As we moved to emergency remote learning last year, it became evident that the digital divide was wider than we knew. Importantly, we learned that it was not limited to our learners, but also applied to our faculty. Although Delgado Community College first piloted HyFlex in 2015, we did not have enough HyFlex adoption at the institution to flip the switch to offering all classes in the HyFlex format at the start of the pandemic. I was the dean of the Office of Distance Learning and Instructional Technology (DLIT) at the time. Faculty development is part of the DLIT mission. We were aware that our students relied heavily on their mobile devices. This is not uncommon. Mobile findings according to Pew Research is that smartphones are used for searches 96% of the time and 6-in-10 Americans often get their news on a mobile device. 68% of smartphone users check their phone within 15-minutes of waking in the morning according to Google Customer Surveys. In 2019, Market Research Firm, Solidea Solutions found that we check our phones 10-times per hour. In August 2020, our Canvas LMS was accessed by 6,000 non-unique users via iPhone and android phones. We launched a training effort to meet learners where they are with what they have. We offered sessions for our 12-institution Louisiana Community and Technical and Colleges System in micro-learning and designing courses for mobile delivery. At Fetcher Technical Community College, I am now in the process of developing a workshop for learning how to adapt the asynchronous portion of HyFlex design to incorporate aspects of micro-moments.
Google identifies 4 micro-moments: (1) I want to know something, (2) I want to do something, (3) I want to go somewhere, and (4) I want to buy something. They identified 3 ways to successfully meet the “customers” needs in response to the moments: (1) Be There, (2) Be useful, and (3) Be Quick. These moments and responses can become bursts of content, knowledge checks, and reminders. It is a way of reminding learners that class is still in session. I invite you to share your experiences with micro-learning, mobile learning, and suggest ideas about how we might create useful asynchronous push moments in addition to the traditional on-demand learner pull (on-demand) model.
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