Frequently asked questions

Microlearning is a learning strategy that delivers small, focused chunks of content in short bursts (typically 2-5 minutes). It's designed to fit into the flow of work, making learning more digestible and retention more effective. This approach aligns with how the modern brain prefers to consume information in our digital age.

Surge9 is an AI-powered microlearning platform that delivers personalized training through bite-sized content, spaced reinforcement, and adaptive learning paths. It's designed for enterprise organizations to improve knowledge retention and behavior change through scientifically-backed learning methods.

No, effective microlearning is not simply chopping up existing content. It's purposefully designed to deliver specific learning objectives in a condensed format using engaging, focused content. Each microlearning module should be self-contained with a clear learning outcome while fitting into a broader learning journey.

Microlearning is much more than just a small piece of e-learning. The structure of a good microlearning program includes a combination of many different content types: retrieval practices, microcourses, pre-classroom primers, flashcards, quizzes, challenges that can be played as a game with other learners, and concise learning resources like videos, PDF files, and so on. It is possible to repurpose graphic and audio assets from e-learning courses to create components of microlearning, but they are combined in new ways to be self-reinforcing, and to fit into the short moments of opportunity that open and close during our workdays. Microlearning is adaptive. It uses the data it gathers from your usage patterns of a game or quiz or challenge and automatically adjusts your next learning moment to meet what it believes you need. Questions, whether packaged as quizzes, practices, or challenges, are at the core of most microlearning programs. Learners usually interact with questions first, before viewing the material they are meant to learn. They used to say the web allowed us to learn anytime and anywhere, but that wasn't really true, was it? It wasn't anytime because you usually had to block out time in your calendar in advance to take that e-learning course. And when you took the course you couldn't be just anywhere: you had to find a place with power and an internet connection. Then you had to boot up your laptop — if you had a laptop — and hope the remote access into your corporate network came off without a hitch. Microlearning truly takes place anytime and anywhere. You don't have to find a place to do it, because it follows you around on your smartphone or other mobile device. And you don't have to clear your schedule, because microlearning fits into the tiny moments of free time you encounter standing in the coffee shop line, waiting for the bus, or five minutes on any evening of the week. And if you use Surge9's unique offline mode, you can take your microlearning program, if you want, in the middle of a lake during a weekend camping trip. For an example of microlearning in action, learn how a major automaker used Surge9 mobile microlearning to prepare 10,000 salespeople in their dealer network for a critical new product launch.

Adaptive microlearning means that the microlearning system chooses the learning material to present to each learner by examining that learner's past activities. The app changes and evolves as each individual learner progresses, or falls back, in their understanding of the subject matter or in acquiring new competencies. In adaptive microlearning, no two users receive exactly the same questions, the same learning modules, or the same feedback, because no two people learn at the same speed or in the same way. There are two ways to construct a microlearning system with adaptive capabilities. One method is by algorithmic coding, which consists of writing a set of rules and computer logic called algorithms to cover all the possible outcomes for each learner. This is very expensive because you must write a huge volume of computer code. It is also static: it will keep making the same responses to the same stimuli two years from now, unless you change it by writing new code. The only way for a company to escape this dilemma is either to limit the features and flexibility of their product, or to charge their customers more. The better method of achieving an adaptive learning system is by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the product. Machine learning, a kind of AI that Surge9 uses, is dynamic: it incorporates each piece of data it receives into its matrix and refines its future responses to what that particular user is doing. Machine learning makes adaptive learning feasible. It keeps getting better every day. It is cost-effective at a large scale and is designed to handle the widest diversity of learners. Adaptive learning is at the heart of Surge9.

Online learning is facing a crisis. The polite way to say it is that it is a problem with learner motivation. But to be blunt, the stuff is just plain boring. Page after tedious page of text and picture, stalked by monotones that insist on reading the screen to you, have tormented a whole generation of employees. Microlearning is on a mission to recapture their lost enthusiasm. And gamification is its secret weapon. Gamification conquers boredom. Gamification builds familiar elements of games into the learning experience, which, when done well, stir each learner's intrinsic motivation to improve. Point scoring, competitions, reward badges, rules of play, sudden death, and unlocking multiple knowledge achievement levels, like in video games, generate a powerful combination of learning motivators that simply work. Discover how to do gamification well, using intrinsic motivators, and the dangerous implications of doing it badly in our longform article on the Dos and Don'ts of Microlearning.

Yes. In fact, using microlearning in conjunction with ILT (Instructor-Led Training) and WBT (Web-Based Training) courses is one of the most effective ways to boost your ROI across all your training programs. It can be used to prepare learners in advance of the course and used as training reinforcement to help your learners' new knowledge stick long after your program is over. Surge9 also makes it easy for ILT instructors to make their courses more engaging and effective. They can unlock special media resources that their learners can use on their smartphones during the course. They can bring gamification into their classroom. And they can create polls to get instant feedback from their students using Surge9.

