Millennials are a dominant population in virtual education. This group has grown up in the world of technology and social media and has strongly influenced the way education works.

An experienced educator will find that this population is more visual and interactive. This is why integrating tools that attract Millennials into your courses is essential.

If you don’t know where to start, in this blog I share 5 tools that you should integrate into your virtual courses aimed at Millennials.

What are Millennials?

Millennials are a generation that was born between the years of 1980 and 2,000. They are characterized by being a digital and hyperconnected generation and by challenging traditional systems and being entrepreneurs.

Why is it important to take them into account when designing virtual courses?

This generation is characterized by being quite prepared, but they are not satisfied with what is offered to them. They demand greater flexibility, are entrepreneurial and enjoy productive work from home.

Another important aspect is that they tend to consume digital content constantly, in various formats and platforms. The cell phone, social networks and video are essential for them.

Millennials are also heavily involved in social movements. Gender violence, feminism and helping people with some kind of social disadvantage are causes for which they tend to speak out with intensity.

When it comes to online education, Millennials have demanded a change in their learning style and expectations.

They don’t want to learn data and facts that they can easily look up for themselves. This generation seeks to learn skills, reason, question and solve problems.

Their attention span is limited, they are easily bored so they expect the content they consume to be short, informative, interactive, interesting and fun.

Learning must be accessible from mobile devices and include challenges and responsibilities that generate a feeling of achievement as they constantly seek success.

How should I design my course to interest Millennials?

1 Divide the training into short blocks of 3-7 minutes.

2 Explain the why, what for and how, this is relevant.

3 Includes short videos, graphics, infographics, interactivity and diagrams.

4 Offers various scenarios, dynamic and interactive.

5 Includes social and collaborative tools.

6 Includes options where they can take control of the course content.

7 Offers flexibility in schedule and work.

8 Use gamification and storytelling.

9 Use microlearning.

What kind of tools can I use in my course to attract the attention of Millennials?

Millennials are looking for dynamism, flexibility, control, interactivity and fun in virtual learning.

Fortunately, there are many tools to choose from that allow you to add all of these features to your course.

Here I show you 5 types of tools:

Gamification

This generation has grown up playing console games, apps, or online games. This is why they enjoy the challenge and competition.

There are various gamification tools that you can integrate into your virtual courses that, on the one hand, will provide your students with the motivation and commitment you want, but also allow you to track progress.

Highly visual presentations

If you want to keep the attention of Millennials, create visually simple presentations that invite reflection and action. Gone are the presentations full of text. Include visual elements when relevant.

In this blog you will find 3 free tools to create interactive presentations and here you can read about Creating digital content with infographics.

Video

This generation is used to immediate access to videos. Most of the content they consume is through videos.

Interactivity and microlearning are some of the options you can use.

Remember to keep video content ideally under 10 minutes.

Social networks

Millennials are used to interacting through social networks and consuming and generating content on various social platforms.

Two-way communication is indispensable for them.

Collaborative tools

An excellent strategy to attract and keep the attention of Millennials is open, clear and honest communication.

This generation knows no borders when it comes to wanting to communicate with someone. Technology has made it possible for them to work collaboratively regardless of their location.

Millennials are used to collaborative work and are usually efficient in the use of tools that facilitate organization, communication and distribution of teamwork.

Millennials only know an interactive and interconnected world, so the education they receive should be no exception.