This is the presentation handout from my recorded session at the 2016 Learning Solutions Conference. This version includes speaker notes, since the live one was mostly pictures.

1. Session #ECO214
Bite-sized Learning Is the New
Black
Lisa Whalen, MAT, MSIT, Waters Corporation
Orlando, FL • March 16 – 18, 2016

2. Bite-sized
Learning Is
the New
Black
By Lisa M. Whalen, MAT, MSIT

3. What is
Bite-size
Learning?
Breaking down
information into
short, bite-size
chunks

4. Too much
content…
…but still try to squeeze
it all in?
..but it’s all important?
…but wish you could do small
module, knowing it better for
your audience?

5. How will this
session help?
In this session, you will learn:
• The benefits of bite-sized learning
in instructional
design (ID)
• How bite-sized chunks can
improve the learning process for
your users
• How to effectively describe the
process for creating bite-sized
learning within the
ID process
• How to create prototypes for a
bite-sized module ID project
• How to improve your ID process
by implementing bite-sized
modules in your projects

6. Has this ever happened to you?
Start the day early. Work on tight deadlines throughout the day. Leave late. Go
home for dinner followed by running errands. Finally get a moment to sit and relax.
How fried is your brain at that point when you sit down?
What if you just remembered a required elearning you had to do before you got to
the office tomorrow morning?
What if that elearning module was a 45 minute module?
How much of it would you be able to pay attention to?
How much of it would you want to pay attention to?

7. Is this a day in the life of your
audience?
A sales rep starts the day before the sun rises, grabbing breakfast on the go. They
travel from appointment to appointment talking to potential customer after
customer all day long, basically non-stop. They grab lunch on the go, just like
breakfast was and continue their day just like the morning was.
Finally they stop to get some dinner, finish up a few more calls and head home just
in time to tuck the kids into bed and get back to the computer to write up sales
proposals and enter information into CRM.
After all that, they remember they have some required
elearning to do.
How much time would they have to do elearning?
How long a module could they handle at that point?
How much of 45 minute module would they get through or
even remember?

8. How busy are we, either work
or life related?
What is our state of mind
when it comes to time for
elearning?
Example:
How do you attend webinars?
Do you register for them and
then hope to watch them
later?
Why were these situations
important?

9. What does
research say?

10. http://blog.grovo.com/7-learned-deloittes-meet-modern-learner/

11. http://blog.grovo.com/7-learned-deloittes-meet-modern-learner/

12. http://blog.grovo.com/7-learned-deloittes-meet-modern-learner/

13. Micro learning suits the constraints of the human brain with
respect to its attention span. This approach aligns with
research that proves we learn better when
engaged in short, focused sessions, than hour-
long sessions that cause information overload.
In this approach, the learning content is offered in short
durations of 3 to 7 minutes at the most to match the human
attention span.
Your brain on bite-size elearning
http://elearningindustry.com/awesome-resources-on-micro-learning

14. Neuroscientists have determined that we can only
absorb four to five pieces of information into short-
term memory at any given time, so by breaking it into
short chunks, it’s easier to understand and assimilate.
Neuroscience and bite-size elearning
Microlearning_Whitepaper_Final_012516.pdf
http://know.axonify.com/microlearning-whitepaper-ty

15. The reality is that to meet the
needs of today’s modern
workers, you need to offer them
the ability to access small bites
of information at a moment’s
notice, so they can pull
knowledge at the point of need.
Today’s world –
Instant Gratification
Microlearning_Whitepaper_Final_012516.pdf
http://know.axonify.com/microlearning-whitepaper-ty

16. 5-10 minutes is easier
then an hour
Less stress on the brain
when learning
something new
More time to think
about what they learned
and how to apply it
Benefits of bite-size elearning

17. In books like The Compound Effect and The Slight Edge, they
both talk about doing something towards your personal
development in bite-size chunks on a daily basis. They suggest
that you read 10 pages a day of a personal development book.
Do you have time at night to read
a 100 page book? However, what
about 10 pages?
And after 10 days, that 100 page
book is done. How many 100 page
books could you read this way?
Example of bite-size elearning

18. Learners are less
overwhelmed
More benefits of bite-size
elearning
Have any of your heard of or used
Lynda.com? They are amazing at bite-sized
chunks of large amounts of information. If
you need to learn an entire program, you can
by either going through each chapter at your
leisure, bits at a time, or the whole thing all at
once, chapter after chapter. But the choice is
yours, according to your schedule and how
much your brain can handle and retain
before becoming overwhelmed.

19. Steps for breaking
information down into
bite-sized chunks
Think of it like a book
What’s the title?
Break the information down into
chapters.
Break those chapters into sub-
sections within the chapter.
• How will those sub-sections
layout on a slide?
• Did you keep those chapters as
one chapter?
• Did the content grow into
another chapter?
• Do all the chapters fit with the
title?

