in!

Written by Jennifer Dekker

‘M’ = Make a planning

A good start is half the work. So, first things first! Before you start writing anything, it’s a good idea to make an overview, meaning: define your structure, set your goals and decide on the key take-aways for the track and each learning moment. Hold on to your structure and the content writing will flow naturally!

‘O’ = Out of the box

Thinking outside the box is your train of thought while writing! Don’t just share theory but try a different approach. Empower your team with knowledge in a unique way by introducing scenarios, fun facts and practical examples out of their day-to-day working lives. Or what about showing an explanatory video, instead of writing everything down? You can simply record one on your mobile phone yourself!

‘B’ = Bite-sized

This one is pretty straight forward: don’t try to write a book. Keep it short, sweet and simple! Present bite-sized pieces of information and focus on the key need-to-knows, instead of nice-to-knows – those can always be included in the ‘tips & tricks’. The shorter the better, because your audience sees the learning content on their mobile phone, remember? So, keep that in mind while writing!

‘I’ = Images stick

Images stick, it’s as simple as that! Sometimes strong visuals speak louder than a thousand words. It’s also a great way to spice things up and keep your audience engaged! Truly a win-win situation, right? You can use real pictures, insert an animation or infographic, and don’t forget to add a few GIFS here and there – they can be funny, inspirational or supportive! 

‘E’ = Engaging 

We already dropped the E-word a few times. So, it must be an important one – we hear you think. That’s right! Content writing is all about making your content fun and engaging. How, you ask? Well, let’s go over a few simple tips:

  • By playing with the flow within your learning moment. You can start by sharing information, followed by asking some questions, but it’s also fun to mix it up now and then!
  • By alternating between the various question formats (yes/no, swipe, ranking, multiple (image) choice, multiple (image) answer, true/fact).
  • By adding images and using the text editor (to highlight certain words, use bullet points, etc.) when you’re creating text slides.

‘T’ = Tone of voice

It goes without saying that you should always keep your audience in mind while writing. You must adapt your tone of voice to the learner. The easiest way to do so is by putting yourself in their position and speaking their language. Consider if your writing style should be formal or informal, adjust the difficulty level, and maybe think of a fitting way to address your end-users, like: “Hi, champs!” or “Hello, heroes! “ 

‘R’ = Retention

In order to truly learn, a user needs to see the provided information multiple times. So, simply sharing information isn’t enough to make newly acquired knowledge stick. Make sure your team remembers what they’ve just learned by asking them a variety of questions about it. Dare to challenge them! To stimulate this knowledge retention even more, various tests are built-in as well.

‘A’ = Audience

We’ve already addressed the importance of keeping your audience in mind while writing. And the reason for that is twofold, actually. Besides adapting your tone of voice to the user, you should also alter the information you share with them. It must be relevant! Maybe a learning track is only meant for a part of the team? Then create user groups! Or maybe the track is useful for everyone, but just needs some changes here and there? Well, with our clone functionality you can easily tweak tracks for different user groups. You’re welcome!

‘I’ = Intrinsic Motivation

Make the learner’s motivation come from within! Of course, our gamification elements can help you with that but keep this in mind while writing as well. People love to complete things, so use that to your advantage! Don’t make a learning track too long and guide your users through it. Start each learning moment by sharing what they may expect to learn and finish it by encouraging them to go on and start the next one! 

‘N’ = New approach

Mobile microlearning is a relatively new way of learning. You have the chance to empower your team with knowledge in an innovative way by using different types of questions, adding original ‘tips & tricks’ and, of course, by relying on the implemented gamification aspect. But because it’s all so new, it’s indispensable that it’s being supported throughout the entire organisation. If you truly want to make an impact, it’s important to include every layer of your company in this new learning experience! So, our final tip to you: don’t forget to entice your users with a grand introduction and remember to keep triggering and supporting them along the way. Good luck!

Now that you know a thing or two about content writing, it’s time to pick up your pen! Would you like some more guidance?
We’ve got your back! Simply contact us at hello@mobietrain.com.  

