Why Adopt Mobile Learning For Online Training – 10 Questions Answered

If you are new to mLearning or are seeking ways to enhance its impact, e.g. by using mobile learning for online training, you would have several questions about it. In this article, I answer 10 questions that range from its definition, application, and how you can maximize its impact.

Why Adopt Mobile Learning For Online Training?

Following are 10 questions answered about adopting mobile learning for online training. Let us begin.

Q1. What Is mLearning Or Mobile Learning?

mLearning or mobile learning is self-paced online training that is available to the learners on tablets and smartphones. Typically, the same training would also be available on desktops/laptops helping learners learn on the device of their choice.

Q2. What Is Driving mLearning’s Rapid Adoption?

Mobile technology has become part and parcel of people’s day to day activities today. The “anytime-anywhere” flexibility that it offers is being used extensively by people to fulfill their varied needs – shopping, finding their way out from a lost route via GPS, looking up for a missing ingredient in a recipe while in kitchen, the list goes on…

The scenario is not too different when it comes to learning. The dynamics have changed and we are seeing an increased adoption of mLearning on account of the following factors:

1. Changing Learner Profiles.

Organizations today are seeing an increase in the millennial workforce in significant numbers. Millennials in general are die-hard smartphone addicts, so much so that a CNBC report states that 93 percent of millennials admit to using their phones in bed and nearly 80 percent of them say they can’t part with their phones in the washrooms too!

2. How Learners Want To Learn.

Learners today want to waste no time in knowing something they want to know. The staggering number of views on the “How to…” videos on YouTube tells you something. A lot of this learning is “just-in-time” learning and this is justified by the fact that YouTube itself has put up a stat saying “more than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices”. Today, if learners are in need of something urgent, they are likely to drop in a message in one of their WhatsApp groups or other chat applications (collaborative/social learning). The change in learner attitude in terms of getting to know what they want to know clearly warrants adoption of the mobile learning approach.

3. Changing Learning Device Preferences.

Learners today are seeking the flexibility to learn on the device of their choice. According to a Statista report, the percentage of users owning multiple mobile devices worldwide has grown from 8% in 2011 to 25% in 2016. With advancements in technology, this trend is likely to continue in the years to come. Learners are, therefore, looking to learn seamlessly on the device of their choice and at a time of their convenience.

4. Maturing Of Supporting Tools And Technologies (mLearning Authoring Tools And Learning Management System Support).

In the last few years, there have been significant improvements on the technology front. With the growing demand for mobile technology in the market, many mobile-compatible technologies have evolved. Today, one has several mobile learning authoring tools (which support both Adaptive and Responsive designs) to choose from. The Learning Management System technology has also evolved and is very much in line with the developments being made in mobile technology.

Q3. Why You Should Not Ignore mLearning Or Mobile Learning As Part Of Your Training Delivery?

As I see it, to maximize the impact of your training, giving learners the flexibility to learn “on the go” as well as on the device of their choice (tablets and smartphones) is necessary. Consider the following statistics. These (and there are plenty more) numbers make a clear case for adoption of mobile learning.

By 2018, 70% of professionals are likely to work using their personal smartphones.

A whopping percentage (60%) of the workers consider mobile to be their “most critical work device”.

Almost 100% of the learners are likely to complete the training in the mobile format.

47% of organizations are already using mobile devices for their training initiatives.

Q4. Can mLearning Or Mobile Learning Be Applied To All Corporate Training Needs?

mLearning is a great fit for all possible training needs ranging from formal training to informal training (just-in-time learning or job aids). It can also be used effectively to foster collaborative or social learning. You can also use components of mLearning to enhance your ILT/VILT sessions.

At EI Design, we have created mLearning solutions for the entire spectrum of training needs including:

• Induction and on-boarding.
• Compliance.
• Soft skills.
• Behavioral change.
• Change management.
• Product training.
• Application simulations.

