Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2011 - (Page 41)

In ASTD/i4cp studies on this subject, only 3.4 percent of companies reported (to a high or very high extent) that their organizations design learning for mobile devices. Why is it so low? Probably because the vast majority of companies don’t have the internal expertise to develop mobile learning applications; in fact, only 6.3 percent said they do (again to a high or very high extent). This is a real shame, because as Figure 1 shows, companies that design learning for mobile devices have a real correlation with overall market performance (revenue, profitability, market share and customer satisfaction). Developing mobile learning poses a few more challenges than your standard e-learning development does. In most corporations there are a myriad of mobile operating systems. Authors need to decide if they are developing applications that can run on iPhones, Android devices, BlackBerrys and/ or Windows phones, among others. Not to mention the increasing array of tablet devices (although I have an issue with calling learning on a tablet “mobile.” Is it really that different from laptops?). Finding the right authoring tools, the lack of Flash on some devices and issues linking to the LMS on the backend all add to the slow adoption. While research shows that these tactical issues have delayed mobile learning from truly taking off, it isn’t the only reason. Lack of support of senior leaders and the lack of available budget are two of the most often cited obstacles to mobile learning implementation. However, I contend that it’s really the imagination of course developers that holds us back. As many have recognized, mobile learning is really all about performance support, rather than anything resembling traditional learning. I don’t envision lots of leadership development courses on smart phones anytime soon. As MIT professor and artificial intelligence pioneer Seymour Papert said, “You can’t teach people everything they need to know. The best you can do is position them where they can find what they need to know when they need to know it.” Imagine a technician in the field trying to diagnose an equipment problem. A quick scan of the part’s barcode with the phone’s camera, and a troubleshooting guide is displayed. Just-in-time, always-in-context learning can save a company a tremendous amount of money while improving productivity. Another often-cited scenario: a salesperson is in the field trying to close a difficult sale. Just prior to the meeting, a tutorial walks the salesperson through the consultative sales steps necessary to seal the deal. Taking advantage of the salesperson’s physirson s physi cal location, his GPS-enabled device gives him key up-to-date information on the n company as he’s entering the office building. While in the meeting, instead of having to memorize all ll of the pricing and inventory information, a quick tap on the touch screen brings up the latest information, updated to the second. In fact, that last scenario helped one of our member companies at i4cp win a critical sale. It’s easy to imagine many other useful applications, s, but today imagining isn’t necesessary. If you haven’t done anything with ng mobile learning, here are four pieces of advice my analysts at i4cp recommend if you mend are considering it: 1. Try to remain agnostic. At this stage of the game, unless your organization is willing to provide employees with one device and platform, it may be best to approach mobile learning from a Web-based delivery perspective. 2. Pilot programs. It is not necessary to develop a complete and polished mobile learning initiative right away. Start with small experiments. It is the only way to figure out what works without wasting time and resources. 3. It has to make sense. Ask “Do we need to deliver this on a mobile device?” If there is no obvious benefit to delivering a piece of learning this way, it’s not worth the effort. 4. No fear. Mobile computing is not a flashin-the-pan fad. It has become an acceptable and preferred method of accessing information for high-performing companies. Organizations need to embrace this and find ways to leverage the technology. Address internal barriers such as security and network concerns. Figure 2 Mobile Devices for Learning In support to the learning function, at what stage of development is mobile learning within your organization? 34.7% 40.7% 15.0% 10.1% Considering In Development Currently Using No Plans to Use Adoption boils down to something that always holds new technology back: the killer application. What mobile learning needs is a widely cited, “a-ha!” kind of application, that opens up the eyes of senior leaders and developers alike. Preferably this would be an application that shows immediate return-on-investment to the business, and increased productivity or corporate competiveness. Until that killer performance support application arrives, I feel we’ll continue to be stuck in the “promise land” of mobile learning. Kevin Oakes is CEO of the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). E-mail Kevin. 41 Training Industry Quarterly, Fall 2011 / A Training Industry, Inc. ezine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2011

Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2011
From Where I Sit: Back to the Basics
Table of Contents
Ad Index
The Learning GPS
Work that Stretches: The Best Teacher
The Promise and Peril of Social Enterprise
Technical Training: How is it Different?
Companies Press 'Play' on Training Games
Redefining the 'e' in e-Learning
Essential Components for Effectively Training a Global Workforce
Five m-Learning Considerations for Your Talent Management Strategy
Instructional Design: Learning Meets Technology
Improving Training: Thinking Like a Game Developer
Casebook: Pfizer: Moving Product Sales Training Online
Why is Mobile Learning Not More Popular?
Tweet Suite
Company News
Closing Arguments: The Three T's

Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2011