20. How to take your long modules
and make them bite-sized

21. Example:
The Human Body
Chapters
• By systems
• External vs Internal
• Body parts
Chapters – Head, Torso, Limbs

22. Example:
The Human Body
continued
Sub-sections for Head
•Eyes, Nose, Mouth, Ears, Brain,
Scalp
Sub-sections for Torso
•Heart, Lungs, Ribs, Stomach,
Liver, Kidneys, Gall Bladder
Sub-sections for Limbs
•Arms, Legs (but within those,
fingers/wrists, toes/ankles)
Break down within all those?
Organs, Skeletal

23. Example:
Software - Powerpoint
Chapters
• By ribbon tab
• By sections in the ribbon

24. Example:
Sales Process
Chapters
• By main concepts
• By process breakdown
http://www.isixsigma.com/tools-
templates/process-
mapping/avoid-four-most-
common-mistakes-sales-process-
mapping/

25. Example:
Compliance
Chapters
• Compliance topics
• Safety, Sexual Harassment
• Policy & Procedure
required reading
documents
• Quiz

26. Games as bite-sized elearning

27. Even a game can be used as bite-size chunks of elearning. For
example, I created a game that has multiple territories to work
through. If you are using an LMS and authoring tool that
allows for resuming modules, then your users can work through
a game at their leisure while still completing required elearning.
We are instructional designers, which means that you are
creative geniuses who can come up with all sorts of ways to
provide elearning for your users.
Games as bite-sized elearning

28. Steps for prototyping
within the ID process
1.Micro-prototype development
2.Review with stakeholder
3.Full prototype development
(includes design, graphics and
full functionality of one section
of the project)
4.Review with stakeholder
5.Confirm approval of full
prototype
6.Replicate out to full build of
complete project from the full
prototype
7.Review with stakeholder
8.Confirm approval of completed
project
9.Publish project

29. How to create prototypes for an
ID project
Prototype on Paper
First I will mention a couple of free (for one project at a time
anyway) online services for prototyping.
Prototype on Paper allows you to snap pictures of hand
drawn pictures, link items on the slide to other slides and
send for review. Here’s an example of a paper drawn
prototype turned into a clickable prototype:
https://popapp.in/w/projects/55253812d089f0e855d08900/
mockups/55253813d089f0e855d08904

30. How to create prototypes for an
ID project
Invision
Invision also allows for online collaboration, real-time
design collaboration and tours, version control and sync,
unlimited user testing with video capture of users testing
your prototypes and even has project management built
right in.
Here is an example of a web app prototype:
https://projects.invisionapp.com/d/main#/projects/5812346
/screens
(you will need to create a free account to see this sample)

31. How to create prototypes for an
ID project

32. How to create prototypes for an
ID project
I like to use my authoring tool (Articulate Storyline2) to make
prototypes because I can start with one file, and just build on that
right through to the completed version. I save different versions
along the way, but it is easy to keep building this way if my authoring
tool is going to be what I build the project in.
I normally up-rev to multiple versions throughout the development
process, but for demonstration purposes, I’m going to show you this
example in one file with a different
scene for each version, micro-prototype, full
prototype and final version.

33. How to improve your
ID process by
implementing bite-
sized modules
• One large project is planned,
but it is broken down by mini-
projects
• Smaller projects have shorter
timelines for development and
release
• Flexibility to release the bite-
sized modules on a schedule to
allow time for absorption,
retention and practice

34. Improve your ID process by
creating bite-size modules in
your projects

35. Improve your ID process by
creating bite-size modules in
your projects
Based on what you learned in this session, how can you improve your ID
process by implementing bite-size modules in your projects?
I think you got a great start here today by learning about the benefits as well
as the process. So you started the LEARN part. Your next step is to go and
PRACTICE this in your own projects. Everyone has their own way of doing
things, and I get that. I have given you an introduction and guidelines today,
but I’m sure as you bring them into your projects, you will IMPROVE them
according
to your own process. If you continue to work
with bite-sized modules in your ID process,
you will be SUCCESSFUL in streamlining your
implementation process.

36. My gift to you
Microlearning: Small Bites, Big
Impact
Bite-Sized Learning – several
resources in this area
17 Awesome Resources on Micro-
Learning
Brief is Beautiful: Bite-Size Content and
the New E-Learning
The Age of Bite-sized Learning –
What it is and why it works
7 Things we learned from Deloitte’s
“Meet the Modern Learner”

37. My gift to you
Free Prototyping Tools
Invision – Prototypes, Feedback,
Collaboration, Workflow, User
Testing, Boards
POP – Prototyping on Paper
Authoring Tools (not free)
Articulate Storyline 2
Adobe Captivate 9
7 Top Authoring Tools – Learning
Solutions Magazine

38. Questions & Answers
Email:
Lisa_Whalen@waters.com
Twitter: @LMWConsulting
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-
whalen-97245122