Q5. What Are The Benefits Of mLearning Or Mobile Learning?

Here is my list of top 7 benefits that mLearning or mobile learning offers vis-a-vis traditional eLearning:

• Provides flexibility to learners.
• Offers higher learner engagement.
• Demonstrates better completion rates and higher retention.
• Facilitates collaborative learning.
• Offers multi-device support.
• Adapts to formal training as well as Performance Support (just-in-time learning or job aids).
• Facilitates “learning as a continuum”.

Q6. What Aspects Should You Watch Out For As You Begin mLearning Or Mobile Learning Adoption?

Here is my list of 5 aspects that you must watch out for. A careful evaluation of these aspects will help you create an effective mobile learning strategy.

1. Mobile Learning Is Not eLearning Lite.

You must revamp your learning strategy so that it is aligned to the strengths and limitations of mLearning.

2. One Size Does Not Fit All.

Looking at the training, business, and learning mandate, you need to evaluate and select Adaptive (mobile learning solutions that support PCs, laptops, and tablets) vs Responsive (mobile learning solutions that support PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones). There are trade-offs in each approach and these must be duly weighed upon before you make the selection.

3. The Same Content And Same Learning Strategy Would Work On All Devices (Including Mobile Devices).

When designing for the mobile medium, the information needs to be broken down into smaller pieces and how these pieces will appear on the mobile device needs to be factored for. Also, the user interaction and design should be such that it works well for all devices with equal ease and intuitiveness.

4. Tablets And Smartphones Both Support HTML5 But The Same Learning Strategy Does Not Work On Both Devices.

A great way to crack this and ensure a similar learning experience is to design your strategy for the smartphone first, then for the tablet, and then for PCs/laptops.

5. Get Your Strategy Right To Deliver A Complete Learning Experience On Smartphones First.

This is very much possible if you factor for the limitations of the mobile medium and design your strategy keeping the user experience in mind.

Q7. Can mLearning Or Mobile Learning Be Used To Meet The Different Expectations Your Millennial Workforce Has?

To be able to address this, you need to first be aware of the traits of millennials, their preferences, modes of accessing information, and what gets them hooked.

You can then design your strategy accordingly, using elements of the way they go about fulfilling their various infotainment needs.

Q8. What Are The Other Aspects You Can Use To Increase The Impact Of mLearning?

To multiply the impact of your mLearning or mobile learning strategy, you can integrate:

• Microlearning.
• Social learning.

To facilitate sticky learning, you can adopt engaging approaches like Gamification. Also add Performance Support Tools (PSTs or just in time learning aids) that are accessible to learners within their work-flow. These will facilitate the application of learning on the job. PSTs are short bite sized assets that are a great fit for mLearning or mobile learning.

Q9. What’s Trending In mLearning Or Mobile Learning?

While mLearning or mobile learning uses several engaging formats, the trends you should adopt are:

• Videos and interactive videos.
• Mobile apps.

Q10. What Other Approaches Can You Adopt To Increase The Impact Of Your mLearning Or Mobile Learning Strategy?

To multiply the impact, you can:

• Leverage on the combination of microlearning and social learning.
• Provide a learning path based approach to the learners.
• Offer personalized learning (include feedback along with reinforcement or supplement options).

I hope this article gives you some cues that you can apply in your organization, irrespective of whether you are new to mLearning or are looking for approaches that can increase the impact of your mLearning. In case you have any specific questions, do contact me.

Turn Passivity To Interactivity: How To Use Interactive Videos For Learner Engagement

The popularity of videos and increased use of mobile learning or mLearning have led to extensive usage of videos in online training. Even though videos appeal to the learners, they are passive. This article highlights how to use interactive videos for learner engagement by negating that passivity.

Using Interactive Videos For Learner Engagement

Why use interactive videos for learner engagement? Well, videos are one of the most popular media driving the communication space today; and if the numbers are anything to go by, their influence is only going to get stronger in the years to come.

