I work for the Learning Passport, launched in 24 countries and counting. It’s an educational technology solution created to help bridge disparity gaps, particularly with continuity of instruction for children, teachers, and families displaced by war, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. We use 7taps to provide guidance and supporting materials to country offices around the world.
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“I read others raving about 7taps. It fits the learning theories I learned in my doctoral program. I knew a rapid authoring tool would be a good fit for my faculty and corporate training needs.”
I create job aids on finding the right digital assets and learning resources, tips for their evaluation, curriculum mapping basics, and other related topics. After working with dense reports and PDFs, 7taps micro-courses are so refreshing. They help to deliver information in a quick easy way that is digestible and engaging. I also love the AI programmable characters and the ability to translate easily —that's important for our organization.
Tips for effective and inclusive microlearning
1. No jargon
Think about industry-specific terms and try to avoid them.
Prioritize clear language over jargon
Learn how to speak and write in clear, more concise language. When we're working with employees where English is not their first language, we want to ensure we get rid of the jargon, acronyms, and speak clearly.
If you have to use acronyms, explain what they are
The UN has so many acronyms and phrases I had a hard time learning. Luckily, I had a little glossary cheat sheet that someone had given me that I could quickly review to figure it all out.
💡 If your industry or org does need to use acronyms, make them a 7taps “cheatsheet” so they always have easy access to that reference wherever they are.
2. Use inclusive imagery
"We tend to design around what we are familiar with, what's comfortable to us, instead of realizing, ‘Well, okay, but that may not be everyone's comfort zone."
We want to make sure we have representation. Imagine you need an image of an engineer and you typed in engineer to a stock photography website, what would you find? Would you find a white male that's working on a computer? But who’s to say if this engineer is in a wheelchair, or is a different age, or a different gender? Think about including a wide range of representative images next to inclusivity, rather than always defaulting to using the same type of images for content.
We want children to be able to see aspects of themselves in the images—to feel like they can be anything they want to be.
💡Don’t forget about using gender-inclusive language. Here’s a quick course to help you with that.
3. Consider language & ability
Leverage AI but support it with a human touch
In 7taps, AI avatars can be programmed to speak in multiple languages. Be sure to have a native speaker review the content for accuracy and adjust as needed. Be aware that certain words or phrases do not translate appropriately.
Source educational materials in different languages
Most of the open educational resources are created either from a Westernized or Americanized point of view. I try to source and advocate for more open educational resources that can resonate with our children in underserved populations. One example of this is advocating for more content in different languages, not just in English.
Our most requested languages are English, French, Spanish, and Arabic. And the Learning Passport platform currently supports learning in 46 languages—with more to come.
Ensure digital accessibility
Creating content accessible to all, including those with disabilities, is not just ethical—it's effective. But digital accessibility goes beyond just using closed captions for any audio or video content you create. For example, ensuring high color contrast in our digital content enabled students with visual impairment to engage more fully with the material.
4. Think about the context
In many places around the world, girls aren't able to attend school past a certain grade. Many times you see teen pregnancies and child marriages. We want to try to fix those problems, starting with the educational content children see.
We want to ensure that the images we select and the words we say are encouraging more gender parity in the world. This often comes back to using inclusive images—ones that aren’t racist, ableist, or gender-biased.
💡When you're looking for imagery, stop and evaluate, “Is there a better way to show this?”
5. Avoid stereotypes
Start challenging your biases
If you close your eyes and picture a chef in your head. Is it a male? Is it a female? What do they look like? We have to challenge our biases and think of different ways to portray things—ways that focus on parity, representation, and inclusivity.
The truth about positive stereotypes
What if we said all Asians are good at school? It could still be harmful. It sets up a level of perfection and can make people feel like they have to live up to that standard. So we want to be aware of so-called “positive stereotypes”.
💡Check your biases with this assessment created by Project Implicit at Harvard.
Source locally relevant content
In Ghana, we collaborated with local authors and illustrators to develop educational content that echoed the children’s cultural background and experiences.
Top 5 keys 🔑 to unlock inclusive learning
- Inclusivity in education technology is key to bridging global disparities.
- Jargon can be a barrier to learning. Make clarity a priority!
- Inclusive images reflect the diverse world we live in. Ensure that everyone feels represented in educational materials.
- Make education an equal playing field for non-native speakers and differently-abled individuals via digital accessibility.
- While stereotypes might seem positive, they are inherently limiting. Challenge biases to paint a complete, diverse human experience.
Enhance your learning journey
Unlock the full potential of your learning and development initiatives with microlearning. Whether you are L&D professional, a teacher, or a corporate trainer, insights like the ones below, will help you crush the learning experience.
- Empowering knowledge via microlearning, Grameen Foundation: learn how microlearning can empower individuals and communities.
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- Training franchisees and distributors worldwide: explore how microlearning can be used to train a global workforce.
- 5 ways to prep for your next Instructional design job interview: Ace your next job interview with these essential tips and strategies.
- Microlearning to re-energize online learning conference: learn how microlearning can be used to create dynamic and engaging online learning experiences.
- Get your free learner persona template: create personalized learning experiences with the help of learner personas.
- Sales enablement with microlearning: watch Steffaney Zohrabyan from Cisco sharing tips on best practices.
📣 Create your job aids or training materials
Follow UNICEF’s lead—start creating inclusive, context-considerate job aids, training and performance support materials using 7taps for free.