People today seem to use the term "mobile-first" to mean many different things. Some build websites or HTML-based apps that flow their content differently for a range of screen sizes. These sites are properly called responsive web sites, but many companies try to scale down or adapt their existing web-based products for small screens and call it "mobile-first." At Surge9, mobile-first has a precise meaning. Surge9 apps are not responsive web apps. They are native apps written directly on iOS and Android OS. The Surge9 iOS apps are written 100% in Swift. Our Android app is a pure Android Java native implementation. This is what we mean by having a native architecture. Only native apps can use all the advanced capabilities of your mobile devices. They are fast. They support the full set of touch gestures. They leverage mobile push notifications and allow users to use the apps in offline usage mode — that is, they can access your programs when they are not connected to a network. The machine learning engine of new mobile operating systems can only be accessed by native apps. More importantly, native apps deliver an outstanding learner experience. They enjoy a high adoption rate and deeper employee engagement, and typically result in a larger return on investment. But it also gives you the opportunity to create new workflows and experiment with new and powerful device capabilities to build learning programs that you could never have imagined before. Only native apps give you complete control of your user experience on every device. Responsive websites and hybrid learning apps fall short. Web apps are slow on mobile, need a constant network connection to work, can't use touch gestures, have trouble rendering some kinds of content, and suffer from a low adoption rate as users quickly become frustrated with the app. Visit our article, "What Is a Training Reinforcement Platform?" for more about the powerful advantages mobile-first, native microlearning apps can give you.

No, Surge9 is a comprehensive learning platform with both mobile and desktop components. While we've built our native mobile apps from the ground up (not web wrappers), we also offer a complete web-based experience. All learning activities sync seamlessly between devices, allowing users to switch between mobile and desktop based on their context.

Surge9 includes native mobile apps for iOS and Android devices (phones and tablets), plus a responsive web application for desktop and laptop computers. Our mobile apps are built specifically for each platform to ensure optimal performance, not wrapped web apps that perform poorly.

Have no fear. Your employees can use Surge9 with a web browser on their desktop or laptop computers. But even though an employee may work at a desk, the rest of their life is shaped by mobility. And the mobile experience is richer and more effective. Surge9 is designed to make learning available to your employees in the short spans of time Google calls micro-moments — three minutes here, five minutes there — that open and close unpredictably during the day. It can also be configured to schedule learning activities only at specific times. This means the microlearning system can engage learners when they are off shift and refrain from interrupting them during specified times.

Surge9's mobile apps support offline functionality. Content is downloaded when connectivity is available and stored securely on the device. Learners can complete activities, assessments, and view content without an internet connection. When connectivity is restored, data automatically syncs with the Surge9 platform.

Yes! In fact, this is one of the key capabilities that distinguishes Surge9 from other microlearning offerings. Our offline mode with Intelligent Syncing can give learners access to their microlearning programs offline. When connected to the internet, they can download any of their programs from the cloud to their Surge9 app in seconds with a single touch, like they do on Apple's iTunes Store or Google Play. The content of their microlearning program then runs off the app. They will also continue to receive all their push notifications because we designed those to be delivered locally from their device instead of remotely over a live internet connection. Our Intelligent Syncing feature makes sure their device has to carry only those components of their program that they need. It also manages the vast amount of data they have generated through interaction with their learning content. When they reconnect to a network, all their progress data is synced to the cloud. Surge9 makes optimal use of even intermittent network connections. Our offline learning feature is only possible because we built Surge9 using a true mobile-first, native software architecture.

After completing a classroom or web-based course people start forgetting what they learned. Fast. It is much cheaper to help your employees retain what they have learned than to teach it to them again or send them on refresher courses. Training reinforcement is the prevention of forgetting. Training reinforcement, delivered over a specialized training reinforcement platform, applies proactive, research-based teaching strategies during and after a training event or online course. It makes it possible for learners to recall in six months the material they learned today. Some of these strategies are counter-intuitive: if you didn't know that they have been tested scientifically, you probably wouldn't believe them. These strategies include: - Using quizzes, not as a means to evaluate learners but as a retention exercise. - Teaching two different subjects at once by alternating learning modules. - Spacing out learning retention activities over a period of time. - Avoiding massed practice. - Making the learning more difficult. - Connecting new knowledge closely to the learner's existing knowledge and life experiences. Training reinforcement does wonders for your return on investment (ROI), not only for your reinforcement activities, but across the entire range of all your training programs.