A Cisco report states that by 2019, 80% of the internet traffic worldwide will be driven by videos. They have a great social media presence and this is firmly established by the fact that Facebook records 8 billion video views every day. They are also extremely popular with Millennials workforce (80% of Millennials refer to videos when trying to research/make a purchase decision).

These are magical numbers for Learning and Development professionals who are experimenting with ways to leverage on the power of videos and craft learning solutions, especially for learners who would like to learn on mobile devices on the go.

Why Does Passivity Of Video Impact Serious Learning And How Can Interactive Videos Address This?

Passivity of videos can weigh down a serious learning experience (hampering the learners’ progress in meeting a specific learning outcome). This challenge becomes even more significant when:

1. The run length of the video runs into a few minutes and the learner may find the session to be rather monotonous.
2. The learners are required to learn, apply, and analyze (that is, achieve higher levels of cognition).

However, the interactive video format can offset these challenges and flip learner passivity to learning activity.

This is possible because Interactive videos:

• Come with a proven 10X impact compared to normal videos.
• Facilitate pausing of the video at specific instances and introducing learner interactions. These could be letting learners take a decision or bringing in interactions for a personalized learning experience.
• Ensure that they remain engaged all the way to the end. The frequent interactivities are likely to keep them hooked at regular intervals, resulting in greater learner engagement.

Statistics reveal that on average 47% of the viewers watch a video till the end, which means that a majority (53%) of the viewers lose interest and opt out of the video even before they see the key message. A study found that with interactive videos, 35% of the businesses saw a better conversion rate and 25% reported better business turnaround in terms of revenue.

How Can You Use Interactive Videos For Learner Engagement And Achieve Clear Learning Outcomes?

As I have outlined, usage of interactive videos can create an engaging learning experience that will enable you to move the cognition levels from recall and retention to application and analysis.

At EI Design, we have created a customizable interactive video framework that allows us to integrate learning interaction levels that closely mimic the interactions of a traditional eLearning or mLearning course. In contrast to the several online solutions, our framework provides a highly interactive solution, which:

• Can be customized further, if required.
• Is designed to work across multiple platforms such as desktops, tablets, and smartphones (iOS and Android).
• Supports AICC, SCORM 1.2, 2004, and TinCan. It can be hosted on Learning Management System (LMS) /Learning Record Store (LRS) or run as a standalone piece on a web server.
• Comes with SCORM related features such as completion, time, resume, and scoring in LMS/LRS.

View this Showreel (designed as a microlearning nugget) that provides a walk-through on the various features of our interactive video framework and how you can use its interaction points to enhance the learning experience and engage your learners.

Interaction points for learners: Our framework facilitates integration of several interactivity types, including:

1. Hotspots.

2. Carousel.

3. Button Click.

4. Drag And Drop.

5. Fill In The Blanks.

6. Single Choice Assessments.

7. Multiple Choice Assessments.

How Do Interactive Videos Fare Against Other Engaging Approaches Like Microlearning, Scenario-Based Learning, And Gamification?

The interactive video based approach can leverage on existing proven techniques like microlearning, scenario-based learning, and gamification.

In fact, you can multiply the impact of interactive videos using these techniques as follows:

1. Microlearning.

You can design interactive videos as microlearning nuggets (individual or a series connected in a learning path).

2. Branching Scenarios And Decision Making Simulations.

You can have branching scenarios that take learners through different paths basis the decisions they make. These simulations work as “safe environments” for learners to explore and understand the consequences of the choices they make.

3. Gamification.

You can integrate elements of gamification in the scores of the assessments (badges or other forms of incentives) to further engage the learners.

I hope this article has helped you understand the learning impact you can create by using the power of interactive videos in your eLearning or mobile learning solutions. You can integrate approaches of microlearning, gamification, and scenarios for decision making to further their impact and achieve the required learning outcomes. If you have any questions, do contact me.

