Mobile Learning – What It Can Do For A Global Workforce
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.
The Challenge
Ironically, while employees need more time for learning in order to optimize their productivity, they actually have less time to participate in formal learning activities. A vast majority of the global workforce is very busy and has very little time to focus on learning. As a result, training drops down on the priority list and training completion rates can be low. The need of the hour is — technology that enables organizations to distribute “just-in-time” updates that are both targeted and tracked.
The Solution
Mobiles are a way of life and are catching up in the learning domain as well. Your workforce uses mobiles for more than just phone calls or text messages. Using phones, they browse the web, connect on social networks, share photos and videos, make purchases, play games, and keep track of what they care for through dedicated apps. As learning technology evolves and semantic web comes around, learning and performance support through mobile devices is becoming common. Effective mobile learning solutions can help you manage learning for your workforce that’s constantly on the move.
Here’s what Mobile Learning can be used for
- Activating knowledge before a classroom (or virtual classroom or even an eLearning session);
- Summarizing (after one of those sessions – delivered soon after the session);
- Recall (or reactivating knowledge – probably a week or two after the session. This ensures key concepts are revisited and helps in transferring the new knowledge to long term memory – especially for learners who may not get a chance to apply new knowledge immediately after the sessions);
- Providing application opportunities (through pop quizzes or learning games on mobile);
- Just-in-time search support by letting employees search in company’s knowledge databases (wikis, blogs, forums) using their mobiles.
Summing It Up
A good mobile learning platform provides your employees with a mobile enabled environment where they can access training activities in the form of videos, podcasts, eLearning courses, quizzes and evaluation surveys and also enables them to use their mobile device to share knowledge with others (within or outside their team) in real-time.
Mobile Learning:
- Puts training and performance support where the actual work takes place
- Allows new skills or knowledge to be immediately applied
- Enables training when it is needed
- Allows use of rich media when appropriate
