Many companies have already adopted mobile learning to varying degrees, and the trend is still expanding. Outdated eLearning solutions that don’t provide engaging user experiences or aren’t responsive on mobile devices are no longer useful. Therefore, you must also ensure that your platform is usable by both your instructors and employees.
The number of mobile users is increasing every day, which explains the need to expand mobile training programs. However, planning an efficient mobile training strategy for your company can occasionally seem burdensome, especially if it represents a considerable shift from your business’s past practices. But it is always a possibility to create one with some guidance.
But to begin, let’s understand why we even need a mobile learning strategy.
What is mobile learning?
Mobile learning, or mLearning, is the process of using mobile devices to access educational materials. With the widespread, more affordable data connection, anyone can easily access your learning resources via their mobile at any time and at any location feasible to them. Mobile education does not always refer to smartphones. Today, eLearning can be accessed on a variety of platforms, including an iPad or an eBook. When developing your mobile learning approach, be sure to take this into account. Remember what your aim is and why the strategy is being created.
Key benefits of implementing a mobile learning strategy
Implementing mobile learning in your company has a number of advantages. It is simpler to access and has enormous potential to boost motivation and engagement. See what benefits using a mobile learning technique can provide below:
- Millions of workers in the USA and throughout the world now regularly work from home as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic. Additionally, many employees travel for work or labor in the field. Mobile learning enables learners to study whenever and wherever they want.
- Classroom sessions can take up a lot of time and money for a large company with branches in different areas. You don’t need to assemble all of the staff in one location while using mLearning.
- Not every employee has the option to stay in the workplace after hours to study or travel to a different location for a training session. They may, however, find time to attend a quick online course during lunch or to listen to a podcast while taking a morning stroll.
- The majority of individuals these days have access to a variety of gadgets, including tablets, smartphones, desktops, and laptops. All devices are supported by mobile learning designs, which also enable seamless course operation across all platforms. This allows users to learn using any device, like a computer at work, a laptop at home, or a mobile anywhere.
Steps to creating an effective mLearning strategy
Building an effective mLearning course takes time and patience since you will have to go through each process with great diligence. Let us find out the steps you can take to do so:
Define your business strategy
Creating a mobile learning solution without establishing goals is never a smart idea. Create a business plan that aligns with your objectives as well as the issues you hope to resolve. Your business plan should explain the necessity for mobile learning and how it will solve the difficulties you have identified.
You must decide now whether your workers work remotely and how frequently they travel for business. You should also consider whether they require access to training from locations with spotty internet and the gadgets they use.
If you have a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ policy, you will need a more flexible mLearning strategy that works on all your employees’ specific work devices.
Setup a team
You must create a productive team if you want good results. You need individuals who can assist you in developing and implementing mobile learning within your business.
Your team could include project managers, stakeholders, people from the IT group, course developers, subject matter experts, and LMS administrators. All of them have different roles and fields of expertise, so they will be able to guide you in times of confusion.
Choose your learning content
Choose the learning content that is the best fit for mobile learning for your team. Think about the various components that will need to be included in the solution, such as pictures, people, and settings that are relevant to your industry.
Don’t forget to consider what details about the intended audience, items, pricing ranges, etc., will be included in the text. Your material will become more engaging the more organization-specific it is. When selecting your content, try to identify options that will inspire your employees to investigate how the concepts presented in the content relate to their jobs.
You can make use of elements like videos, online quizzes, and podcasts.
Some useful tips for when developing the learning content:
- Make sure that your content display is mobile-friendly.
- Use the principles of microlearning and break your content into bite-sized chunks.
- Make the content fun by increasing its interactivity, gamification, etc.
- Make the content as personalized as you can.
Select your training tools
The next step is to implement mobile learning, which will require you to use a tool. You can select from these tools:
- Learner management system
You will require an LMS to share the content and monitor learners’ progress once you have produced your mobile learning course. Based on your company’s training needs, you may choose an LMS that is designed for eCommerce, or talent management, or one that has gamification features.
No matter which LMS you use, make sure that it offers smooth content delivery across all mobile platforms and supports responsive content, which may change to fit any device’s screen and orientation.
- eLearning authoring tools
Many LMSs come with an in-built editor, enabling you to make straightforward exams and online courses. However, you’ll need a good authoring tool if you want to develop interesting training courses.
It’s crucial for mobile learning that courses be accessible on a variety of devices running various operating systems and browsers. So, when selecting an authoring tool, remember to find out about this.
Prepare a detailed implementation plan
You will need to create a plan with detailed steps for integrating mLearning into your training program. The plan has to outline important completion dates, project participants, and deadlines.
A pilot project should be included in the roadmap. Add your training course to the LMS and invite a select number of staff members to watch it. The pilot will enable you to evaluate the outcomes and gather learner input on how comfortable they are using mobile learning, and let you make certain adjustments and enhancements if required.
Conclusion
Employees are able to leverage the advantage of accessing knowledge from anywhere in the world because of mobile learning. They can use their smart devices to remotely access the eLearning modules wherever they are. You will be able to pull an effective and useful mLearning strategy, too, if you follow these steps and add your own creative edges to it.