Game-based learning
Microlearning

Let’s Play! – The benefits of game-based learning

Game-based learning is not really a new thing. Think about it, what is more natural than learning by playing a game? As children we played games to copy and practice what our elders showed us. It was the perfect way to absorb new information (often through stories or interaction) and to improve communication and social skills. With the additional stimulation provided by digital equivalents it’s no wonder that digital game-based learning for training purposes is becoming so popular.

Uptake

We are currently in a phase of massive uptake of game-based learning, with the educational technology industry forecast to grow by a staggering 18.1% between now and 2027*.

Game-based learning (GBL), sometimes referred to as Serious Gaming, essentially refers to a digital solution whereby games are incorporated into the learning process. GBL is often combined with gamification, which means the whole process is converted into a game. The distinction has become blurry and both have the same goals in mind – to stimulate, engage and provide direct feedback to learners to radically improve educational outcomes. From edtech classroom games, to full-size simulators, to mobile-gaming training solutions, teaching and coaching through digital games has already become an unmissable part of a 21st century learning experience.

Benefits

An increasing body of academic research points to the effectiveness of game-based learning for learners:

  • It’s fun, increasing learner engagement
  • It’s adding excitement and motivation
  • It can easily be layered to add depth to the content
  • It can be personalised to each user, aiding their retention by tailoring practice sessions to their skill level
  • It can be tracked to help teachers and managers better help and understand students.

A recent survey by edtech site gamesandlearning.org found that the majority of teachers questioned believed gamified learning is useful to all learners, and even more so to those lagging behind.

What’s more, for teachers game-based learning is incredibly versatile. Information processing, critical thinking, problem solving and innovation can all be included in a game-based approach to teaching a subject, and that’s in addition to building and testing subject knowledge. This means that a game-based approach also makes for more varied learning, providing a further boost to learner engagement.

MobieTrain’s approach

At MobieTrain we have a completely gamified approach. Our use of personalised learning paths allows users to have clear goals and encourages them along the way with digital rewards. You can opt to include videos, puzzles, quizzes and other gamified elements into the learning track as you make your content.

As mobile gaming has also become the new standard completely normal, we purposely designed MobieTrain as a mobile-first learning platform. Mobile access increases adoption among learners by up to 90%, reaching them wherever they are, whenever they want. And, as nearly all employees have access to a smartphone these days, this also provides an additional cost saving to employers like you.

MobieTrain works brilliantly as a stand-alone, mobile learning system – one in which you have full support from us as you tailor your own branded learning content. Alternatively, it can also be a brilliant addition to any blended learning strategy. If you’re curious to find out which option may suit your organisation best, book your free demo below!

chunking learning method
Microlearning

Chunking learning method: what is it & research

Parlez vous français ? Or, do you play an instrument perhaps? Have you ever wondered how it is you are able to do either? How the information that allows you to do these things is built up in your brain, until it becomes a skill you no longer have to think about? Well, that’s in part thanks to chunking. Understand chunking and you’ll be on your way to not just boosting your own learning but improving the effectiveness of your trainings too. Let’s break it down into bite-size chunks…

What is chunking & how does it improve your memory?

You may have heard that us humans have three types of memory. First off there’s short-term memory, this allows us to store about 4 pieces of information in our mind for around 30 seconds on average. Your working memory helps the brain organise and mould this information. When we’re learning something for the first time, these are the parts of our memory that are active. With repetition, at regular intervals, and with associations to other ideas, these short-term memories can be converted into chunks of knowledge. These are then stored in our long-term memory for later.

“Chunking is the mental leap that helps you unite bits of information through meaning”.

Learning expert Dr. Barbara Oakley, Oakland University, Michigan.

As the neurological pathways between these chunks are followed again and again, we begin to build up a web of knowledge about a particular subject and the information is increasingly easy to remember. So, chunking is essential to building proficiency at something: longer phrases in French for example, or chord progressions on your ukulele.

What is the chunking method?

