In a context of constant and accelerated change, reskilling and upskilling are key strategies for acquiring new skills, especially to be effective in a digital environment with the growing impact of artificial intelligence. In this context, microlearning and macrolearning are seemingly interesting modalities. Macrolearning has been defined as an innovative learning modality that consists of grouping a significant number of microlearning lessons (e.g., 200-300 units) to create comprehensive training courses. This accumulation of microlearning units can be organized to build a complete flow of instructional units and activities around a key theme.

The effectiveness of macrolearning has already been explored from the student’s perspective, with results showing that it may be considered by some students as a substitute for traditional master’s degrees. Macrolearning becomes a highly attractive learning modality that generates satisfaction and perceived learning among students, and it contributes to improving their self-efficacy. The value proposition of macrolearning, with hundreds of short-duration microlearning units, each one designed with a clear and focused message, and all effectively sequenced to offer a full program, fits very well with students' preferences to solve their continuous and lifelong fast learning needs.

However, while the appeal of macrolearning from a student perspective is well established, its effectiveness is underexplored from the perspective of digital learning experts, as well as from the perspective of human resources specialists, with responsibilities in training and recruitment. To address this knowledge gap, we propose the following research question: How do education experts, talent developers and recruiters perceive macrolearning?

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether macrolearning is perceived, by education experts and talent professionals, as an effective learning modality to meet the growing challenges of companies to reskill and upskill their employees.

The empirical evidence has been gathered regarding the case of an Edtech, called Edtech-Master (EM) to protect anonymity, a pioneer developer of macrolearning programs in the business field. The main data has been collected from 5 in-depth interviews with education experts, recruiters and employers, totaling 4 hours and 46 min. Two of the interviewees were chosen for their expertise in designing and developing digital learning programs, one of them working professionally as a digital learning specialist (D1), and the other with long experience as a developer of MOOCs and micro-credentials for business education (D2). Two other participants were human resources specialists with responsibility for recruiting and training (H1, H2), chosen because they had participated in a macrolearning program of the selected case. Finally, the last interviewee was a training manager from one of the top five management consulting firms, selected as a user of the Edtech-Master services for talent development (C1).

The results support the perceived effectiveness of macrolearning for continuous training of employees, for upskilling and reskilling, although some opportunities for improvement still remain.

Keywords: Macrolearning, microlearning, lifelong learning, effectiveness, experts.