Microlearning: The Solution

for the Modern Learner?

An exploration of why making learning “micro” might be the right

solution for sales enablement at Athenahealth.

By David Rosenfeld

Abstract

At the Association for Talent Development’s 2017 International Conference,

“microlearning” was as big as buzzwords can be. This is in direct response to addressing the

needs of what is referred to as “the modern learner”. In this proposal, I will delve into recent

research on why learning and development professionals need to be paying attention to “the

modern learner”, and why microlearning might be the right solution for sales enablement at

athenahealth. I conducted a needs analysis, interviewed an instructional designer, and outlined

several ways to leverage this new research to suggest microlearning implementation at my

organization.

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 2

Table of Contents

Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3

Needs Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4

Content Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4

Limitations………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5

Research and Definitions…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

Sales Enablement……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…5

The Modern Learner……………………………………………………………………………………………………………6

Microlearning………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………7

Interview with an Instructional Designer……………………………………………………………………………….……….8

Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………10

Resources………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11

Appendix – Interview Questions……………………………………………………………………………………………………12

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 3

Executive Summary

athenahealth is a network-enabled suite of cloud-based services for providers across the

continuum of the healthcare industry. As a tech company with consistent updates and

fluctuations due to dynamic healthcare requirements, there is a great need for flexible,

scalable learning solutions. athenahealth began with two main teams dedicated to learning

and development - athenaU and Product Education. athenaU is the internal onboarding and

certification team while the Product Education team covers external customer training. The

latest addition to their learning ecosystem is a Product Marketing Enablement Team. This

team creates further training support in the form of sales “enablement” to a diverse set of

teams with specific client-facing responsibilities?

With my help as an intern this summer, the Enablement Team will attempt to handle more

eLearning projects internally, without relying on the assistance of athenaU. My comprehensive

project is to take long, bulky content, mostly in the form of sales decks, datasheets, and

product release updates and turn them into instructionally sound, manageable educational

pieces for the intended audience. While I do not have the power to choose the tech tools and

learning management system strategy, I have been given the assignment of proposing a “suite”

of creative solutions.

This paper investigates the issues that learners currently face at athenahealth, and the relevant

solutions that are possible, given certain constraints. The Enablement team is in search of

instructional design expertise, and I will assist them by proposing the choice between

microlearning and their current macrolearning solutions.

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 4

Needs Analysis

Audience Analysis

My first step at athenahealth was to assess the learning audience. A typical instructional

design initiative always begins with an in-depth needs analysis. The end users of the products

produced by the Enablements Team will be sales executives and client organization specialists

who possess a substantial amount of prior knowledge. My major limitation in this effort was

timing. It was the end of second sales quarter of the year, and the sales teams were busy

trying to close their quarters. While I was not able to directly interview these individuals, I

assessed some of their needs by reviewing previously developed eLearning courses and

materials and speaking with my direct reports.

The Senior Manager of Product Marketing identified three main pain points:

1. Buyers are more educated, and training methods are becoming outdated.

2. 40% of our Sales Executives’ time is spent searching for resources.

3. 75% of what Sales Executives learn is forgotten in a month.

While I was unable to verify the source of these claims, they are fresh in the minds of the team,

and solutions are needed quickly.

Content Analysis

The content created for athenahealth sales teams is very regulated, and often comes to the

Enablement Team as an already finished product. This package is often a collection of:

• PowerPoints for sales decks

• Videos of sales pitches

• PDFs for datasheets

• FAQs for product release updates

Most of the content is currently delivered in an instructivist-style approach that consists of the

learner interacting solely with digital content. Instructivist approaches are used in situations

where the learner is the passive recipient of knowledge. Other weaknesses of their current

approach included unmeasurable learning objectives, little to no interactivity and lack of

opportunity for assessment.

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 5

Limitations

Athenahealth is a HIPPA-compliant organization with a high level of cybersecurity measures.

HIPPA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and is in place for any

company that deals with protected health information (PHI). All learning content must be

delivered and housed through a learning management system that is only accessible via

encrypted company laptops, on a highly secure network. This infrastructure currently

eliminates the chances for any mobile-accessible learning. Content accessible via mobile

device is a key tenant of the modern learner’s needs, so this realization forced me to further

refine my creative solutions.

Another infrastructure setback is the limitations of eLearning course reporting. When the

Enablement Team requests reports, they are limited to completion (yes or no), and time from

beginning to end. Modern learning management systems can report detailed quiz scoring and

content interactivity that yields greater insight into how users are utilizing the content. With

such limited reporting, it will be difficult to increase engagement scores and show ROI. They

also are requesting reports from the athenaU team, who is overwhelmed with other projects.

The last limitation is the product update cycle. Once product or policy updates are enacted,

the Enablement Team pushes out an eLearning course, and that content is only relative for a

short period of time. I took this short life cycle into consideration during my research.

Research and Definitions

Sales Enablement

According to Hubspot, sales enablement is the technology, processes, and content that

empower sales teams to sell efficiently at a higher velocity. athenahealth’s team shares the

same goals of equipping sales teams with the information they need to succeed. Out of a

survey of 405 talent development professionals, ATD’s 2016 whitepaper on sales training

provides the following recommendations:

• Deliver content that’s tailored to employee needs.

