Corporate training is overdue a makeover – and the incredible rise of short-form content shows where it may be headed.
If you relax at the end of a hard day with a few amusing TikTok videos, you are not alone. Eminently shareable, bite-sized content is also digestible. EdTech GoodCourse has taken note.
The London-based micro-learning platform, founded by Chris Mansfield and Omar Mughal, is designed to reach and engage employees and students with hyper-engaging training on topics like compliance, harassment and inclusion.
“In today’s world, there are more things to distract people than ever before,” CEO Mansfield tells BusinessCloud. “There are a wide range of digital tools we all use in the workplace and at home – and learning content simply hasn’t kept up.
“The reason TikTok is so popular is because it’s short-form and engaging; the opposite to the usual two-hour training course.
“Spacing out micro-learning chunks across the course of a year gives you a much better chance of retaining it and actually acting on it. That’s why GoodCourse is built to engage a Gen Z workforce.”
Magic links
The content – paired with TikTok-style explainer videos – is shared straight to the recipient’s phone via text, email or messaging platforms such as Slack. Clicking on these ‘magic links’ takes them straight into the learning session without needing to register or log in.
Courses are typically served over a few days, with lessons taking no longer than five-to-seven minutes to complete, compared to current e-learning models which typically take upwards of an hour.
“It’s hyper-concise, emotive and conveys key messages,” says Mansfield. “We focus on areas such as compliance, harassment and inclusion – topics the company itself wants to engage their employees on.
“Topics like these are obviously extremely important for culture, safety and belonging, but also in reducing the risk of lawsuits, complaints, compliance problems etc. It might cover how to be an active bystander if you see someone being inappropriate in the workplace – and how to intervene, either in the moment or afterwards.
“People are never going to self-select into these courses because they’re too busy and it’s not part of their exact job remit, hence the lack of engagement.”
Learning path
GoodCourse – which featured on our EdTech 50 ranking – gives companies the ability to generate their own learning content while also offering a number of topics itself. “We suggest a learning path that might start with unconscious bias, move on to being an active bystander then on to harassment prevention, for example. But it’s ultimately up to the company to determine that path.”
Founded in early 2021, GoodCourse raised £575,000 in pre-seed funding a year ago. The round was led by RLC Ventures and RTP Capital, with Monzo founder Tom Blomfield, Lendable founder Victoria Van Lennep, GoCardless & Nested founder Matt Robinson and Look After My Bills founder Henry de Zoete participating.
The company has already reached close to £250k of annual recurring revenue, having gained traction with organisations such as the University of Nottingham, Florida University and GamCare.
It plans to open offices in the United States “in the next 18 months or so”, according to Mansfield.