Imagine bumping into a friend or colleague at your local café. They will almost always say “Oh hi how are you doing?”
What’s the thing we always say in response?
“Oh yeah, good… but .”
Admit it, we always think we’re busy. Maybe we are, but either way this is just a natural response to a perceived constant state.
Well guess what – your learners are “busy” too, and this makes a difference when they sit down to complete your learning tasks.
Research suggests the average attention span for focused digital content has dwindled significantly over the last decade, with our brains increasingly conditioned by social media and other rapid-fire content consumption to scan, swipe and quickly move on.
Yet many organisations learning programs are still designed as though their learners have unlimited time, energy and focus.
Does this mean the 40-minute online module is dead? No – compliance requirements will always play a role in driving long-form learning, but it’s time to rethink the purpose of training itself – shifting away from trying to teach everything a person could possibly need to know about their role, toward more task-focused “moment of need” learning.
It’s not that people care less about learning, but they are protective of their time, and will prioritise learning based on a module’s length, and the “need to know” factor.
As L&D professionals and learning architects, we need to recognise that our learners’ time is just as valuable as ours.
Remember you’re not trying to test someone’s endurance, you’re trying to transfer knowledge effectively.