mLearning – Game Changer of the Training Industry
There are no second opinions about the fact that mobile technology is one of the most rapidly adopted technologies in history. A mere concept until the 1980s, mobile technology has become widespread to the extent that nearly 1.5 billion smartphones were sold throughout the world in the year 2016.
With the mobile workforce expected to double or triple in size by next year, it is no surprise that the technology is penetrating through countless different domains and industries. Seeing the popularity of the mobile phone and mobile technology in general, American author Ray Kurzweil was right when he said “mobile phones are misnamed. They should be called ‘gateways to all human knowledge’.” With nearly 63% of the population having access to mobile phones in 2016, it is fair to say that mobile technology has become normal in the lives of many. The portable nature of mobile technology has allowed consumers throughout the world to receive and access information at their convenience. Universal access to content has ensured that the general limitations regarding learning and training are no longer present. Not only can content and training be provided from anywhere, but since the major part of the population of the world has access to mobile technology, it is also possible for relevant content to be provided to people.
A recent follow-up survey of the Merrill Lynch GoLearn Initiative showed that 24% of participants reported completing their training while commuting while 26% even completed training at home. Additionally, 99% of people felt like the new format and presentation of the content supported the learning objectives that the training had and more than three fourths of participants of the survey loved the convenience factor that was involved. People were also particularly fond of the technology due to the fact that their time was managed more properly when they were able to leverage mobile technology for training and because they were able to complete the training without any distractions.
Data from a study on the efficiency of mobile learning helped prove the effectiveness of mobile technology in teaching and training even more. The survey compared how well participants retained information from a live lecture compared to a podcast that was displayed on a mobile device. The results were not surprising at all. Podcast viewers ended up scoring nine out of one hundred more than the attendees of the lecture on average proving that the new technology was much more efficient for teaching and training purposes.
Advantages of incorporating mLearning into your organization
As mentioned above, mobile learning is something more comprehensive than just eLearning on a mobile phone or a portable device.
People don’t use mobile phones or smartphones in the same way that they use computers. With that said, the learning experience between technologies differs a great deal – and these differences are not limited to the content that is delivered. Below, we have compiled a list of main advantages of mLearning that actually make it the game changer.
Flexibility
Flexible access and convenience are by far the aspects of mLearning that people love most. As mentioned earlier, people understand how the flexibility factor can be beneficial for them which is exactly why they don’t shy away from consuming content and making use of all of the information that has been made available to them. According to a survey, this convenient feature has also allowed consumers to finish courses about 45% faster than consumers who used the conventional approach to learning.
Engagement
Engagement is another aspect that makes mLearning a lot more different than elearning and other approaches or techniques that are used for training and educational purposes. mLearning programs often encourage consumers to share feedback and suggestions that will help make the program better and more in line with the preferences of the user.
In order to promote the sociable aspect of learning, applications for mobile learning are generally integrated with a platform where people can share their experiences and provide feedback to ensure that others do not have to go through the same problems. These platforms also help learners interact and learn from each other.
One of the skills in creating e-learning courses was the story-telling dimension. This changes with mobile – Geoff Stead
Unlike uni-directional platforms or training programs that are based on the conventional approach of training, mLearning programs can be modified based on the level of satisfaction of the learners using the mLearning program. What this essentially means is that the content provided to customers is not limited to a certain pre-defined outline or course that is repeated with slight tweaking for as long as the training program runs.
Synchronization
Synchronization is another reason why mobile learning can prove to be beneficial for the learning process. Most mobile learning platforms and applications do not only allow users to consume content according to their convenience, but they also allow users to log in to their accounts via multiple different devices. This means that whether you have a smartphone or tablet in handy, you can continue training right where you stopped whenever you find that you have some time to spare.
As mentioned earlier, mobile learning also has better statistics for retention which might be due to the fact that there is generally a negative emotion associated with elearning or online training that is mandatory. With mobile learning, learners are often more satisfied – up to 70% of the time – and there aren’t any gaps in the learning process.
Since users are more satisfied with the nature of the course on mobile learning platforms, the engagement factor, and the relevance of the content, people also finish training and courses much faster than they would be using other devices, hence saving the time of educators as well.
mLearning implementation: some additional thoughts
Having access to technology and not knowing how to use it properly is a surefire recipe for disaster.
Implementation of mobile learning requires a lot of resources so thorough planning is a must. A good way to start is to outline the context and situations where mobile learning will prove to be more efficient and beneficial than other conventional techniques and approaches. If mLearning is able to give your organization the advantages that we outlined in this post, you should definitely incorporate this technology into your online learning ecosystem.
If you already incorporated mobile learning in your organization, you can increase its positive effect by using modern tools and apps. There are a lot of inspiring mLearning features out there to boost its effectiveness and make the learning experience you deliver unforgettable!