Training reinforcement is based on cognitive science principles like spaced repetition and retrieval practice. Surge9 uses AI to schedule learning interventions at optimal intervals after initial training, prompting learners to recall and apply information before they would naturally forget it. This strengthens neural pathways and moves knowledge from short-term to long-term memory.

Research shows that people forget approximately 70% of what they learn within 24 hours and up to 90% within a week without reinforcement. Traditional one-time training events, no matter how engaging, suffer from this 'forgetting curve.' Systematic reinforcement is essential for knowledge retention and behavior change.

Yes! 130 years of it, in fact, going all the way back to 1885. There is a mountain of scientific research from just the last few decades that has discovered that learning and retention proceed in non-intuitive ways. We have identified some of them in our answer to the question "What is training reinforcement?" in this FAQ. For more information, here are a few primary and secondary sources that explain some of these scientific findings: - Brown, Peter C., Roediger, Henry L. III, and Mark A. McDaniel. *Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning*. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2014. - Endres, Tino et al. "Enhancing learning by retrieval: Enriching free recall with elaborative prompting." *Learning and Instruction* 49 (June 2017): 13-20. - Google. "Micro-Moments." *Think with Google*. - Karpicke, Jeffrey D. and Megan A. Smith. "Separate mnemonic effects of retrieval practice and elaborative encoding." *Journal of Memory and Language* 67 (2012): 17-29. - Roelle, Julian, and Kirsten Berthold. "Effects of incorporating retrieval into learning tasks: The complexity of the tasks matters." *Learning and Instruction* 49 (June 2017): 142-156. - Pan, Steven C. "The Interleaving Effect: Mixing It Up Boosts Learning." *Scientific American*, August 4, 2015. - Thalheimer, W. "How Much Do People Forget?"

Deliberate practice is focused, goal-oriented practice that pushes learners beyond their comfort zone with immediate feedback. Surge9 enables deliberate practice through AI-powered simulations, personalized coaching, and adaptive assessments that continuously challenge learners at the right level of difficulty while providing instant, actionable feedback.

Knowledge alone doesn't drive performance - behavior change does. Surge9 combines spaced reinforcement, contextual practice, and personalized coaching to help learners not just understand concepts but actually apply them consistently in their work. This approach ensures training translates into measurable improvements in job performance and business outcomes.

Surge9's Agentic AI personalizes learning in multiple ways: identifying knowledge gaps through adaptive assessments, analyzing individual learning patterns to deliver preferred content formats, recommending relevant content based on role and performance, creating optimal reinforcement schedules, and adjusting difficulty based on proficiency. This creates a unique learning path for each user.

While Surge9's AI becomes more powerful with more data, it provides value from day one. The system starts with best practices from cognitive science and learning research, then progressively personalizes as it gathers data on individual and organizational learning patterns. Even with limited data, the AI can deliver significant improvements over one-size-fits-all approaches.

Surge9 is AI-native, built from the ground up with artificial intelligence at its core. Our platform features multimodal assessments (text, voice, image, video), realistic AI simulations, contextual memory that evolves with each learner, and multi-model intelligence that orchestrates different AI systems for optimal performance.

Contextual memory allows Surge9's AI to remember and build upon previous interactions with each learner. The system maintains a persistent understanding of individual learning patterns, preferences, and progress, enabling increasingly personalized and effective learning experiences over time.

Surge9 supports a wide range of content types—including primer slides, interactive simulations, voice-based coaching scenarios, video learning, gamified challenges, flashcards, question banks, open-ended assessments, and interactive quizzes. Our AI-powered authoring tools enable rapid content creation without sacrificing engagement or learning effectiveness. Surge9 also supports and seamlessly integrates legacy SCORM content.

Surge9's AI coaching provides personalized, real-time feedback through voice-based scenarios and interactive simulations. Unlike traditional one-size-fits-all training, our AI adapts to each learner's performance, providing contextual guidance and creating realistic practice environments that build confidence and competence.

Surge9's voice-first coaching uses advanced AI to create realistic conversation practice through natural speech interactions. This builds confidence in real-world scenarios like sales calls, customer service, or leadership conversations. The AI provides nuanced feedback on communication style, tone, and content, helping learners develop both technical knowledge and soft skills simultaneously.

Surge9's AI simulations create safe environments to practice high-stakes situations without real-world consequences. Whether it's handling difficult customer interactions, making complex sales presentations, or navigating compliance scenarios, learners can repeat situations until they master them, building muscle memory and confidence for actual workplace challenges.

Absolutely! Our Surge9 offering has a Surge9 Authoring that gives you the ability to create, test, and publish microlearning content without touching a line of code. It is a drag and drop interface designed especially for the agile development methodology, which enables you to roll out early versions of your content quickly and then improve them going forward.