Time, repetition and even exercise are all thought to be beneficial to how well we remember over time. Researchers have found that chunking information helps you retain data more easily and get better at chunking as you go forward. Nowadays chunking is used as a staple in learning activities – from maths teaching for kids to university courses – and for daily activities like remembering phone numbers and shopping lists too!

When trainers, or learners purposely break down complex information into bite-size chunks in order to absorb data more effectively, this is often referred to as the ‘chunking method’. Online edtech and e-learning platforms have adopted this as a reliable, scientifically-backed way of aiding learners’ development. At MobieTrain we have taken this a couple of steps further, employing digital gamification of material to make it more fun, engaging and optimised for mobile – as well as chunking it together – as part of our microlearning methodology.

What is the chunking effect?

Information that has been broken down into logical chunks is easier to digest, build on and connect together. The size, order and organisation of the chunks can all add to the effectiveness of learning materials. Learning by chunking has been proven to aid knowledge retention, as practicing, pattern recognition and making associations are part and parcel of an effective chunking strategy. At MobieTrain this forms the basis of the personal learning path created for each user.

Ready to get chunking? : )

Utilising chunking while building learning content is sure to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. It’ll make learning much more fun and engaging for learners too! If you’re looking for tips on how and where you can best incorporate it into your learning materials, drop us a line!

Microlearning, News

3 Ways of using the MobieTrain Platform

You’ve seen what microlearning is all about and how MobieTrain fits into the mobile learning family. But how does this translate into a working and engaging learning platform? We’re about to tell you everything there is to know about our three learning formats. Fasten your seatbelt and keep your arms inside the vehicle at all times, because we’re taking you on a wild ride!

3 learning formats

In our experience, and that of our customers, a single training format just isn’t enough. Different content calls for different measures. Do you have a lot of info to get across to your team? Is a short training path enough? Or does one image say more than a thousand words? Either way, we’ve got you covered with one of our three options:

  • Learning path
  • Crash course
  • Newsfeed

1. Learning path

Let’s start off with our firstborn. We proudly present to you: the learning path. A track full of interesting knowledge, brought to you with a diversity of information and questions to keep that retention going.

This one is especially suited when you’ve got a lot to say. Your content can be divided into levels, topics and learning moments, giving a structure to the chaos.

Every level contains several topics. Those are the big dots you can see on the left. Each topic holds up to 5 learning moments, which carry all of the actual content. Through gamified features, a variety of question types and even some tips and tricks from time to time, the user will cut through your learning track like a knife through butter.

2. Crash course

When your content is a little more compact, you can use our crash course. By choosing this option, you can get your information across much quicker.

Let’s say you’ve got a new collection coming up. You want your team to know all about its benefits and features. With the use of one track, containing only learning moments, you can do just that!

There are no levels or topics here. All your users need to do is follow the linear path. The same gamified elements apply in the crash course, which makes it a joy for your employees to learn about everything new. As the learning path has a level quiz at, you’ve guessed it, the end of each level, the crash course has one end quiz at the end of the whole course. As you know, retention is a big part of microlearning. That’s why we value the test’s importance.

3. Newsfeed

Last, but definitely not least, we would like to introduce you to our newsfeed: a communication tool to easily captivate your employees’ attention. It’s enormously fun to work with for both sides of your team.

On our newsfeed, you can post short messages to keep your team in the loop at all times. Imagine, you have a spanking new collection: there’s no time like the present to push this knowledge towards your employees in a fun and engaging way. Text, images, videos: they’re all part of the newsfeed-parade. Your team members will undoubtedly share their appreciation with a like or two.

You can make it even more alluring by using the poll function. Not only will you be able to get a clear representation of your employees’ answers, but you can share the results on the newsfeed as well. We know what you’re thinking: what if I want to personalise my team’s newsfeed? Search no more! The newsfeed is fully customisable per user group. If you want your latest post to be visible for your store staff, but not for the managers, we’ve got you covered.

