Module content overview
This documentation is intended to give you a high-level understanding of how microlearning courses are different than ILT or other types of courses you’ve worked on in the past. It details form factors and guidance taken largely from the Microsoft Learn Contributor Guide 
. For more specific guidance, follow the links throughout this material to reference specific pages from the Microsoft Learn Contributor Guide .
Tip: Download the PDF version of the Microsoft Learn Contributor Guide if you can’t access the online guide using links on this and other pages. This is usually caused because of outdated or missing v-dash credentials.
This page contains:
General module information
Modules are generally designed to be 60 minutes or less and contain between 4 and 10 Units. Units are all related to solving one task and should take no more than 10 minutes for learners to consume.
Note: Modules must be standalone and must be able to exist in multiple Learning Paths. For example, exercises should not span across modules.
There are three module types: Introduction to, Choose, and Standard.
- Standard modules typically have exercises and knowledge checks that support the module learning objectives.
- Introduction to and Choose modules do not have exercises.
- There is another type of module known as Intro to Products that is not addressed in these materials because Microsoft controls all aspects of the development tools.
Module guidelines
Module content must follow the guidelines in the Microsoft Learn Contributor Guide . This document reflects some of these requirements, but the Microsoft-owned Microsoft Learn Contributor Guide is subject to change, so please check it often for updates.
Guidelines for authoring and Microsoft Learn content requirements:
Guidelines for writing introductions, prerequisites, and learning objectives:
Guidelines for Standard modules
Standard modules must follow the core Learn structure:
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Every module begins with an Introduction
unit and ends with a Summary unit. -
The rest of the units are either Learning content units or Exercise units.
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Most Standard modules include at least one Knowledge Check
unit. A best practice is to collect all of the questions into a single penultimate unit. However, customers occasionally request an alternative.
Guidelines for Introduction to modules
Introduction modules have regimented guidelines that need to be followed. Your PjM will assist the project team to ensure that content is provided accurately and in the correct format.
In particular, Introduction to modules:
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Don’t contain Exercise units.
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Must have only the following units:
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Unit 1: Introduction
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Unit 2: What is the product?
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Unit 3: How the product works
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Unit 4: When to use the product
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Unit 5: Knowledge check
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Unit 6: Summary
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For more information, refer to How to structure a learning content unit
Module and unit titles
A title (used for learning paths, modules, and units) is a concise statement that captures the terminal learning objective of the content. Also consider:
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Write titles as present-tense-verb > task > product, for example: “Create spreadsheets by using Excel.”
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Don’t use gerunds (“ing” words) in titles. For example, don’t use “Developing content…”. Instead, use “Develop content…”
Tip: Don’t use gerunds (“ing” words) in unit names, titles, or headings.
- Write titles in sentence case (that is, only the first word and product names should be capitalized).
For more information, refer to How to write titles
Content of specific units
There is specific guidance for Introduction, Knowledge check, Exercise, and Summary units.
Introduction units
The Introduction unit contains:
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The introductory summary
, which is one paragraph of no more than 35 words that “…tells the learner what they will do and how they will do it; it expands on the title but doesn’t duplicate it. The summary helps the learners quickly decide whether the content meets their needs.” It’s the first paragraph in the Introduction unit . -
The module scenario
, which is “…a fictionalized real-world job-task presented as a story that shows how the technology is used in practice.” It’s included in the Introduction unit to set the stage: who the learner is, what problem they have that they need to solve, and how the technology will solve it.
Note: The scenario is referenced in the first paragraph of every subsequent Learning content unit to continue to tell the story of how what they learn in the unit about the technology will solve their problem.
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The prose table-of-contents, which is a paragraph that describes in full sentences what is in the module. Typically, it begins with “In this module, you will…”
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The terminal learning objective, which is a one- or two-sentence that encapsulates the goal of the module. It typically begins with, “By the end of this module, you will be able to…”
Knowledge check units
Write knowledge check questions that reflect the “takeaway” learning from the module. The questions must follow the guidance in Add a knowledge check to a unit . Also consider:
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You can use the scenario if that’s appropriate.
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If the knowledge check questions are all in the penultimate Knowledge check unit (which is a best practice) it must have 3-5 questions.
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If knowledge check questions are added to units (not the best practice), each unit must have 2-3 questions.
Exercise units
Exercise units must be preceded by a Learning content unit (in other words, you can’t have two Exercise units one after the other; they must be separated by a Learning content unit. The unit preceding the Exercise unit (the Learning content unit) must include everything needed for the learner to complete the exercise.
Exercises should be based on real-world scenarios. The exercise instructions must be complete and clear so that anyone could follow the instructions to complete the exercise without any additional required steps.
Summary units
What do you want the learner to remember? The Summary unit helps learner with memory retention and contains:
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First paragraph:
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A short summary of the problem(s) posed in the introduction scenario.
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Describe how you used the product to solve the scenario problem(s). Can include a brief restatement of the main points of the module in the context of the scenario.
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Second paragraph:
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A description of what the experience would be without the product, e.g., if you hadn’t solved the problem.
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A description of the business impact of solving the problem.