1.
Slide to unlock – learning
design for the mobile learner
Caroline Freeman – Senior Learning Designer
Rich Calcutt – Learning Designer
January 2014
www.brightwave.co.uk

2.
Where we're coming from
A learning design
perspective:
• Impact of mobile
• Future designs
(the old and the new)

3.
Mobile = on all devices

4.
"Gaining momentum"
Mobile learning very or extremely effective:
Push
notifications
to mobile
devices
Mobile
video
Mobile
performance
support
69%
64%
62%
Brandon Hall survey Mobile Learning 2013

5.
Can do better
Organisations still deploying content too big to be
highly effective on mobile devices.
Average
length of a
mobile video
Performance
support
materials
Games
9.5
12.3
18.1
minutes
minutes
minutes
Brandon Hall survey Mobile Learning 2013

6.
Responsive web design
One design to rule them all?

7.
Horses for courses
Design for the device:
• Football scores – mobile (reference)
• Video highlights – tablet (browsing)
• Match report, analysis, tables, stats –
PC/laptop (reflection)

8.
Radically responsive
design
The end of the e-learning module
as we know it

9.
E-learning deconstructed
Read
Watch
Interact
Listen
Push & pull

10.
Interactive video
From laser disc
to
smart phone…

11.
The moral of the story… so far
• Radically responsive design - using the
devices the way people want to use
them
• Remember reading, watching, listening
• ‘Interactive’ is more than a screen type

12.
Three concepts that define the best
mobile experiences:
1. Push and pull
2. Recording and
sharing
3. Keeping it real

13.
1. Push and pull
Content value is defined by supply
and demand.
Mobile technology means there's no excuse
for being irrelevant.

14.
Ban.jo
Content pushed in real time to meet an
interest now.
The service defines what's meaningful using
mobile data.
"By alerting you to friends nearby and
other interesting people, [the app]
reveals moments you'd have otherwise
missed."
Curation happens in real time within
communities of interest.

15.
The App Store
Apps are downloaded at a point of need:
•
•
•
•
•
Shazam – "What's this song?"
Google Maps – "I'm lost"
Apple Maps – "I want to get lost"
TripAdvisor – "Where's safe to eat?"
Angry Birds – "This seminar is boring"
Users curate the most relevant content.
Content is disposable.

16.
Think of your mobile
content like an app
– can users
pull it easily?

17.
If you're going to push
something, make it
relevant and meaningful.
Let me find what I need
when I need it.

18.
2. Recording and sharing
On a PC, we're often
detached from our
'real' lives.
Mobiles come with us
into the arena of
practice – they are by
our side when we're
learning and doing.

19.
• Tracking is no longer about pass or fail,
complete or incomplete
• We must broaden our definition and allow
learners to track what they want, how they
want
• Feedback is validating and helps create
meaning – mobile apps should facilitate
tracking real activity

20.
Tracking can be more
than a quiz score –
record what learners
find meaningful.

21.
Users record activity and
track progress in real time
without interrupting
normal practices.
"Log your activities to trick
your brain into turning
actions into habits."

22.
Learning designs for mobile should include
tangible milestones that can be tracked with
mobile technology.
• GPS
• Photo
• Video
• Voice recording
• "Checking in"
Today I went mountain biking.
or…

23.
"I share, therefore I am" – Sherry Turkle
• Share anything
• Friends & family
• Increasingly boring
– parent zone
• Share 140 characters
• Celebrities and
strangers
• Still relevant
• Share photos
• Strangers
• Mostly food
pictures
• Time limits
• Reclaiming content
ownership
• In the moment
…What we share is getting more spontaneous, more meaningful.
What we share must feel authentic and genuine in a specific
moment. We can do this with mobile.

24.
3. Keeping it real
Mobile technology is a great thing, but it
has its challenges.
Are we
disconnected
from each
other and
our world?
Are we
dependant on
them for
security,
validation,
entertainment?
Have our
everyday
practices
changed for
the better or
worse?

25.
Connected – but not
to the moment

26.
We must avoid
'second life syndrome'
– mobile cannot be
a retreat from
real life activity.

27.
We need to push the boundaries
of what we think of as 'mobile'.
What is the mobile learning
philosophy?
• Access to learning at the right time, in the
right place
• Mobile learning doesn't divorce us from our
real physical practices
• Relevant, meaningful recording and sharing

28.
To me, this epitomises the mobile philosophy
• Removes physical barriers to practice
– frees our eyes and hands to see
and do
• Information on demand overlaid
onto the world on front of us
• Built for sharing experiences
• Reduced time and space between
learning, doing, recording and
tracking

29.
We must avoid
any temptation to think
about 'normal' e-learning
on such devices –
this is a new paradigm.

30.
Intel: 2014 – the year of wearable
mobile technology
Intel: 'Edison', 'Jarvis', Smartwatch. An enveloping world of
mobile devices for mobile learners.

31.
Don't allow mobile
to detract from
real practices and
real experiences.
Content must be
meaningful - right
place, right time,
on demand.
Sharing is caring –
we share things for a
reason, and nobody
shares things they
don't find meaningful.

32.
"The future is on its way,
and it is going to be on
your face.
We need to think about it and
be ready for it in a way we
weren't with smartphones.
While you and I may make fun
of 'Glassholes' today, come
tomorrow we're all going to
be right there with them, or at
least very close by.
Wearables are where we're
going. Let's be ready."
– Matt Honan, Wired

33.
Any questions?
@drdigitalis; @elearner_rich
Come and see us on
Stand 116
January 2014
www.brightwave.co.uk