Mobile Learning: What are the Uses of Mobile Learning Apps - EI Design

http://www.eidesign.nethttp://www.eidesign.net
mLearning: What Are the Uses of Mobile Apps?
Part of Mobile Learning Solutions Series
Presented by
www.eidesign.net
Author-Asha Pandey
Chief Learning Strategist, EI Design
apandey@eidesign.net
1

http://www.eidesign.net
About EI Design (www.eidesign.net)
2
Years of Learning Solutions
Expertise
14
7000 Hours of eLearning
Developed
400
Hours of Localisation
In 26 Languages Developed
82.3%
Customer
Retention Rate
20+ Industry Verticals
Serviced
Countries – The Breadth of Our
Customer Base
16
900
Hours of Mobile Learning
Developed

Our portfolio and the range of our services
3
Core services:
Core services: Our rich portfolio includes:
1. Custom Course development eLearning /
mLearning
2. Migration of legacy courses to HTML 5
3. Localisation
4. ILT / VILT and Blended Learning
5. Performance Support Tools
Off-the-shelf Products:
1. Suite on Instructional Design
2. Suite on generic Compliance
Value added Services : Comprehensive evaluation
strategy (cuts across various training formats)
1. Efficacy of learning (the learnability and gain
for learners)
2. Impact of training (the gain for business)
3. Return of Investment (ROI) on training
Beyond Learning: We also offer several Learning
Support services that can be used to promote
eLearning adoption or specific mandates like change
management.

Increasingly, Mobile Learning or mLearning is
becoming an integral part of an organization’s
learning strategy. Today, many organizations have
a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy in place
that recognizes the learners’ demand to choose
the device they wish to use for learning.
4

5
In this article, I will outline the usage of Mobile
Apps for learning. Mobile Apps are one of the
delivery formats that offer the additional flexibility
of offline viewing of the eLearning course to the
learners from their mobile devices. (They need to
have an internet access to download the course
and then they can view it with/without the internet
connection. However, to track their progress
through the LMS, they must be connected to the
internet as only then can their progress information
be passed on to the LMS).

6
mLearning effectively blends the “anytime-
anywhere access” to varied forms of learning
delivery. The options available on mobile devices
today include formal training, supplements to
formal training and specific Performance Support
Tools (PSTs).

Where do Mobile Apps find the right fit in today’s learning strategy?
In my earlier article “Improving ROI in eLearning”, I
had referred to the Five Moments of Need model (by
Dr. Conrad Gottfredson) that can be used to ascertain
when learners seek learning support.
7
According to him, learners seek support in the “Five
Moments of Need”:
• When they are learning an aspect for the first
time (New)
• When they want to deep-dive and learn more
(More)
• When they want to apply or remember
something (Apply)
• When they need to solve a problem or fix
something that has gone wrong (Solve)
• When something changes (Change)
Let us see how this model can be used to determine
the right fit for Mobile Apps for learning too.

Where do Mobile Apps for learning provide an edge?
If you look at the five moments of learning need, the first two typically map to formal training while the next three map
to Performance Support Tools (PSTs). Mobile Apps can be used equally effectively to offer formal training (bite-sized) or
supplement formal training. But this is not all. PSTs (particularly Ready Reckoners, Checklists, Tips, and so on) are designed
to be made available to learners within their work-flow. Making them accessible to the learners on their mobile devices
encourages them to use it on the job. Hence, PSTs are a great fit for Mobile Apps.
8
Let us look at these possibilities in further detail through some examples.

For primary learning (formal training): They can be
used for primary learning provided they are packed
as micro-learning nuggets.
9
Example 1: Parts of Induction programme available as a Mobile App: This is helpful for new employees to get flexibility to read part
of the information in offline mode.
• Mobile Apps can be a good fit for mandatory
courses (such as Compliance) where the
extended flexibility of accessing the course
even when not connected over the internet
can increase the completion rates within the
stipulated time.
• They can also be used to render the
components of Induction programs.

As a supplement to formal training
10
Example 2: A Time Management Gamified App to practice of Time Management exercises.
• Mobile Apps are a good fit to provide pre and
post assessments for formal training (online
or blended).
• They can be effectively used as practice
sessions or reinforcements of formal training
through Videos/Examples/Scenarios.

Performance Support Tools (PSTs): This is where
Mobile Apps can be used effectively in several
initiatives such as:
11
Example 3: A Mobile App demonstrating the processes to be followed on the job, as a ready reckoner.
• Change Management initiatives
• Support to Compliance initiatives
• Short summaries of key policies, procedures,
guidelines, and so on

Social Learning: This is an emerging area for usage
of Mobile Apps that can encourage collaborative
learning. Learners can share their inputs and
learning experiences and also upload content that
can be curated and shared with other learners.
12
Example 4: An app for reporting suspected violation of compliance

http://www.eidesign.net13
What aspects you should watch out for before initiating Mobile Apps for learning?
• Learning strategy: This is the start point and the L&D
team must identify suitable areas of learning delivery
through Mobile Apps.
• Organizational learning culture: This can be an
impediment if a majority of the learners are not
comfortable with mobile device-based learning. To
mitigate this, L&D teams can start with programs that
find a good fit for Mobile Apps and build from this
success to encourage other learners.
• Organizational policy: It is also possible that while
learners are ready to embrace this kind of learning, the
organization may not be ready with a policy to support
it. In such situations, Mobile Apps can still be used to
promote awareness programs (including Change
Management initiatives) and these success stories can
help management re-look at their policies.
• Technology issues: The LMS needs to have support for
Mobile delivery and this change/upgrade may have a
significant cost associated to it.

14
As we have seen so far, Mobile Apps can support
both informal (including Performance Support)
and social learning models. In a bite-sized mode,
it can also be used for formal training.

http://www.eidesign.net15
EI Design Pvt Ltd
Corporate Office and Development Centre
#160, Arun Arch,
9th Cross, Indiranagar 1st Stage
Bangalore - 560 038, India.
www.eidesign.net
Asha Pandey,
CMD and Chief Learning Strategist
Tel (Direct): +91-80-25202679
Board: +91-80-25202677 / 25202678
Mobile: +91-98450-61484
Email: apandey@eidesign.net

Mobile Learning: What are the Uses of Mobile Learning Apps - EI Design

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (15)

More from EI Design

More from EI Design (6)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Mobile Learning: What are the Uses of Mobile Learning Apps - EI Design