Conclusion

Whatever your content looks like, we have the right format to make it the most appealing version for your company. By the way, there are several ways for us to help you with your content writing. Intrigued? Take a look at one of our previous articles to stay on top of your content-game. If you would like a demonstration, we are more than happy to help.

Microlearning, News

10 Ways to improve your learning content

Writing is all about expressing your creative thoughts, wouldn’t you agree? Well, our goal is to boost this creative process! To help you write even better learning paths, we’ve came up witch some tips and tricks to boost your creative minds! Let’s Rock and Roll:

1. Appearance matters ✨

We believe that personalising your homepage, the colour of your tracks and your logo’s is very important to boost the engagement of your users! That’s why we never stop working on creating new ways to enhance the lay-out of our app.

Have you tried to adjust the following?

  • Colour of your path
  • Splash screen
  • Path-avatars
  • Path background
  • Personal image

2. Work with Text-Editor

We always say: “If you would need to study this content yourself, what would you do? Most people work with bullet-points and different colours to highlight the most important information. Help your users to remember the content by doing the same!

3. Introducing … 🥁

While we are all about ‘jumping right into it’, we do advice to always start a learning moment with a short introduction! Tell the users what this learning moment is about: What should they expect? What will they learn?

Encourage them to get started and make the most of it.

4. Variation is the spice of life 🧂

You know this, I know this, everyone knows this, but still, many people seem to forget to variate between different question formats! The more variation, the more engaging it will be for the users!

5. An image says more than a thousand words 📸

We believe that images, videos and GIFs (Yes Gifs!) are crucial to make an engaging track. We truly think that there is no such thing as ‘too many images’, so try to add an image with every text format, question formats, etc.

If you have a fun video that explains what you want to say within a minute or less, why would you write it all down? Don’t, because we tend to remember what we saw better than what we read. Don’t have any videos yourself? Let us introduce you to our good friend YouTube!

6. Create some space 🧘🏽‍♀️

Creating engaging content is not only about the content itself, but also about the way you ‘display’ it. What?

Yes! Imagine how you would feel if you open your textbook and all you see is pages and pages filled with nothing but continues text … 🤢

It doesn’t really encourage you to read it, does it? Well, by using white spaces, bullet point, images etc., you divide the text into different parts which makes it much more appealing to read. Have a look yourself:

7. TITLES make a difference         

We strongly advise you to use titles (step titles) in every text screen! It catches the attention of the reader and it simply looks so much better in the application.

8. Feedback please 🙏🏼

Every question is linked to a feedback screen, thank goodness, but it’s up to you to write the feedback and add the titles! A simple, ‘well done!’ or ‘Try again!’ can make a huge difference!

9. Work with scenarios 👀

One type of question can be used in many different ways. Instead of asking, ‘Which option is correct’, try to create a scenario instead. For example: ‘A customer walks in and he looks quite angry. What could you do? Choose between the following options:’

This way the user will learn how to translate theory into real-life situations.

10. End on a high note 🎶

Every beginning has an ending. While it all sounds very philosophical, the same rules apply for a learning moment. You start with an intro and you end with an outro, or as we call it, a ‘congratulations’ screen. Use this opportunity to motivate the user but also summarise the most important information from that learning moment. Make knowledge stick!

Encourage them to keep going, get the best score and complete the tests.

You can do this!

content writing 2 pencils
Microlearning, News

The world is your content oyster: how to get started

The MobieTrain platform is all yours! Great! But now what? Where do you start? Well, before we are even going to explain our different content creation options, we would like to just take a minute and say: we’re so excited to have you on board! You’re about to empower your employees with a fantastic training method, that’s already a great start on its own!

 

 

Whichever option you decide to choose, know that we are always here to support you. We have got your back, and together we will set you up for success. High-five!

 

3 options

There are basically 3 options to create content and the good news is that you can mix and match as much as you want! So, let’s get this party started, shall we?

 

Option 1. You create your own content

 

In this case, we give you all the tools and instructions so that you can go ahead and build a fantastic learning track. This basically means that we will grant you access to our content management system (CMS) and you will be able to create your very own learning paths in no time.

