Forum Discussion
Mobile Learning
I am wondering if anyone has any particularly positive or negative experiences leveraging mobile learning content with their organization.
What went well? What are the downsides? Was it worth it?
We've had mixed success in some areas and very positive experiences in others. In our case, we issued tablets to our utility plant workforce; all can now log in and complete training using the tablets by accessing the corporate LMS. This is a good thing, once we got the protocols ironed out and documented.
At the same time, it also underscored an identified gap: who's responsible to support both the learner/employee and the tablet/device? And that's been both a thorn in everyone's side and an opportunity, for the group that is willing to own it. And who will own the costs of upgrading the devices in three or four years?
It's a journey, not a destination, and there will be a time (sooner, we hope) when employees will access and complete training on mobile devices, like they are doing with typical work tasks (completing work orders and such). We're closer than we were two years ago. But we're dealing with a great degree of organizational stubbornness / resistance to change; though it's far less than what it was, we still need to eliminate this barrier in order to have more regular completion of training on mobile devices.
Interesting! I'm assuming your audience didn't have easy/regular access to a computer, so the tablet solution made sense-- though it sounds like it came with some challenges.
The audience I am working with typically works in an office setting with access to a personal laptop, outside of occasional travel. Generally, they will be able to review training content on the laptop. Nonetheless, leadership is interested in mobile learning, since it seems to be a trend in the industry. Therefore, I'm curious how (or if) we could leverage this to improve learner experience.
I would say that if the training can be accessed separate from the corporate VPN you would likely have a lower barrier to adoption than what we have experienced. Ideally, it would be as simple as going to a designated location, accessing the training content, and then having a back-end system record the results.
There's a few good products out there that would do this for you all. Sounds like you have an interesting project in front of you! Good luck!
