It’s official! Last week GAAP Dynamics received confirmation from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) that we’d been approved to grant continuing professional education (CPE) credits under an Additional Delivery Method (ADM) – Nano Learning. We call it microlearning. It’s a way of teaching and delivering content to learners in small, very specific bursts. In this post, we’ll explore 3 ideas of ways to add microlearning to your virtual learning arsenal.

According to the NASBA, Nano Learning is a tutorial program designed to permit a participant to learn a given subject in a ten-minute time frame through the use of electronic media and without interaction with a real time instructor. The program should teach by example or supply information to complete a certain task. It differs from a QAS Self Study program (i.e. eLearning) in that it is typically focused on a single learning objective and cannot be paper based. Assuming the learner completes a qualified assessment of at least two questions with a 100% passing rate, they will receive one-fifth CPE credit (0.2 CPE credits).

Since 2016, the NASBA has permitted the issuance CPE credit for Nano Learning programs. However, not all jurisdictions accept the issuance of incremental (partial) CPE credits. Here’s the list of states that don’t (as of April 15, 2020):

• California
• Colorado
• Delaware
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• New York
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Utah
• West Virginia

C’mon guys. Get with the program! Microlearning is here to stay!

We like that microlearning allows learners to access information at their moment of need. It’s accessible anytime, anywhere, and on any device. No need to sign up for a class or wait to attend an annual training program to obtain the knowledge or skills you need now. Plus, it’s digestible. You don’t have to sit through a 1+ hour eLearning module to get that one piece of information you need. However, it’s not a “one size fits all” solution. Microlearning is not a substitute for comprehensive programs addressing complex issues.

We use Articulate Rise, combined with both traditional and animated video, to produce our microlearning lessons. We like that it has a one-page, vertical scroll design, instead of having to click “Next” all the time. We also like how quickly we can produce a microlearning lesson, getting the information to learners in a matter of weeks, not months. However, there are a few drawbacks. Check out this post for the pros and cons of using Articulate Rise.

That said, we’d be happy to discuss how we can help you design and develop tailored microlearning lessons for your organization. Here’s 3 ideas of ways to add microlearning to your virtual training arsenal that we’re currently discussing with clients:

Building your own library, tailored to your issues

We’re currently in talks with a Big 4 member firm to create a microlearning library for their auditors in the investment management (IM) practice. This library will contain microlearning lessons of the most commonly encountered accounting and auditing issues on IM engagements. Imagine being out at a client site, coming across an issue, and instantly accessing a 10-15 training on the topic telling you exactly what you need to know. Pretty cool! Not only would such a library improve audit quality, but it would also result in fewer hours being spent by senior management addressing the same issues over and over.

Getting new and emerging guidance into the hands of your people quickly

One of our prospective regional firm clients has indicated they want to use microlearning as a mechanism to quickly get new and emerging guidance into the hands of their professionals. From concept to distribution, we can produce a microlearning lesson in about 7-10 business days. Imagine a breaking news story that affects your clients or industry coming out on Monday and, by the end of the following week, training is already in the hands of your professionals. With microlearning it’s possible!

Transforming boring, lengthy internal communications into an engaging training experience

Did you ever work at a Big 4 accounting firm? If you did, you are familiar with the very lengthy documents produced by the national office and sent to audit professionals alerting them of new standards or areas of audit focus. Of course, as a professional you SHOULD read every word, but in reality, mostly it’s on a “need to know basis” (and right now I don’t need to know…or at least that’s what I think)! But what if attached to this document was a quick video giving you the “cliff note” version of the document so you could determine if the information truly was applicable? I’d bet you’d watch it, perhaps making the determination that a more thorough review of the underlying document was warranted. This would improve audit quality overnight!

These are just a few of the ways that we feel that microlearning can help accounting firms and companies, but there are many more. Wondering whether microlearning is right for your organization? Let’s talk!

We’re a DIFFERENT type of accounting training firm. We don’t think of training as a “tick the box” exercise, but rather an opportunity to empower your people to help them make the right decisions at the right time. Whether it’s U.S. GAAP training, IFRS training, or audit training, we’ve helped thousands of professionals since 2001. Our clients include some of the largest accounting firms and companies in the world. As lifelong learners, we believe training is important. As CPAs, we believe great training is vital to doing your job well and maintaining the public trust. We want to help you understand complex accounting matters and we believe you deserve the best training in the world, regardless of whether you work for a large, multinational company or a small, regional accounting firm. We passionately create high-quality training that we would want to take. This means it is accurate, relevant, engaging, visually appealing, and fun. That’s our brand promise. Want to learn more about how GAAP Dynamics can help you? Let’s talk!

Disclaimer  

This post is published to spread the love of GAAP and provided for informational purposes only. Although we are CPAs and have made every effort to ensure the factual accuracy of the post as of the date it was published, we are not responsible for your ultimate compliance with accounting or auditing standards and you agree not to hold us responsible for such. In addition, we take no responsibility for updating old posts, but may do so from time to time.