Just like that?

Yes, that’s how easy it is. After an in-depth onboarding session with our very own CMS specialists and Customer Success Manager, you can go ahead and start writing or transforming your existing content straight away. After all, who knows your company’s history, mission, and goals better than your own people? Don’t worry about figuring out how to start or what to write, because or team will always be there to help you determine the goals of your training and advise you on what and how to write.

Ok great, but who’s going to write the content?

That’s completely up to you, of course! The good news is that it doesn’t take that much time or that many people to write some amazing learning moments! We’ve seen that all our clients have their own, unique approach. Some companies have their own L&D department who are working on creating learning paths for the app. Others ask their interns or students to work on this as a project, where they use your existing content and turn it into microlearning moments.

The bottom line is, you don’t need expert content writers or a lot of time to write your own content. With our CMS, anyone can do it.

 

Not only do we love the very intuitive interface of the platform, we are also a big fan of MobieTrain’s customer support. They’ve always got our back.

Bruno Pinto Coelhoe, Training Leader at Decathlon.

Let’s have a closer look at how some of our clients, like Decathlon, create their own content.

Decathlon uses MobieTrain to train their in-store employees about their products and newest releases. They brainstorm with the head of each sports department about which trainings they would need and what it should entail. During these brainstorming sessions they create a mood board with different ideas for topics, questions, images, and videos for each learning track. Once they have a solid plan, they ask their writers to create a learning path covering these ideas. This way, each learning path includes the ideas of the experts and the writers can use their creative minds to turn it into a fun and engaging training method.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a multinational with countless departments and employees to be able to write your own content! We work with plenty of SME’s, like Raes Logistics, who successfully create their own engaging content.

 

Option 2. We create the content for you

 

 

Want us to create the content for you? No problem! Our team of creative content writers is already on it. Maybe you already have all the content you need for a training (think of handbooks, PowerPoint presentations, … you name it). Our content writers can help you to transform that existing content into microlearning moments.

In this case, we have an in-depth conversation about what you expect of this training and what you want your users to achieve after completing it. We want to get to know you and your company, so that our writers can reflect your company’s identity and mission in the training.

We write the content for some of our biggest clients, like Vans, Timberland and Azadea.

Let’s have a closer look at Vans: They wanted to be more effective in delivering a consistent brand and product message through their +1,000 store assistants in EMEA. That is why they introduced MobieTrain as a training method for onboarding, product training, sales and servicing techniques. They already had all the training content they needed in the form of presentations and brand books, but they needed to transform that content into fun and engaging learning moments which they could share with all their frontend employees. That’s where we came in!

You give us everything you have; you tell is who you are as a brand and what you want to reflect (from your main message to the tone of voice), and we will rock that content for you! Remember that our creative content writers can create content in both Dutch and English!

 

Option 3: Content support sessions

 

Want to mix our first two options? You absolutely can. In this case we co-write the training content with you. What this entails, depends on your wishes. We organise different sessions where we show how we would approach writing the content and we give you tips and tricks on how to get started. Once you’re all set, we review what you have written and give you suggestions where needed. In some cases, we divide the content and decide who’s going to write what, depending on our expertise. In this case we have a closer look at each other’s knowledge and discuss which topics will be written by you and which topic will be written by our own writers.

Let’s take our client P&V as an example: we wrote their very first learning path for them to show them how we approached our content creation process. This way we could show them the different possibilities, different question formats, and our creative ideas. They used that learning moment to create their paths in our CMS while we reviewed and supported what they have made.

Our client Diesel for example tried a mix of different content options. First, they asked our team to write the content for them. After we had created an onboarding learning path for them, they used our ideas, style and approach to switch methods and started creating their own content.

The possibilities are endless, and it all depends on what you prefer! No matter what you choose, you’ll never be alone. Our team of experts has got your back!

Want to know more about these options? We’re happy to answer all your questions! Contact us at hello@mobietrain.com

 

companies love microlearning
Employee Engagement, Microlearning

Discover why companies love microlearning

Looking for the best, most effective and efficient way to train your employees?