• Make content short and easily accessible through mobile learning

• Make learning engaging

(ASTD, 2017)

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 6

The Modern Learner

In the age of information overload, there are active efforts to provide learning that is attractive,

accessible, and palatable. According to the ATD’s Learners of the Future whitepaper, “Only 38

percent of survey respondents said their learning functions will be ready to effectively meet the

needs of learners in 2020” (ASTD, 2015). In 2014, Bersin by Deloitte released provocative

research on “The Modern Learner”. Here are three major findings this report unveiled:

• 1% of a typical workweek is all that employees have to focus on training and

development.

• Most learners won’t watch videos longer than 4 minutes.

• 70% of employees access answers to on-the-job questions through search

engines.

(Bersin, 2014)

These key points directly correlate to the “pain points’ outlined by the manager of the

Enablement Team. athenahealth’s sales executives are decisively modern learners because

they are overwhelmed, impatient, collaborative and untethered, and asking for information on-

demand.

Figure 1 – Bersin by Deloitte’s, The Modern Learner (Bersin, 2014)

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 7

In the age of Google, workers are conditioned to access information on-demand rather than

store large amounts of knowledge. This goes beyond just Millennials; Baby Boomers and Gen Z

also rely on web searches to expand their knowledge. Amy Rouse, a director at AT&T’s

corporate university, characterized this mindset “as an ‘I-want-it-when-I-want-it-and-how-I-

want-it’ perspective, heralding a greater need for learning to be easily consumable and readily

mobile” (Future of Learning, 2015).

When defining the needs of a modern learner, it is also pertinent to define the movement

beyond traditional workplace training interventions. Large courses, hour-long eLearning

modules, and lengthy self-study content can no longer serve a population that needs access to

information quickly. Information must make the shift to modular, easy access units.

Microlearning

While the term might be new, small, bite-sized learning is not. The difference is that

microlearning used to be viewed in the category of performance support. That category has

now been expanded and improved to provide robust learning experiences, including pre-

training, blended learning solutions and even stand-alone training. Elise Greene Margol defines

microlearning as “training delivered in small, short bursts.” (ASTD, 2016). The size factor alone

supports Robert E. Mayer’s famed segmenting principle, in which people learn better from a

multimedia lesson that is presented in user-paced segments rather than as a continuous unit

(2014).

Mayer’s spacing principle is also front and center with microlearning. According to the spacing

principle, reinforcement spaced out over time will counteract the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve.

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 8

Figure 2 – Ebbinghaus and the Forgetting Curve (wranx.com)

While some say microlearning must be delivered in five minutes or less, the real spotlight is not

on length of the lesson, but rather, the focus of the lesson. It all comes down to this: for the

learning to be “micro”, it must only cover one objective, the performance objective. That is the

first step in Carla Torgerson’s MILE Model. I propose using this model at athenahealth as a

structured form of implementation.

1. Identify Performance Objective

2. Determine program structure and technology

3. Create or select resources

4. Promote

5. Monitor, Modify, and Evaluate

(Torgerson, 2016)

Interview with an Instructional Designer

According to research from the ATD, 38% of participants in their research study plan to

implement microlearning solutions over the next year (ASTD, 2016). To gather direct feedback

from a contemporary instructional designer who has taken the lead on microlearning

initiatives, I interviewed Lotus Yun, the Director of Human Resources and Learning for

Northwest Community Health.

Lotus described using the Bersin by Deloitte and ATD research resources within her

organization. When asked about her biggest microlearning initiative, she was quick to assert

her hesitation to jump to try new training methodology.

Stop chasing the shiny new toy. When we see new developments in the L&D space, we

need to stop moving all of our learning solutions to that new development. To me, the

real modern strategy is customization. The trick is pinpointing exactly what to use when

and how.

She cited a highly successful program where she designed short mobile-accessible videos for

physicians during their workdays. According to her needs analysis, the physicians did not have

time in their day for anything longer than five minutes, and were very unengaged by technical

training. They created 5-minute video simulations of real life scenarios. The physicians were

able to access these videos on the job, in the time of need, and could relate to the real-life

situations being portrayed. I then followed up on her success story by posing my limitation of

no mobile options. Her response was very assertive.

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 9

For example, whether your employer provides a work phone or not, Millennials and

Gen Z are going to want their learning to be accessible on their mobile phones – if all of

your training is stored in-house and can only be accessed when on your company’s

internal network, you’re in trouble! However, some employees refuse to do training

unless they are on-site and being paid for it. Do you change mindsets or do you

personalize your training options to meet your learners where they are?

In short, Lotus is a proponent of leveraging the needs analysis to determine whether

microlearning is a relevant solution. I agree with her, and you will read about my synthesis of

the Athenahealth need analysis and my solutions in the conclusion.