Check out our other blogs related to millennials workforce, learner engagement, interactive videos, gamification and mirolearning that you may find it interesting.

6 Strategies You Can Use To Design Effective eLearning For Your Millennial Workforce

How Can You Use Microlearning To Increase Employee Engagement And Performance?

How Can You Use Interactive Videos For Microlearning-Based Training

Source  : Turn Passivity To Interactivity: How To Use Interactive Videos For Learner Engagement

How To Create Engaging Compliance Courses Using Gamification And Microlearning - EI Design

When you think of compliance courses, possibly the first word that comes to mind is boring. Well, they tend to be boring but can be uplifted to offer better learner engagement. In this article, you will see how you can create engaging corporate compliance courses using gamification and microlearning approaches.

Using Gamification And Microlearning To Create Engaging Corporate Compliance Courses

Background: At EI Design, our corporate compliance practice is 14 years old. One in six courses that we build is on compliance. Over the years, we have used several innovative instructional strategies to create immersive and engaging compliance Training. Our mandate is “Corporate Compliance Simplified” and usage of these strategies has helped our customers see the required behavioral change that they sought.

What Innovative Instructional Strategies Can Be Used To Create Engaging Compliance Courses?

The choices when trying to create interactive compliance courses are limited only by your imagination. Some of the approaches we have used include:

1. Gamification.


2. Scenario-based.


3. Story-based.


4. Guided exploration.


5. Microlearning.

Can Gamification And Microlearning Be Used To Uplift boring Content Associated With Compliance Courses?

Absolutely. Who doesn’t like having fun? Ask your learners to choose between a standard compliance course and one with an element of gamification with it, nine out of ten times they’ll go with the latter.

Microlearning, with its innate nature of brevity and flexibility to drive home a specific message effectively, can also be a great option to enliven your corporate compliance learning subjects.

In this article, I will share 3 of the approaches (featuring gamification strategies and microlearning solutions) with examples that will illustrate how you can enhance your strategy to create more effective and interactive compliance training. The 3 approaches featured here are:

1. Gamification.


2. Partial Gamification.


3. Microlearning.

Here are the 3 examples that showcase how we integrated gamification and microlearning elements in compliance courses. These examples will help you determine how you can use them to make your compliance training interesting:

Example 1 Featuring Gamification: Used In A Course On Risk Management

Background: When dealing with corporate compliance subjects, it’s important not to get carried away with the gamification approach and overdo stuff. With this in mind, we devised our approach. Additionally, we decided that the gamification strategy:

1. Needed to have elements of both challenge and reward.


2. Must be such that the game scenario/story maps to the context of the course content.


3. Needed to provide learners with a feeling of resonance – situations that are similar to what they do in their everyday job.


4. Needed to increase the learners’ knowledge as they cleared one stage after the other.

Highlights of the concept: We came up with a gamification of learning approach that was task oriented and simulation based.

1. In line with the contextual requirement, we mapped the game scenario with the risk management theme. We posed challenges to learners at every stage of the game. As they cleared each of these challenges, they experienced incremental learning after every stage.


2. We provided the learners with a work setting (visual) that resembled their day to day environment.


3. The challenges were presented in the form of bonuses and bombs and the rewards came in the form of caps and badges.


4. That apart, we enhanced their learning experience with activities that evoked feelings of surprise and delight.


5. We provided the option of seeking help to the learners as they went about their tasks. This resonated well with the learners as they would do the same in real life in times of need. Gamification of learning helped achieve better application of knowledge and enhanced performance.

Example 2 Featuring Partial Gamification: Used In A Course On Risk Management

Background: Here, the focus was on gamifying only portions of the course and not the complete course. We decided to gamify the inline checks and the assessment section. While the rest of the course followed a more traditional approach, we used the Partial Gamification approach at points where the learners needed to answer questions to proceed to the next topic.