Excellent! Do keep reading!

Go Micro or go home 

Every successful company strives towards continuous improvement and positive change, right? Yet finding new ways to be creative and boost sales isn’t always as easy as it sounds. In the end it’s your team, your employees: the core of your company, who come up with the great ideas, new approaches and creative suggestions. In other words: to be successful you need them, and they need you to invest in their knowledge!

“Yes of course I want to give them the knowledge they need, yet there is simply no time or a huge budget to do so, is there? And even if I have figured that out, how do I involve people who just started working here and keep them motivated?”

We’ve got you!

What you are looking for is essentially microlearning:

Microlearning is bite-sized training content, offering just the right amount of knowledge to help a learner achieve a specific, actionable objective. In MobieTrain’s case, employees are provided with 5 minutes of mobile-training daily. Not only does this improve engagement and avoid knowledge overload, it is also proven to improve knowledge retention.

The best way to apply microlearning: Mobile is the new black 

Through delivering microlearning on mobile you support employees in training anywhere at anytime and you’re able to overcome the challenge of reaching a remote and diverse workforce.  Most importantly, you can tackle the challenge of time. Your employees no longer need to take time away from their roles to learn, and are able to seamlessly fit training into their daily workflow.


Variety is the spice of life

What we learn with pleasure, we never forget

Our mission is to apply microlearning in a digital, user-friendly and inventive way throughout our application. Because it’s a tool made for and by retailers, we can even better accommodate today’s workforce and needs.

Don’t forget me

German psychologist Hermann Ebinghaus’ famous ‘forgetting curve’ concept explains why 80% of traditional training is forgotten after 30 days. Microlearning has been designed around 3 proven neuroscience techniques to combat this and boost long-term memory: 

  • Spaced Repetition. Practicing new topics repeatedly over a set amount of time. 
  • Retrieval Practice. Forcing the brain to recall information with strategic questions. 
  • Employee Assessment. Tracking an employee’s increased confidence in each new topic. 

Ready, set, go! 

Gamification is another important way to keep employees engaged and motivated. Badges, awards, gamified elements and quizzes are great examples of how to trigger users to complete their training. Team this up with your own brand incentives and real-life experiences, based on the data that the dashboard will provide. 

One of the ways to do this is to keep content varied and interesting. Videos, rich multimedia, quizzes, polls, infographics and a variety of question formats are just some of the ways to accomplish that.

Let’s get personal

However, it is equally, if not more important to inspire employees to be intrinsically motivated to drive their own career development. This opposed to extrinsic motivation with rewards and leaderboards. This can be achieved through personalisation and individual learning paths where employees can easily see and track their own progress.

Trust your own instinct

Besides the fact that your learning path can be personalised, it’s also intuitive and user-friendly. The whole track is designed to keep the learning process fun and easy, without having to search for hours where to find your track, how to log in, where to get started, etc. 

In the end, it’s about finding the best tool for your employees while embracing the future and keeping the constant changes in mind. Microlearning is the future, so why not be part of it?

“Learning is an experience. Everything else is just information.” – Albert Einstein 

myths of microlearning
Microlearning

The 6 biggest myths of microlearning

Microlearning is a unique and different way of training your employees, where you focus on providing short, bite-sized training content. It’s a relatively new concept which many seem to misunderstand and confuse with existing kinds of learning tools.

Allow us to help to get these misinterpretations out of the way:

“Microlearning is just another LMS”

Not exactly. While a Learning Management System (LMS) focuses more on managing,  administrating, offering e-learnings and tracking the employees, Our microlearning platform, focuses on the training itself and on the end user. So instead of focusing on management, we focus on the end user. We encourage them to complete their training in a fun and engaging way! It’s not just about the training itself, it’s also about the learning experience and how you put that knowledge into practice!

“Microlearning is the only training solution you’ll need”

Absolutely not! Although microlearning is an effective, efficient and versatile way to empower your employees, it doesn’t mean it’s a stand-alone solution. Some materials might be too complex and elaborate to explain in a ‘Micro’ way and will need a face-to-face explanation, while microlearning would be a perfect addition to use as a retention tool. 

