The use of microlearning in the educational field: an overview of worldwide scientific production

Abstract

This paper addresses the scientific production published worldwide on the Scopus indexer, aiming to understand the current state of scientific knowledge on the educational interfaces of microlearning. Based on an exploratory-descriptive bibliometric search using the descriptors microlearning and education on Scopus, the metadata was exported and processed using the bibliometric analysis program VOSviewer®. The quantitative search found 99 articles published mostly since 2019, from 37 countries, especially the United States. The qualitative discussion through content analysis revealed six thematic categories: formal educational innovations through microlearning; microlearning in the continuing education of health professionals; microlearning in informal education; the potential of microlearning; digital mobile microlearning; and methodologies for implementing and evaluating microlearning. We concluded that microlearning is transdisciplinary and is strengthened using active methodologies, superior design, short activity times, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence. Indeed, investing in teacher training for qualified work such as microlearning is crucial, as is stimulating studies in countries of the global south and east, where production is still scarce.

Keywords

• Digital Information and Communication Technologies
• Scientific knowledge
• Teaching and learning
• Micro-teaching
• Active methodologies