Last week we were at Learning Technologies 2012 in London braving the winter chill here in London. Just as we expected this is probably the best show for the sort of products and services we offer. I met many prospects (which is always a real need), some existing clients/partners (always good to catch up), and some casual visitors; and a couple of walk-ins at the show to get the ‘flavor’ of the show. All the interactions were interesting and we learnt something from each one of them. We left the show more educated and very tired – after being constantly on our feet for two days.

On the 15th of December 2011, the Android Developer Relations team at Google launched the beta version of Android Training — a collection of classes to help developers build better Android apps using best practices in a variety of framework topics.

This is a move in the right direction by Google, especially since many Smartphone users perceive Android apps to be inferior to Apple’s iOS. This initiative targeted at developers will help to raise the quality of Android apps developed in the public realm.

When Apple launched the iPhone 4S, one of the key differentiators to previous models was the inclusion of Siri. For those who haven’t been bombarded yet by the marketing campaigns, Siri is an intelligent software assistant and a knowledge navigator that essentially functions like a digital personal assistant. You can find out more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siri_(software).

There’s a definite movement towards delivering learning on tablets and mobile phones. It is quite common these days to get client requests for delivering elearning (meant for traditional desktops) or mobile learning (meant for mobile phones) solutions on tablets too. Is that a good idea? I think a more consciously chosen approach for tablets would be better in most cases, while sometimes just publishing to multiple devices may be suitable.

We launched Upside2Go (for the iPhone) back in February this year. And we changed the game; changed the way people looked at mobile learning and the way they experienced learning on the go.

Today we expand the reach of Upside2Go to change this game further. Our revolutionary platform for mobile learning – Upside2Go – is now available on BlackBerry.

The latest report from Ambient Insight about mobile learning is out, and it comes up with some pretty surprising figures. It indicates that the worldwide market for mobile learning will probably grow from USD 3.2 billion (2010) to about USD 9.1 billion by 2015. That means a healthy CAGR of approximately 22.7%. The report analyzes trends and current expenditure across varied markets.

Mobile technology, having seeped into popular culture, is now finding widespread acceptance as a training and learning device in the workplace as well. If not already adopted, mobile learning is now certainly featuring in most strategy discussions within L&D teams in large and small enterprises.

Even though some large organizations have started using mobile technology to empower their workforce, for most others the question still remains – how do we actually use it in the workplace? Training departments are unsure how to design, develop and implement a successful mLearning strategy that works for their organizations.

We’ve been serving the Australian market for more than four years now. It’s not a large market for us but one that has been growing consistently. I just returned from a two week-long business visit to Australia this Sunday, not my first visit to the country but definitely the one where I sensed that the local eLearning industry is gaining momentum. A little googling and I discovered this report from The Canadian Trade Service, claiming the y-o-y growth rates in Australian elearning market to be around 27.3% between 2004 & 2009 and 12.8% for next 5 years. This blog claims that analysts predict Australia is likely to become the 2nd biggest market for eLearning after the USA.

Digital devices are reshaping our lives and how. These devices, with their immense potential to enhance learning, are on the cusp of something profound; be it in the classrooms or the boardrooms. More on this below. Also, learn about some interesting tidbits on blended learning and content authoring.

Find all this and more in our Weekly Digest – a collection of top 12 links from the week gone by, each accompanied by a quick brief.

While doing some research, I came across this interesting article ‘Can India lead the mobile-internet revolution?’ (registration required) that McKinsey published in February of this year.

1. Find a problem with learning or performance first, think about learning next, and mobile learning last. This is somewhat analogous to “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Look for a learning/performance problem and analyze carefully if mobile learning is a possible solution and not the other way round. Ask if there will be a real benefit for the user. Ask if the user job profile involves individuals being substantially ‘mobile’ and not tied to a centralized location. Also factor in their use of and comfort with mobile devices.

The mLearning flavor spills over into this week too as we scour the web for the best in mobile everything.

We recently concluded a great show at mLearnCon 2011. You can read our first impressions of what we saw and heard at the exposition in Abhijit Kadle’s blog post. Also, get a sneak peek into the event’s backchannel right here.

It’s no secret that effective learning cannot be achieved without a robust strategy. If this remains true for eLearning, why shouldn’t you have a strategy for mLearning too?