To summarize: Can microlearning completely replace traditional learning? No. microlearning works perfectly in a blended learning plan. Some trainings can indeed be replaced by microlearning and in other occasions microlearning can be a strong retention reinforcement of your current face-to-face trainings. 

“Microlearning is pretty much just e-learning”

No, it’s not. e-learning is basically any kind of training in a digital manner. Often, it’s a very extensive training which has to be completed in one go. With microlearning you focus on short, bite-sized content which is repeated every so often and which is accessible for the user at anytime, anywhere. This way you increase knowledge retention and keep the learners motivated. And that’s the core value, right?

“Microlearning is simply chunked content”

Chunking means that you divide extensive content into bite-sized elements to manage the overall cognitive load. However, microlearning can be a stand-alone piece that focuses on a specific topic. Microlearning is not only better for retention but the focus stays clear-cut and transparent.

“Microlearning should not take longer than 5 minutes to complete”

No. A thousand times no. There is no real magic number. The definition of Micro is ‘small’, meaning that people should be able to watch, learn and go. The guideline is: “As long as necessary and as short as possible”. So short is indeed the way to go. 

“Microlearning is all about video”

Nope. Microlearning is all combining different kinds of visual elements, texts and questions to transfer knowledge in a fun and creative way. Videos are a great way to visualise complicated and more difficult materials, but they are just one of many ways to present your Microlearning content. In the end it’s up to you to decide which visual elements you use and combine to create the perfect learning experience.

As you can see, a little research now and then can’t hurt, and we can do that for you! If you come across any more myths, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are happy to tell the truth from a lie. You can always contact us at hello@mobietrain.com. 

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school” – Albert Einstein

retail mobilelearning perfect marriage
Customer Experience, Employee Engagement, Microlearning

Why m-learning and retail are the perfect marriage

Retail has changed. The fast tempo at which new collections are churned out, makes for a never-ending stream of new items, information and customers entering your store. Just 2 collections a year is no longer the standard. Retailers like Zara can turn out up to 104 (!) micro-seasons. That’s fast fashion for you.

Retail sales training however, has not really evolved with its counterpart. In most cases, it has remained a classroom training with some coaching on the job if the newbie is lucky.
The constant influx of new information for your staff on the floor, as well as the level of customer service you want to provide to your customers, makes you rethink this.

You’ve probably heard your employees talking about these trainings; they’ll be sitting in a classroom training for 2 days. Asking themselves who all these people are, hoping for tasty sandwiches during lunch (they never are) and most of all, wondering if they’ll still remember all this information next week.

We can see a couple pitfalls coming back when it comes to retail sales training:

  1. The training does not take the deskless workforce into account.
    It gives out information in bundles of paper ‘to look over at home’. Or it expects people to sit behind a computer at the back of house for hours, doing e-learnings.
  2. The training is not personalized to the specific employee and their role.
    A new employee needs a completely different approach than some of your more seasoned sales associates. One size fits all, is rarely applicable in fashion, why try it with training?
  3. The training is very intensive for a day… until it’s finished.
    Usually the classroom trainings are quite in-depth. There’s a trainer on hand for questions and the entire time, they’re emerged in knowledge and information about the brand, its history, its commitments… And then, just like that, it’s done.
    They get no follow ups on how they’re applying it in-store and can’t ask questions. (Like a Tinder-date, it disappears after 3 days, never to be heard from again.)
  4. The training does not evolve with the employee.
    Imagine having to do the same training every year and not having the option to tell your manager what you’d like to learn or which skill you’d like to hone. Contrary to popular belief, sales associates do want to learn and develop themselves.

Do not worry, we did not list up all these troubles just to have you realize the shortcomings your training is dealing with. Because there is a perfect solution for all of these pitfalls discussed above.