It depends on the size and complexity of your program. Because microlearning programs are best built incrementally, you can roll out partial versions of your microlearning almost immediately. You can then add new components and improvements as they become available. You can use analytics to measure the effectiveness of your current version and use those insights immediately to make the next generation of your microlearning content better. Small microlearning programs that use your existing content assets—such as questions you have already written and videos you have already used in your SCORM courses, and any existing graphics assets—can be produced in as little as a week. Larger programs can sometimes require multiple iterations that can take up to eight weeks to develop, depending on their size. We can help by training up to five of your employees how to use the Surge9 Composer app, which our microlearning experts teach, and which is included at no extra charge with your Surge9 service. We also offer value-added services and we have excellent content partners who can help you build your next microlearning program.

Yes and no. Mobile-first microlearning systems are not generally suited to deliver long SCORM courses built for a desktop web environment. But Surge9 supports microcourses along with many other content types. Our microcourse format is designed specifically to let you convert your SCORM course material into bite-sized chunks ideal for microlearning. This means our customers who have made a large investment in SCORM courses can drastically reduce the cost of creating new microlearning programs by repurposing content assets they already have. But outstanding microlearning entails more than just chopping up an hour-long, SCORM e-learning course into four 15-minute ones. It requires repurposing your SCORM content assets at a more detailed level. Because microlearning works differently. The training programs we are accustomed to delivering on our LMSs were designed on a prescriptive model — that is, we decided what our employees needed to learn and we put them in courses to learn it. At the end we gave them a test to figure out if they learned it. Microlearning is a more active, learner-centred approach to training. The questions usually come first. Based on each learner's answers, Surge9 diagnoses their competency gaps and designs a personalized program for them. It suggests a unique sequence of different kinds of learning content. It accompanies them with personalized feedback, delivering simultaneous insights about how others in their peer group are doing and what they found useful. And it may engage them in learning games and challenges with multiple achievement levels, which can be competitive or not. Then Surge9 begins the cycle again, asking new questions that move them another step forward. Overall, Surge9 modernizes your SCORM learning assets to achieve the learning goals of the future. And that means boosting the return on your investment in your previous online courses.

Basic implementation of Surge9 typically takes 2-4 weeks, depending on the complexity of your requirements and integrations. Our implementation team works closely with your IT and L&D stakeholders to ensure smooth deployment. For enterprise clients with complex integration needs, we offer phased implementation approaches to deliver value quickly while building toward complete integration.

Yes, Surge9 integrates with all major learning management systems. We offer several integration options: using Surge9 as a complementary system that shares completion data with your LMS, embedding Surge9 content directly within your LMS, or using Surge9 as your primary learning platform with your LMS serving as the content repository. Our team will help determine the best approach for your needs.

In most cases, yes. Surge9 integrates with many of the leading learning management systems in the market. It can be integrated with your LMS at a shallow or a deep level, including using Single-Sign-On (SSO). Surge9's analytics and training reinforcement data can be sent to your LMS. All the tracking on Surge9 then appears in their LMS profile. Surge9 microlearning can also be added to your LMS course catalogs and integrated into your competencies and learning paths. Your LMS is your system of record. Surge9 doesn't replace it. It complements your LMS by making microlearning, training reinforcement, and gamification features available to it.

Yes. We have a special version of Surge9 designed specifically for customers who use SAP SuccessFactors as their LMS. This version brings to SuccessFactors Surge9's complete microlearning, training reinforcement, and gamification capabilities.

Yes. Surge9 offers the following SSO options: SAML, OAuth 2.0, Okta, and ADFS. You can use Surge9's SSO feature to enable your employees to use their existing LMS or corporate credentials to access their Surge9 apps.

Surge9 is a Software-as-a-Service (Saas) offering, sold on a per user per year basis. The price per user varies according to the number of users. Alternative pricing models such as per user per month and per active user models are available. And you can transfer your licences between employees. That means you can assign the same license to different employees at different times, instead of having to buy one for each of them.

Surge9 serves enterprise organizations across industries including automotive, retail, healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing. Our clients range from Fortune 500 companies to growing enterprises that need scalable, effective training solutions for their distributed workforces.

Surge9's analytics are superior in every way. We have fully integrated Surge9 with market leaders in business intelligence technology. You can leverage analytics to correlate your learning outcomes to hard business results. For example, you can find out if the employees who completed your microlearning programs sell more than others. And you can make continuous adjustments to your program, through Surge9 Authoring, to improve performance along the lines Power BI has identified.

Organizations typically see significant improvements in knowledge retention (70-90% better than traditional training), increased engagement rates, measurable behavior change, and improved job performance. Our AI-driven analytics provide detailed insights into learning effectiveness and skill development across the organization.