Online learning has been instrumental in democratising education, providing world-class education to those previously excluded from such opportunities due to location and accessibility constraints, time requirements, and high associated costs.
Coursera (2025) highlighted that online learning removes the need to commute, enabling students to choose where and when they learn. It makes learning more accessible by enabling students to keep working while enrolled, and provides opportunities for students to learn from reputable industry leaders as part of a global peer network. Online learning is also more affordable, flexible, and facilitates the need for constant upskilling and lifelong learning that has become a hallmark of the current work environment.
But, despite the massive potential for online learning, there are still several challenges that are restricting the true impact that such learning could provide. Working professionals have limited time, inconsistent work schedules, and digital fatigue. They are unable to commit to weeks-long programmes that cover broad content topics and still require a substantial upfront cost. Even when such courses are subsidised, the commitment to a long-form programme that requires several hours per week, with scheduled calls, to learn content that is not all immediately relevant to them, results in high drop-off rates and low completion.
Working professionals are looking for specific content that is:
- Relevant to them
- Available at a time and place that is convenient to them
- Immediately applicable to their work and context
- Does not require long-term commitment.
In our client work, we are asked to find ways to address these challenges for participants while still delivering on the desired learning objectives of equipping participants with the necessary knowledge and skills.
Our solution is to provide short, targeted learning experiences that can be accessed and worked through quickly, providing the necessary knowledge and skills. This form of learning, known as Microlearning, is gaining traction globally as a means to address online learning challenges. This new approach requires that our learning design move away from the more traditional synchronous online courses that we are known for and rethink how to present material so that it is direct, engaging, and still delivers on client objectives.
What is Microlearning?
Traditional courses have prescribed start and end dates, which are delivered over four weeks or more. Microlearning courses, on the other hand, offer short, specific modular content, delivered as learning packages that require only between 45 minutes and two hours to complete. They are designed to be offered asynchronously so that students can join at any time.
How does Microlearning Address the Challenges Associated with Online Learning?
These short courses address the challenges of the inconsistent and overwhelming work schedules of participants. Potential students no longer need to wait weeks or days for a course to start, nor do they need to join a full course or programme, for only a specific module or topic that is relevant to them. Students are able to get the content they need when they need it. When clients choose to host or run their courses through our Digital Frontiers Institute, participants complete a quick and easy enrolment process that opens the course to the student almost instantly.
Microlearning courses are also more accessible than synchronous programmes that run for weeks, due to lower cost and less time commitment. The short duration and promise of direct access to specific content help to overcome procrastination or reluctance. Signing up for a short course is less daunting than a full programme, encouraging students who would have been unlikely to sign up for a full online learning programme to take steps to further their education and career with these shorter, more focused modular courses.
Challenges Associated with Microlearning
However, asynchronous microlearning options do have their own challenges. Microlearning options can lack contextual relevance, still contribute to digital fatigue, and usually automate assessment, reducing the opportunities for students to apply knowledge and gain meaningful feedback. Low student engagement is also a common issue, as students are not part of a dedicated cohort and are unable to share learning experiences through class calls and live online forums. Asynchronous learning options are also notorious for low completion rates, despite requiring such minimal time commitment. At Digital Frontiers, we have dedicated substantial time and effort to addressing these challenges through our learning design and delivery support.
Our Learning Design
To address engagement and highlight the relevance of content, we include real-life examples wherever possible in our learning design. We use case studies and expert interviews that enable us to demonstrate how the theory and skills learned in the course can be applied and how students can put these into practice. We provide updated link-outs to important industry developments that students can click and follow up on if that particular area is of interest to them.
To combat digital fatigue and provide students with opportunities to apply their new knowledge and skills, as well as receive critical feedback, we needed to come up with a solution that was not standard click-through slides and multiple-choice questions. Instead, we use real-world case studies to craft interactive scenarios. These scenarios guide students through a simulated exercise, where they get to learn new concepts and apply their new knowledge and skills in a real-world situation.
These scenarios are carefully written to provide detailed feedback to the students depending on their selection, highlighting the consequences of incorrect choices in the scenario and the benefits of appropriate application of the theory learned in the course. Such scenarios help build confidence and reduce anxiety as participants feel like they have already made the first step in applying their skills, making them more confident to take these steps in their own work, improving impact.
Delivery Support
Digital Frontiers has a reputation for high completion rates in our full programmes due to our strong student support. When microlearning asynchronous courses are delivered on our platforms or through our Digital Frontiers Institute, we leverage our strong student support to provide students on these courses with the same care and attention as those on our full courses. Students receive curated communications supporting their learning journey and are assigned a dedicated Learning Facilitator for the course. These Learning Facilitators provide regular follow-ups and check-ins with students to keep them engaged, motivated, and on track to complete the course.
Our Commitment
Digital Frontiers is committed to delivering premium learning experiences that provide the necessary knowledge and skills, while also meeting the evolving needs of students. This commitment requires us to stay on top of emerging trends such as microlearning and refine our learning design and delivery to meet changing student needs and address emerging challenges.
We will continue to integrate these trends with instructional design best practices and andragogy to ensure we deliver high-quality content and learning experiences that our clients and students have come to expect from us. These microlearning experiences enable participants to gain the knowledge and skills they need when they need them, and to immediately see how their knowledge can be applied to their environment.
Asynchronous microlearning experiences that use case studies and scenario-based interactivity, supported by our Digital Frontiers Institute’s strong student support, are already providing impact for our clients. This is just one example of how, at Digital Frontiers, we are adapting to changing student needs and delivering premium experiences that address learner challenges and result in lasting impact.
By Megan Carver (eLearning and Development Manager at Digital Frontiers)