Articulate Rise and the use of Micro Learning

I thought it might be interesting to reflect on the process of creating a micro learning module in Articulate Rise, and how a learning technologist can be the linchpin between educators and academics colleagues looking for new means to deliver learning through e-learning technology.

Six months ago Kirsty Adamson, Deputy Head of The Centre for Open Learning(COL) and the course organiser for science and nature at the Centre, approached me with the idea of developing a bespoke piece of learning to accompany a series of open lectures held by COL in conjunction with the Centre for Dementia Prevention (http://centrefordementiaprevention.com) . Attendance at lectures had always been very high, and there was a desire at the Centre to increase public engagement. Kirsty was looking for the support of Digital Services at Holyrood to provide a solution.

I immediately thought of Articulate Rise, part of the Articulate 360 suite of materials, as the ideal piece of software for the task. The requirement was for the software to be easy to use, fully responsive, accessible with a simple QR code, and Articulate Rise seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I shared the licence with Neil Fullerton, PREVENT Research Assistant at the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences and let him build the module with his team. Articulate 360’s great collaborative features (Review 360) and the ease with which you can set up collaborators on any project, meant that I could review the work, comment on the content or the format and suggest changes easily, where required.

Neil, for his part, had the difficult job of coordinating the input of content for each chapter of the module. Initially, we had thought of creating a module for each of the lectures, releasing them as the series progressed. A concern was the length of the module. Rise 360 is most efficient in small chunks – the scrolling format can be tiresome and repetitive … In the end we agreed to produce one module, with a chapter for each lecture. We thought the length was still acceptable and the impact of having to promote one module instead of four would be greater. It also allowed people to do some preliminary reading before attending the face-to-face lectures, or to access all the material even if they had only attended one or two of the lectures. A large part of the audience usually attends all four lectures, but those that were not able to would not miss out on any extra materials promoted that week.

As a learning technologist, my job was to offer a solution, recommend a suitable format, make sure the audio visual elements were adequate, and ensure consistency throughout the module. I also published the module on a website and collated data on how frequently the module was being accessed. Google analytics can be added to the index file and some basic information can be easily gathered. I’m currently looking for a way to break down the data to better understand how users navigated through the module. Unfortunately, Articulate Rise does not, at this stage, allow for a detailed analysis of a learner’s journey through the module. So, for now, all I can say is that, at the end of a series of four lectures, we have reached 218 users who on average stayed on the site for 5 minutes per session. It seems they returned to the site between two and three times. While this is maybe not the level of engagement we were hoping for, it is an encouraging start.

What can this tell us, if anything, about the impact of the piece on the public? Firstly, I think it reinforces the maximum of 2 minute rule of thumb for online content. You need to design content that will keep the learner’s attention, it has to be pitched correctly and come through in manageable chunks. Open lectures offered by COL tend to attract a different cohort to the one the University traditionally caters to, so tailoring your content is vital. On reflection, maybe the module’s content could have been a little less detailed. Live and Learn!

Finally, as this is also a new way to push content to the general public, there is an element of novelty to what we did – people might not be used to doing extra homework… And are public lectures more of a one-off event (even when they come as a series!), that cannot easily be sustained outside ‘the event’ itself? I guess only time will tell as people might engage with the module further in the long run. At the time of writing, the module is getting some extra exposure as part of the Centre for Open Learning’s contribution to the Science Festival – here – and might provide, in conjunction with the livestreaming of lectures, a template for more Open Lectures in the days of Covid-19.

What is clear is the enthusiasm with which Rise was greeted by the academics. It is rare to find a tool that does not require the support of a whole e-learning team – instructional designers, graphic designers and builders! The tool is easy to use and can deploy a piece of learning incredibly quickly. Personally, I expect more of that type of content to be produced in future, supporting more traditional learning delivery methods, and I simply can’t wait to work on the next one…

Articulate Rise 360 and the Use of Micro Learning / Holyrood Campus Learning Technology by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0