Mobile learning + Microlearning = Best of both worlds

Mobile learning and more specifically, microlearning are no new phenomena. It has become more and more obvious these are excellent solutions to many of the problems that come along with a stuffy classroom training.
The combination of both micro and mobile, plus offering training in small increments whenever the employee feels like it, is the fundament of mobile microlearning.
It just might be the best of both worlds.

Allow me, to tell you why.

 

Mobile microlearning is an ‘Anytime & Anywhere’-formula of learning

People take their mobile device everywhere these days. Your employees are not confined to desks for this mobile training and can choose for themselves, when and where to start the training.
Mobile microlearning makes this even more convenient by offering the information in bite-sized learning moments. This way it is even more inviting to start AND finish a new training.

The retail sales training can be as up-to-date as you want it to be

You can implement relevant viral videos in the training, and tailor the learning experience to the employee’s need and lifestyle.
This is especially relevant in retail, as you want everyone to stay up-to-date on their product knowledge and give the customers the best experience and service as possible.
For example: When the launch of a new shoe comes around the corner, it is so much more convenient to communicate all of the features and benefits of the new item through your mobile microlearning platform.

With the mobile microlearning option, you can bring all necessary information to your employees in a fun and engaging way on the moment they need it!

Mobile microlearning makes retaining information easier

By doing little pieces of the sales training over a longer period of time, retention of information will be much higher. With our built-in AI, our mobile micro learning app can track your employee’s progress and hurdles. In the retention moments, it will focus on the parts they have difficulties with. Not to forget, employees can choose to repeat a relevant learning moment if they spot their own knowledge gap.

They can do this by searching the app for tags with our search function, this will then generate the relevant learning moments, corresponding to the searched tags. These relevant learning moments will pop up, so they can be done once over.

Of course you as employer can check their progress as well and compliment when it goes great. This way, if necessary, you can provide support and motivation to those who may need it.

The training reaches all of your employees at the same time

Less classroom info sessions need to be arranged and less people need to be away from the store to follow this training (double win!). It can be launched to every employee, in every store, all around the world, at the same time. The future truly is now.
Goodbye to complicated schedules to figure out when you can send everybody to this new training but still need to have the store covered. Mobile microlearning brings the information to your employees and nobody has to go anywhere.
Another big pro is the fact that a newbie can start learning at the moment they join your company, no need to wait for a prescheduled classroom session. Immediate action!

Personalized mobile microlearning keeps the employees engaged

Sales associates can choose what to learn and focus on the subjects they’re interested in most. Afterwards they can finish the rest. It is all up to them to decide how they digest the available retail sales training. By offering small increments of training, you get rid of the usual “dread” employees have when confronted with new information to learn.
It makes it fun, engaging and even touches on the competitive side as you can motivate your employees to reach certain high scores before a predetermined date!

Mobile devices are everywhere and if you look at social media apps like Instagram, these offer bite sized chunks of information as well. You can only post 60 sec videos on Instagram, for example.
Mobile microlearning works the same way in that it offers short, digestible blocks of information.
Employees are much more inclined to start a learning moment, if they know it will be engaging, personalized and relevant. And to top it all off, it’ll only take them about 5 minutes a day!

New collections entering stores at a high pace, sales associates that are not always full-timers, but also students or seasonal workers and the increasingly knowledgeable customers.
These are just a few challenges of sales in retail today. Of course you need to be on the lookout for the most effective, engaging way of training and educating your employees.
With mobile microlearning, you can avoid the usual catches coming along with the old-school classroom trainings!

 

Source reference:
1. ‘5 Common Problems With Retail Sales Training And How To Fix Them’ – Yoobic, 1 August 2019
2. ‘6 Key Benefits to Mobile Learning’ – Suresh DN, 29 August 2018
3. ‘5 Training challenges and e-learning solutions for the Retail Industry’ – CommLab India Bloggers, 10 May 2018
4. ‘7 awesome advangatges of Mobile Learning’ – John Laskaris 17 January 2018
5. ‘What the advantages and disadvantages of mobile learning are’ – Priyanka Gautam, 23 November 2018