Our concept: Like in the previous example, we based our gamification approach on the risk management theme and asked the learners to obtain an “access key” to be able to advance from one topic to another. The learners had to answer the questions correctly at the end of every topic to obtain the access key.

The theme also reflected in the overall visual appeal of the course.

Example 3 Featuring Microlearning: Used To Reinforce Message On Conflict Management

Background: To make the compliance subject on conflicts of interest interesting, we created a microlearning nugget using the whiteboard animation technique. We used this nugget as a Performance Support Tool/Learning Aid and made it available to learners on tablets/smartphones/desktops/laptops. This made it easy for them to refer to the nugget at the time of their need on mobile devices.

Focus of the microlearning nugget: The microlearning nugget was built to complement a compliance course on conflict management. We kept the message and animations/illustrations simple providing the learners with a great mix of action on the screen and time to comprehend the message. To reinforce the message, we backed the visuals with audio.

The nugget conveyed in simple terms that conflicts do exist, how one can recognize them, and how they can be resolved.

By Using Strategies Like Gamification And Microlearning, What Tangible Gains Will You See?

While the compliance mandate does come with a few strings attached, there is no denying that you need to have elements of engagement that can create sticky learning experiences so that this learning gets translated into application on the job.

By using innovative learning strategies like gamification and microlearning for creating engaging compliance courses, you will see clear gains for both learners and business. Specifically:

Gains From Learner Perspective:

1. High learner engagement.


2. Immersive experience: The courses are taken with genuine interest (no bitter pill but learners will enjoy the experience).

Gains From Business Perspective:

1. Instils the spirit of “why comply”.


2. Leads to the required behavioral change.

I hope this article showcases the gains of using innovative learning strategies like gamification and microlearning to create engaging compliance courses. If you have any questions, do contact me.

Check out our other blogs related to compliance, gamification and mirolearning you may find it interesting.

Compliance Simplified: Using Creative Instructional Design Approaches

How To Create A Meaningful And Engaging Compliance Course

Why Adopt Gamification For Corporate Training – 8 Questions Answered

The Microlearning Solution: Is Microlearning Right For You?

Source  : Create Engaging Compliance Courses Using Gamification And Microlearning - EI Design Blog 

How To Predict And Measure The Learnability Of Online Courses - EI Design

Although the significance of measuring learnability (or learning effectiveness) of online courses is well-established, achieving it is difficult. This article will outline key aspects of our unique framework that you can use to predict, measure, and validate the learnability of online courses.

Why Is Measuring Learning Effectiveness Or Learnability Of Online Courses Vital For Learning And Development Teams?

As we know, to create a positive ROI on your training spend, the biggest enabling factor is the learning effectiveness or learnability of online courses. A better and meaningful user experience increases the stickiness of learning. It also increases the learners’ motivation to take the course leading to higher completion rates.

Once these are in line, you can expect to see an increased application of the learning and this in turn will lead to the desired impact on learner and business.

By evaluating your online courses for learnability, you can predict its impact as well as identify measures to increase it. This will go a long way in achieving a positive ROI on your training spend.

What Are The Challenges That Learning And Development Teams Face In Determining Learnability Of Online Courses (Legacy As Well As New)?

There are several ways that can be adopted to measure learnability of online courses. However, there are not many offerings to pick from that provide an integrated approach which can:

1. Begin with the analysis (particularly relevant for existing courses).
2. Provide the guidelines that will create the required learnability (for new courses).
3. Predict learnability.
4. Measure learnability and provide recommendations (and remediation, if required).
5. Validate the predictive learnability from users in real time.
6. Provide analysis.
7. Identify the gaps.
8. Provide recommendations on exactly how the identified gap can be bridged.
9. Close the loop by recalibrating the existing approach (based on actual user feedback).
10. Establish the required learnability.

What Are The Highlights Of Our Framework And How Closely Does It Map To The Wish-List Shown Here To Predict And Measure The Learnability Of Online Courses?

