Mobile learning solutions may seem like the latest trend in corporate development activities, but creating accessible content from mobile devices is not a fad. The market for mobile learning is expected to grow¹ from $37.6 billion by 2020.
Driven by demographic changes including a shift in learner profiles toward a younger, tech-savvy group, as well as the increasing preference for mobile technology applications in everyday situations, mobile learning solutions offer corporate training a host of advantages over other delivery methods.
Benefits of mobile learning solutions over traditional delivery methods include:
- Flexibility. A mobile learning solution offers participants unparalleled flexibility. Classes can be taken at any time in any location so that participants can fit training activities in at their convenience. Accessible training is available from different mobile devices including laptop, smartphone, or tablet. Further, supplementary content can be added including podcasts, videos, or other materials accessible by mobile device.
- Engagement. 72% of survey participants reported² increased engagement with mobile learning, completing courses an average of 45% faster than employees using desktop solutions. Engagement can be further increased by incorporating different types of delivery within mobile content – gamification, videos, and microlearning modules, for example.
- Collaboration. Mobile learning solutions make it easy to create a team within a development course, using mobile communication methods to discuss, deliberate, and share ideas with one another. Collaboration ensures that you don’t lose the social aspect of training, reinforcing material and increasing retention of information.
- Integrated learning path. Mobile learning solutions can be easily integrated with mobile device features to help create a personalized, continuing learning path for individual students. A smartphone notification can be sent to remind participants to check in or to let them know that a new module is available. A training segment can be added to an online calendar, automatically scheduled at a preferred time of day, around other commitments. Learning path checkpoints can be sent to employee managers or the training department so that invested parties immediately know if someone is in danger of falling behind.
- Microlearning. Microlearning is a targeted learning session, approximately 5 minutes, in which a participant masters one or two key learning objectives. It has become a powerful tool for learning: one study³ found that microlearning participants retained 22% more information, on average than students using traditional means. Additionally, microlearning courses are less expensive to create, more flexible in content and inspire focus and feelings of achievement in participants. Mobile devices are the best way to deliver microlearning content – employees can access information easily, connect to your LMS with WiFi, and complete a microlearning module quickly, at their convenience.
There are approximately 350 million smartphone users in the United States, and the average user typically touches that phone 2,617 times per day4. Making training content available on a mobile device, so that development activities become more convenient to access and complete helps to increase employee participation, retention, and engagement.
To see how a how mobile learning solutions could improve your employee learning experience, claim a free 10 minute assessment today.
¹ http://www.elearninglearning.com/2016/mobile-learning/statistics/?open-article-id=5430843&article-title=6-reasons-mobile-learning-appeals-to-modern-learners&blog-domain=insynctraining.com&blog-title=insync-training
² https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/331987/mobile-learning-stats-that-will-make-you-rethink-your-training-strategy
³ http://blog.grovo.com/microlearning-22-percent-more-retention/?utm_campaign=elearningindustry.com&utm_source=%2F10-reasons-need-microlearning-in-2017&utm_medium=link
4 http://blog.grovo.com/microlearning-22-percent-more-retention/?utm_campaign=elearningindustry.com&utm_source=%2F10-reasons-need-microlearning-in-2017&utm_medium=link