Microlearning is gaining popularity in education as an alternative to the traditional 45–75-minute lecture because it better matches the neurology of learning. When we encounter new information, it starts in our working memory, which is the memory we use for immediate tasks—a bit like computer RAM. But like RAM, this memory is limited; it can hold up to only four bits of discrete information at a time. We need to engage that information in some way to move it to our long-term memory. If we just keep adding new information to it without any engagement, as in a traditional lecture, some of the old information gets pushed out to make room for the new information, and the old information is lost (Oakley & Sejnowski, 2018).
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