7taps® is all it Takes: Trendy Microlearning

7taps is All it Takes to Realize 99% Completion Rates*

7taps® is a brand-new authoring tool featuring a stack of cards you customize for microlearning. It launched in October of 2020, confirming a 99% course completion rate for its corporate training.* Whoa! What? 99% completed the compliance course?* Who gets that kind of result?! Well, before 7taps ®, the answer was "no one." 

Now, the answer could be "you," and it could also be "everyone!" 

Each of us has an investment in technology and tech-related entertainment. As such, you are probably familiar with trivia cards. Well, as you'll learn in IDOL courses Academy online cards are not just for trivia anymore. Now, you can add another tool to your instructional designer toolbox as 7taps helps you create online card stacks framed as microlearning. Brilliant, right? 

Microlearning is a Hot Topic in 2021

In weekly learning and development meetings worldwide, training managers and teams are clamoring to decrease training time, increase engagement, and produce benchmark completion results. Likewise, training managers and stakeholders depend on their instructional design staff to create microlearning deliverables to engage and challenge learners to complete Compliance courses. For years, instructional designers have turned to Articulate Rise® to develop visually pleasing courses that are quick and easy to design, test, implement, and evaluate. As an Articulate 360® customer, I think 7taps® may give Articulate Rise® a serious run for its market share. The reason? It all comes down to ease of use and cost. 7taps® won't replace Articulate Rise®, but it can be an alternative tool for those who can't afford the hefty Articulate 360® subscription cost.  

The Most Common Training Feedback: It's Boring!

According to Elucidat®, more than half of financial industry employees in the United States don't take the time to listen to training or simply skip through the Compliance training courses looking for the "next" button and the end-of-course "test." Elucidat's® research shows Compliance training completion rates as low as 15%. Wow, right?! The most popular comment in evaluation feedback is "the course is boring!"; followed closely by "can you explain exactly how I can use this (information, skill) in my role at XYZ Company?" Isn't that what training is supposed to do? Given this research, Compliance training is missing the mark. 7taps® is one tool you might use to solve that issue and create a card deck personalized for your customer and its target audience. And its framework parallels microlearning. Yes, even for Compliance courses.

To get started with 7taps®, first set up your forever free Community Edition account. Next,  log in to the 7taps® website and click on the About section. In that section, you see the six 7taps® principles.  Leadership at 7taps® crafted these principles to address a global training need; 

1. A shorter attention span is the new normal, 

2. Educator experience should be smooth, 

3. Learner experience should be smooth,  

4. Good learning is a blend of experiences, 

5. No extra graphic design jobs, and

6. Uncompromised mobility.                       

"Our approach transforms corporate learning into something your employees want to do, not something they are forced to deal with." 7taps® Leadership  Team

The leadership team explains,  "Just like you,  we got tired of struggling  with complicated eLearning platforms …  so we made something better!"

Wow! What a concept! Think about that- employee training your team will complete willingly rather than being resistant because they feel voluntold! Kudos to the 7taps® leadership team to act on their idea to make a better authoring tool rather than complain about it. So many of us think about a new product or service, but we never take the time to create or improve it. We do, however, tell our colleagues when it annoys us. Right?!

7taps' Community Edition is "forever FREE!"

I use the 7taps basic, free-forever  Community Education which offers many themes (below are two - the blue and the pink - I mixed them), plus the ability to include URL links, video, audio, and to create quizzes. Also, you can change the order of the cards at any time, and you can also delete cards. 

7taps'® Cards Might Be the YouTube Shorts® of the Corporate Training Industry 

Adults live and breathe entertainment. Admit it. It’s not only our kids, teenagers, and college students who are on their cell phones all day and night. We do it too. It’s not always social media platforms that suck us in either. We look for games (think Animal Crossing New Horizons®), apps, and YouTube Shorts® - the new kid on the on-demand entertainment block. What’s a “Short?” Well, YouTube ® just released Shorts®, a video-based form of Microlearning. 

The Community Edition of 7taps® provides a vehicle to capture learner attention. Upgrade to the premium account, and you can personalize the learner experience with a company logo, brand messaging, photos, audio clips, video shorts, and other rich elements. Think about Malcolm Knowles’ assumptions of adult learning. 7taps® purposely includes tools to address each one in the framework of your microlearning course. The cards below are from the 7taps® Demo Course. Take a close look. Think about how you might use the card variations to create interactive microlearning for your  IDOL portfolio or a client.

I prefer bright colors like those in the IDOL portfolio demo compared to the Eeyore® colors  in the 7taps® demo course.

Kate Udalova, one of 7taps'® founders, recently shared her thoughts about adult learning and training on TLDC's® Community Showcase  "7taps recognizes older training formats no longer resonate with today’s adult learners." 7taps website further notes, "7taps® is a story-based training platform with snackable story cards, dished up in a series and baked to be consumed in no more than 10 minutes." Ah, storytelling. The basis of scenario-based training. Now you have another tool to use when crafting stories and scenarios involving learner interaction.

What's the Best Part? 7taps® Offers FREE Access Forever! 

Udalova and her team want to ensure everyone has an opportunity to create short, engaging, personalized training, and as a result, the Community Edition of 7taps® is "free forever!" In addition, you can create microlearning using their asset library, plus numerous card themes and related elements. 

Real Examples by Teachers Pivoting to Instructional Design

I volunteer for a few organizations as an ID coach and content creator/writer. One of my mentees recently created her first 7taps® asset. I encourage you to take a look at Hannah Randant's production on helping the environment here.  Many of you may know that Ann Lopez also created a mini-course on 7taps® about the five types of career changes. Check it out here. Finally, my mentee, Shaza Hamid, made her self-care piece in 7taps® as well. You can view it here.  If you like these 7taps® examples, please reach out to the creators on LinkedIn (just click on their names) and let them know. 

We all need to support one another.  It's always encouraging to hear,from someone who likes your work, no matter if it's fantastic or mediocre. 

As a member of the IDOL courses Academy, each of you has an amazing opportunity to upskill for free. You can learn how to create fantastic microlearning with the Forever Free Community Edition of 7taps. Udalova says, "compressing knowledge into bite-sized stories is not easy." She says the 7taps team is "here to help you learn how to create compelling story-based courses." 

So what are you waiting for? Go sign up for your Forever Free Community Edition account today!  Remember, for a personalized microlearning experience (add your videos, images, audio, etc.). You must purchase a pro subscription.  

I created a microlearning lesson for managers to craft constructive feedback for team members. I challenge you to spend 30 minutes a day learning 7taps®. Invest a few hours overall, and you will have an incredible asset to add to your IDOL courses Academy portfolio! 

I can't wait to see what you create! Stay tuned for my next IDOL Blog post, and we'll talk about the 7taps® premium version.    

Written by:  Cheryl Oberlin, M.Ed., M.B.A., M.A.

Cheryl Oberlin lives in a world where the sun is always shining bright, Tiki Bar music plays loud, her three adult kids communicate, and her husband refreshes her coffee every hour. She admits to being a recovering academic letter collector. Cheryl promised her family in 2020 that she is retired and no longer collecting degrees in higher education. As an instructional designer for the state of Texas Education Service Center, she creates courses for teachers and administrators who work in elementary education. As the senior copywriter for byROOwrites, LLC., she pens creative, persuasive, and informational copy for clients in various industries worldwide. In addition, she listens to positive vibes, podcasts, and audiobooks to continue her love for learning (shhhh! don't tell her family!). Visit her instructional design and copywriting websites for more information. You can also connect with her on LinkedIn®! 

byROOwrites, LLC is Oberlin's company offering copywriting, content creation, and edtech consulting.