At EI Design, we have been offering custom learning and performance solutions for over 14 years now. Our learning methodologies not only map to learners’ expectations, but also create the required behavioral change that businesses require.

In Jan’15, we set up a task force to work with a mandate to create a framework that can predict and measure learnability of online courses.

A product of our Innovation Lab, our unique framework is now ready. This enables you to:

• Evaluate and measure learnability.
• Validate the predictive learnability from users through real time surveys.
• Use our analytics to enhance/remediate/reinforce the current approach to meet the required learnability.

Here is a snapshot of our goals and the methodology used:

Our Goals: What We Set Out To Achieve

1. Have a predictive methodology to build learning effectiveness and efficacy into training.
2. Scientifically measure the courses to diagnose issues that reduce effectiveness and hamper performance.
3. Improve learner friendliness and retention, meet the prescribed cognition level, and improve ROI for our customers.
4. Provide crucial insights for future learning interventions that can enhance effectiveness of the training curriculum and performance for the learner.

Our Methodology: How We Made It Happen

1. We began with research and detailed analysis of data from internal and external sources – issues, feedback, guidelines, best practices, user acceptance test results, and so on.
2. Classified all data points into factors that affect learnability.
3. Generated measurable parameters from each factor.
4. Generated metrics which can be used to further group the parameters based on the scope and goals of learnability. This includes metrics based on task performance, interface usage, content and cognition, design elements, interface and navigation help, and usability.
5. Assigned criticality values for all the parameters based on impact and occurrence.
6. Generated cumulative learnability index aggregating the values of all the parameters.
7. Created development guidelines for cross functional teams to build learnability into courses.

As you will note, our approach is aligned closely to the wish-list we had seen earlier.

• Our approach enables you to apply the learnability guidelines to the new courses and enhance the learnability of legacy courses.
• Additionally, the predictive component can be validated by live users.
• The analytics enables you to recaliberate, as required till you reach the required learnability index.

How Can You Use Our Framework To Measure And Predict Learnability Of Your Online Courses?

You can use our framework for your:

1. Existing courses.
   To evaluate the current learnability and identify measures to enhance it.
2. New courses.
   To predict learnability and more importantly validate with your learners real time.

Specifically, the range of our services include:

• Creation of parameters for learnability evaluation.
• Updating of parameters based on actual evaluation (including bifurcation of parameters to be evaluated on program level and screen level).
• Formulation of an implementation strategy to get predictive and diagnostic measurement of learning efficacy using the parameters and guidelines.
• Evaluation of courses using formative and summative evaluation with actual users.

What More Is Possible?

1. Analysis on how to address extended learnability which enables better performance for the learner on the program and on the job: We can monitor a group of users over a period of time and evaluate them based on the metrics. Then we can come up with insights on how to use specific learning interventions to improve performance further.
2. Build frameworks on how the learnability metrics and data gathered from users over extended learnability can be used to generate tangible values to improve ROI.

While we have done extensive testing of our framework and the methodology, we are very keen to partner with organizations in this mandate. Do contact me if you would be interested in signing up to measure and predict learnability/ learning effectiveness of your online courses. 

This article is one of the three articles on how to measure and predict learnability of online courses. In the next two articles, I will share case studies that will outline how exactly you can predict and measure learnability plus how you can validate the predictive learnability from learners (in real time).

You may find below articles interesting and for more such articles refer EIDesign Blog by Asha Pandey.  

• How To Increase The Effectiveness Of Your Mobile Learning Strategy
• The Microlearning Solution: Is Microlearning Right For You?
• Two Good: Why Social Learning And Microlearning Make A Great Combination
• How To Create Engaging Compliance Courses Using Gamification And Microlearning

Source : How To Predict And Measure The Learnability Of Online Courses by Asha Pandey, Chief Learning Strategist, EI Design