I stumbled on the ASTD State of The Industry Report 2011 yesterday – find it here.

The title proudly claims “Increased Commitment to Workplace Learning” and that is indeed heartening to see. Not just because it means constant business for us but also because it means the top bosses recognize the importance of workplace learning more that they did a couple of decades back. It was commonplace to find training budgets be the first ones to slashed when downturn hits.

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.

Mobile Learning has been on our minds and for all the right reasons. Today, mLearnCon 2011 opens it doors to hundreds of visitors from in and around the US. And we are one of the 30 exhibitors showcasing our entire range of innovative Mobile Learning Solutions at booth number 316.

Also on display would be our newly launched revolutionary platform for Mobile Learning – Upside2Go. We would be delivering a Master Class session based on this new platform titled ‘Mobile Learning and Performance Support with Upside2Go’, scheduled at 12.45 PM on 21st June. If you still haven’t gotten your free expo pass, we urge you to do it right now. See you there.

In an earlier blog post, Abhijit Kadle had written about a gradual but complete shift to mobile based devices for a whole host of activities, learning being just one of them. Today I came across a news article which strengthened that belief even further.

Learning as we knew it has undergone (and continues to undergo) a sea change. Today, we have new forms of learning like – blended, informal, social, mobile etc. And these new forms gain more momentum as we shift into a world were time and attention spans are both shrinking. Learn about some of these new approaches here.

For those of you who have been bitten by the iPad bug, we have included some cool apps. Besides this, we also have some tools that will help you in mobile app development.

Read it all here in our Weekly Digest – a collection of our top 9 links from the week gone by, each accompanied by a quick brief.

Need to quench your thirst for the latest in learning, technology and media links further? You can dig into our previous lists here

We have said this before and are saying it again; informal learning is the new ‘learning’. This is not to say that informal learning would act as a replacement to the formal mode of learning, but it is the synergy between these both that produces effective growth. Based on this premise, we have debunked some of the common myths of informal learning. Also, we help you assess this new form of learning in a new light.

From informal learning, we go on to talk about learning as the new work, eLearning testing, novice and expert thinking, tablets and more.

Read it all here in our Weekly Digest – a collection of our top 9 links from the week gone by, each accompanied by a quick brief.

Need to quench your thirst for the latest in learning, technology and media links further? You can dig into our previous lists here

This time we decided to do our homework, pack our bags and take a trip down the school days. Yes, we have covered it all from QR codes in education to replacing smartboards with iPads. And if you are still caught in the traditional school approach, know why integrating technology in classrooms is not just the need for the hour but how can it benefit you.

Besides this, we have uncovered some cool resources, reports and findings that will keep you abreast of the latest happenings.

Read it all here in our Weekly Digest – a collection of our top 14 links from the week gone by, each accompanied by a quick brief.

Need to quench your thirst for the latest in learning, technology and media links further? You can dig into our previous lists here.

Globalization has changed the paradigms of business dramatically. The organizations of today need to be more agile than ever to maintain their competitive edge in the marketplace. That involves adapting to situations and regularly updating strategies, structures and processes. The global workforce today is confronted with a demanding environment in which to perform. In such a situation, it is vital for employees to be connected to information constantly.

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. ~ Winston Churchill

Many of my friends and ex-colleagues usually dislike training. They dread entering the training room, the way they would dread entering a torture chamber. In most cases, Training is reduced to an exercise in futility and the prevailing emotion is “Let’s just get this over with!”

The past weeks have seen a flurry of Web activity – bloggers making predictions for the coming months; retrospections on the year gone by; new product releases; top lists, summary posts being pulled up, and more.

At Upside Learning, we have been doing our bit in spreading knowledge. In continuation to our weekly roundup of the best links shared on Twitter and Facebook, here is a collection of our top 15 links from the last week, each accompanied by a quick brief. This week we deliver you a dose of the latest in mobile learning, Web design & development, eLearning and Social Media.

I found this talk by Jason Fried  about how we work in an office quite interesting.

“The real problems in the office are the M&Ms” – managers and meetings make employees unproductive.

All the more reason for eLearning, anytime, anywhere; let people decide what’s appropriate to learn and when to learn it. You can’t do that with scheduled training.

Mobile learning is certainly a hot discussion topic with elearning and training solutions providers in Australia – like anywhere else in the world. In my meetings with clients and prospects in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne over that last couple of weeks, it is clear that the interest in mobile learning is very strong. Yet, the most common question is – how do we actually use it in workplace?

I’m of the opinion that there are 3 primary types of usage for mobile devices in the context of learning.