In a short time, our world has changed. We now have the ability to create interactive elearning content and publish it on mobile devices, including iPhones, using HTML5. Within a few months I am absolutely confident that Blueline’s designers will be able to distribute our award-winning computer based elearning and esimulations via every mobile device imaginable.
But just because we can, does that mean we should? (That’s a great question that one of the characters posed in the movie Jurassic Park. You may remember what happened to them.)
Before I go any further, let’s define our terms. Learning delivered on your phone qualifies as mobile learning. Learning on your desktop computer is not mobile learning.
What about learning on your laptop or iPad? In terms of defining “mobile,” those are gray areas. Sure, I can take them all with me all the time, but I don’t. I take my laptop on business trips. I use my iPad when I am around the house. But not always.
However, I never – literally NEVER – am more than a few feet away from my iPhone. Any content that comes to me on my iPhone is, in the purest sense, mobile.
Mobile Data… or Mobile Learning
And here’s where I make my point: It’s easy to get caught up in the belief that all learning should now be developed for mobile. That everything we create from now on should be developed in HTML5 or one of the myriad of publishing tools that promises to deliver everything that we create to our iPhones, iPads, BlackBerrys and Android devices.
But it’s just not true. There, I said it.
But sift through the hype, and you’ll discover some important opportunities. Mobile Learning IS transformational. It has already reshaped what and how we learn. Gone are the days of memorizing vast amounts of information for instant recall. I now have instant access to vast libraries of information, far more than I could have ever hoped to memorize in my lifetime. The skills needed to effectively consume and apply that information are the real Holy Grail.
Mobile Learning makes it possible for us to access just about any knowledge we desire wherever we are, just when we need it. In this way, it represents a tremendous breakthrough for reference and performance support. Which is where “true” mobile learning shines.
So what does that mean for designers and developers of training? Your job just got harder on multiple levels. First, you have to tell the business leaders banging on your door that mobile learning doesn’t effectively eliminate ALL time away from the job dedicated to learning and development. And second, you need to think through a multi-dimensional blended learning strategy that balances classroom, virtual classroom, online and mobile strategies to maximize impact on the business.
Well actually, that last part is really good news. Because never before did you have so many awesome tools at your disposal to deliver value to your business partners.
And, if you have questions or want to brainstorm potential strategies for putting these exciting new platforms to work in your organization, Blueline is here to help!
