multi-device
Conquering the many
Fiona Quigley reveals some useful tips to help instructional designers create better multi-device e-learning content.
M
ulti-device learning is happening now. The argument is won. Research by Google indicates that 90% of people now swap devices throughout the day. People aren’t just ‘going mobile’, they’re using several mobile and static devices. Towards
Maturity’s 2014/2015 benchmark study found that 74% of respondents are using mobile devices to access learning and 45% of organisations now support bring your own device (BYOD). Clearly it’s no longer enough to try to reach people on a single device. E-learning creators must find out how people juggle screens throughout the day and be there when needed. This is no simple matter. Creative advertising professionals will tell you about the complexities and challenges of delivering the
Figure 1: Example of Multi-Device Course
same message effectively across different platforms. It’s now time for learning professionals to step up to standards of the world’s other creative institutions and make sure our solutions work effectively across the board. The challenge is getting all that content onto those tiny screens. It’s a design
process that is forcing developers into the ‘less is more’ paradigm. For the last two years, I’ve been part of a team focused on developing this paradigm for multi- device content. Here’s a summary of some of the things we’ve learnt:
Be clear what you mean by ‘mobile’ M-learning or mobile learning has been defined as “learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices”.1
This is undoubtedly true but doesn’t really take us anywhere near
understanding the challenge. The phrase ‘mobile learning’ takes in a whole range of learning experiences and environments. Many learning professionals will visualise e-learning content somehow squeezed down to fit a smaller screen. Or multiple versions of the same e-learning content, with some content ‘switched’ off to make better use of the device’s real estate. But equally it might be talking of a dedicated device app for learning a specific skill. Type the word ‘learn’ or ‘learning’ into the Apple App Store search bar and it will swamp you with more than 37,000 results. More simply, mobile learning may just be about using your phone or tablet to find things on Google or Wikipedia. In reality, mobile learning is all of these and more. Technically, mobile responsive content means that content will adjust how it displays, depending on the size of the screen. See Figure 1 for an example of an e-learning course on sustainability delivered on a range of devices: desktop PC, iPad mini, and iPhone.
38 e.learning age june 2015
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