Benefits of 'chunking' - Part 1

Following our seminar at Learning Technologies last month, we've had quite a few people asking us about ‘chunking’ - breaking elearning down into bitesize pieces. So what’s the benefit of taking this approach?

Time. There’s never enough of it in a day.

How often do you add items to your to-do list quicker than you cross them off? How often do you put off that less important task to next week, and then the week after? And how often, when faced with a large assignment, do you find other tasks constantly interrupt it and break your concentration?

It’s the same with learning. You might need to cover a large number of topics and understand a wide range of information but it can be unmanageable to try and get to grips with it all in one go. With the best will in the world, most people will find it difficult to sit down and focus on a very long training course with all the other demands and distractions facing them.

Keep this in mind when delivering elearning to your staff. If you have a particularly extensive or detailed topic that you need them to understand, consider whether to provide all the information in one go, or strategically break it down and space it out over time.

Splitting the training down into smaller, more manageable chunks makes it far easier for staff to fit into the working day. A short module that takes just 10 minutes to complete will feel far less daunting to a busy employee than trying to find 60 minutes for a whole course.

It also means that they are more likely to be able to focus solely on the learning without interruption, making it easier for them to absorb and understand the messages. So by reducing the time requirement, you are also boosting the effectiveness.

Also, don’t forget that breaking learning down into chunks makes it faster to produce and roll-out for the L&D team, helping to ease the pressure on your time as well!