Considerations

Since the release of a rapid-eLearning software solution called Articulate 360 back in 2016,

collaboration on eLearning projects has never been easier. athenahealth has already taken

the opportunity to produce content with Articulate that is at the cusp of modern learning

needs. It is in the best interest for them to continue to build on and utilize this technology to

its fullest potential. The question is whether to keep it macro or make it micro.

If athenahealth stays with macro-courses, they will be able to deliver each course all in one

release, and then move onto the next one. This choice, however, will do nothing to improve

learning transfer and accessibility.

If athenahealth moves to micro-courses, they will be able to track larger amounts of data,

increase accessibility, and combat the forgetting curve.

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 10

Recommendations

While the Enablement Team “pain points” align with nearly all the needs of modern learners,

athenahealth’s hyper-secure environment, aging learning management system, and current

workflow are hefty limitations on modern learning solutions. Despite these hurdles, my needs

analysis and industry research has led me to believe that microlearning is still a relevant and

realistic intervention for optimal content retention and learner engagement.

My original assignment was to propose a suite of solutions. I presented my manager with an

interactive module built with Articulate software to highlight the following suggestions:

Micro-eLearning modules. These will act as reinforcement to combat the forgetting curve.

They are also quick to produce, and to update.

Scenario-based learning. This strategy will contextualize digital content for better transfer,

also to counteract the forgetting curve. It can also double as a fun, engaging assessment tool.

Interactive video modules. These can be utilized to transform regular video into an engaging

eLearning assessment tool, perfect for sales pitch videos.

Podcasts. In Torgerson’s MILE model for eLearning, “promote” is an important step. Because

access is such a quagmire at athenahealth, utilizing podcasts to promote enablement projects

and other resources will assist the learning ecosystem.

All of these instructional strategies can be offered in “micro” format to create a well-rounded

suite of options for the Enablement Team. The only content that must remain in larger,

“macrolearning” form are sales pitch decks. These include long PowerPoints that cannot be

altered. The upside is that microlearning can be used as a reinforcement tool after the initial

larger training.

The pain points for the Enablement team were related to outdated training methods,

accessible learning, and forgetting curve. Microlearning along with these other suite options

will provide updated training based on modern research, be easily accessible (even without

mobile options), and can be implemented according to principles that counteract the

forgetting curve.

In conclusion, because of the relevant needs of modern learners, microlearning has its place in

athenahealth’s Sales Enablement team suite of solutions. I look forward to collaborating on

strategies for implementation.

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 11

Resources

ASTD DBA Association for Talent Development (ATD) (2015). Learners of the Future: Taking Action

Today to Prevent Tomorrow’s Talent Crisis [White Paper] Retrieved on May 27th 2017,

purchased from www.td.org/research

ASTD DBA Association for Talent Development (ATD) (2017). Microlearning: Delivering Bite-sized

Knowledge. [White Paper] Retrieved on May 27th 2017, purchased from

www.td.org/research

ASTD DBA Association for Talent Development (ATD) (2017). 2016 State of Sales Training. [White

Paper] Retrieved on May 27th 2017, purchased from www.td.org/research

Axonify (2016) Microlearning: Small Bites, Big Impact. [White Paper] Retrieved on May 27th 2017,

from Source http://mhlms.mc-

mc.com/Training_McMcU/Research/Microlearning%20Small%20Bites%20Big%20Impact

.pdf

Bersin by Deloitte (2014). Meet the Modern Learner. Retrieved from

http://2syt8l41furv2dqan6123ah0.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-

content/uploads/2015/10/unnamed.png

Ebbinghaus and the forgetting curve. (n.d.). Retrieved June 11, 2017, from

http://www.wranx.com/ebbinghaus-and-the-forgetting-curve/

Hubspot. (n.d.). What is Sales Enablement? Retrieved June 11, 2017, from

https://www.hubspot.com/sales-enablement

Mayer, R. (2014, May 5). Research-based principles for multimedia learning. Retrieved May 27th,

2017, from http://hilt.harvard.edu/event/richard-e-mayer-uc-santa-barbara

Torgerson, C. (2016) Making Microlearning Work at Work. Spectrum Health University. Retrieved

from http://www.torrancelearning.com/wp-

content/uploads/2016/05/TorranceDownload-5_13_2016.pdf

Microlearning: The Solution for the Modern Learner? 12

Appendix - Interview Questions

• Have you or your organization embraced any new research (such as Bersin by Deloitte’s

The Modern Learner Infographic or ATD’s Microlearning Whitepaper) to support new

initiatives?

• At the ATD conference, Carla Torgerson presented on her MILE Model for developing

microlearning. Do you use any models or project management processes to design

and develop these programs?

• How do you determine when to make a “training” program vs. a reinforcement/

performance support program? Can you give an example?

• Have you ever convinced a stakeholder that an eLearning solution wasn’t a necessary

solution, and recommended a simpler solution?

• How do you assess the 4 Kirkpatrick levels (reaction, learning, behavior, results) for your

learning programs? Does this change when evaluating microlearning programs?

• If mobile accessibility is not an option for your learners, how do you still employee

modern strategies?

• Please tell me a little bit about your most recent micro learning project with animated

videos and how you came to choose this solution.