Importance of Mobile Learning in the Workplace

The Evolution of Mobile Learning

Did you know that the first-ever mobile learning device was envisioned in 1968? That’s right! Alan Kay founded the idea of “Dynabook”. It was not as small as a smartphone or tablet, neither was it as big as a laptop. The idea was that it would be a portable computer for kids to use to learn anywhere.

Even though the “Dynabook” was never built, it revolutionized mobile devices to be used for educational purposes. When smartphones started becoming even more popular, organizations realized that they could make the Learning Management System (LMS) mobile-friendly so that their employees could take these courses on the go.

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This shift occurred slower than one would think! By 2012, only 45% of learning systems were adapted for mobile devices. However, around 70% planned to shift in the next two years.

This slow development is that the Learning and Development departments were unsure how to implement mobile learning. For example, many organizations provide laptops to their employees but not smartphones. Moreover, smartphone users would require the internet to access mobile learning courses. These reasons made them undecided on the course of action.

However, with the advent of high-speed internet to all devices, organizations began considering the importance of mobile learning again. They noted the many benefits and shifted to mobile learning.

Why are Organizations Adopting Mobile Learning?

Despite the slow shift towards mobile learning, organizations are now moving towards it due to its benefits. The key reasons for organizations to adopt mobile learning are:

• Most of their employees now own a smartphone. This reduces the organization’s need to provide a personal digital device to its employees to take the course. It also led to the organization adopting the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. It gave learners their choice of device.
• The use of smartphone applications let the learner access courses on an app at any time and location instead of needing to log onto the LMS. This gave learners access to courses beyond laptops and computers.
• Mobile learning changes the visual presentation of an e-learning course. Traditional methods of learning are limited to only a few models of teaching. Mobile learning allows the use of new forms of presentation, such as videos and interactions with the learner.

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What are the Advantages of Mobile Learning?

Organizations have understood the major utility of giving their employees e-learning courses instead of spending time and resources on traditional classroom learning. The use of the LMS is the dominant form of taking e-learning courses. Organizations need to incorporate strategies in their learning systems to include mobile learning as a part of their e-learning initiatives.

Even with major reasons to shift towards mobile learning, many organizations have not yet developed strategies to include it. There are several reasons that make mobile learning the suitable form of learning for organizations as well as their employees. Some of them are:

• Flexibility: Learners do not have to restrict themselves to learning at their office computers. They can learn at their convenience with mobile learning. For example, an employee can spend their long commute every day productively with learning on the go.
• Agility: There are no restrictions on where the learner must take their course. This works well for organizations as well as they can easily train employees in multiple offices and across multiple locations.
• Easier Retention: With the flexibility of time and location, the learner can take courses at their comfort and pace. They can go over topics and concepts several times if they want to. They can also decide how long they wish to take the course, helping them retain what they have studied. This has a major advantage over taking courses during office hours, where the learner might be expected to finish the course in a day or two.
• Fresh Designs: Unlike traditional learning modes, mobile learning offers a range of methods to present content to learners. These mobile-friendly methods ensure that the learner will be more inclined to remember the content.
• Interactive Content: The way to make e-learning popular is by allowing the learner to interact with the course. This can be done using thought-provoking questions, quizzes, scenario-based learning, clickable activities, etc. Mobile learning supports these formats and many other themes and modes. These can differ from what is available in the LMS, giving the learner a new approach to look forward to.
• Multi-device Access: When we take a course on the LMS, it can be strategized to ensure that the same course is supported across multiple devices such as a smartphone, tablet, and laptop. It is the organization’s will to make this possible. If they spend their time and resources on strategies for multi-device support, the learners can benefit in several ways.

What is the ROI from Mobile Learning?

Organizations often find it difficult to hire employees with the skill sets they want. On the other hand, the thought of training an employee brings to their minds the need to invest time and money. However, a study done by IBM shows that for every dollar spent on online learning, an organization gains $30 worth of productivity from the employee.

e-Learning has changed the way organizations operate. They can provide skill development to employees much faster. In turn, the returns they receive from the employee are also higher. Organizations understand the importance of mobile learning when they realize that even if the employee spends 5 minutes each day for formal training, they will be learning quicker and apply what they have learnt to their work.

Moreover, when an employee engages in e-learning, they are 60% more likely to retain what they have learned, instead of only 8-10% via traditional classroom learning, according to the Research Institute of America. When we further benefit the employee by providing them with the facility to take e-learning courses from their smartphones, it increases their comfort while taking courses. They can choose their pace and the setting to take the course and revisit lessons.

Mobile learning can overcome the following challenges to profit organizations:

• Mobile learning strategies reduce the costs organizations require to train their employees. This is because of increased accessibility, discarding the need for classroom learning, and the ability to reach more employees over several geographical locations.
• Shortened courses and micro-learning improve the learner’s retention. A quick play of audio or video can impart more knowledge to the learner than longer courses. The sooner the employee learns, the faster they can implement their learnings.
• For organizations with global offices, mobile learning is a practical choice. They can overcome not only geographical barriers but also language barriers. The strategy can be modified to include several languages in the same course. This feature increases the ROI as the course ensures compatibility across time zones and locations.
• Organizations can train employees based on their needs. A challenge that organizations face is that all their employees might not require the same level of skill training. Some might require refresher courses. For some, the whole course might be necessary, whereas only an advanced portion of the course might be essential for others. With the micro-learning feature of courses, the learner can choose the modules they want to learn. It removes the one shoe fits all idea to personalize the courses based on the learner’s needs and save the organization’s training time.

As millennials are more inclined to use their smartphones for all purposes, organizations understand the need to cater to this part of the workforce. By 2025, millennials will make up about 75% of the global workforce. Even for others, smartphones have become an essential part of their lives. Keeping this in mind, organizations have understood the importance of mobile learning to engage and train their employees effectively.

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Evolution of Mobile Learning