mobile
Into the mainstream M
Dominic Mason asks what the business needs from mobile
ake no mistake about it: smart thinking on mobile learning and communications is now a prime requirement for organisations across all sectors of business. What was once seen as a blue-sky opportunity is increasingly coming to be
viewed more as a necessity – if we are to rise to the issues thrown up in today’s challenging business climate.
Mobile boosts workforce productivity Training budgets are flat where they are not on the decrease, products cycles are shorter, organisations more globalised and more dispersed, and the workforce has bigger and more pressing information needs than ever before. Mobile has some answers to help with these challenges.
The use of mobile devices is already impacting productivity in the workplace. According to a 2011 survey from iPass, 75% of staff use apps to assist in their day- to-day work. RIM, makers of Blackberry, claims that staff with access to services via smartphone spend at least 25 minutes a day more working productively. The behaviour of ordinary people in the workforce around technology is
changing rapidly and radically in response to the new generation of personal computing devices – including smart-phones, e-readers and tablets. There is a sea-change under way in how people access and use information which impacts directly on how they learn (and want to learn). The result is a growing upward pressure within organisations to have learning delivered the same way as all other types of digital information: instantly, interactively, wherever I happen to be, 24/7.
Nine business requirements So how are organisations to rise to this challenge, and get real bang for their bucks out of mobile? My company’s work with clients on large-scale mobile consulting programmes indicates that businesses tend to have the following nine high-level requirements from an enterprise-level architecture for mobile learning:
Platforms. Smartphones are now ubiquitous in many employee populations, and the iPad was named the fastest-selling device ever. The tablet format is proving especially useful for learning. But fashion in consumer electronics is fickle, and organisations need an approach that is future-proofed and adaptable.
Design. Mobile puts many specific constraints on learning design and also allows many new unforeseen possibilities, especially with the use of ‘native’ or onboard functionality, such as GPS and camera. Simply repurposing desktop e-learning for mobile devices is certainly not going to be the whole of the story. At the same time, organisations need an authoring workflow that is easy and quick, as well as adaptable; and totally relevant to the mobile delivery situation.
Content. With the right strategy, content need not be dumbed-down or lowest- common-denominator: mobile content can be as rich and engaging as anything on the desktop. Neither can content be allowed to remain fixed, when mobile content can be instantly updateable. Also, learners are far more search-driven, so content must be searchable. Existing learning content may need to be disaggregated. In this new multi-device world, effective management of learning content is a central need.
Security. Every leap forward in technology brings with it new security dangers. So with mobile. Learning content might be confidential, as in defence, or commercially sensitive. Organisations have a duty of care for their employees, and a potential liability if those employees are seen to be breaching privacy or copyright laws. Your strategy for mobile needs to take account of the need for data and content to be secured.
Scaling. Approaches and methodologies that work for a pilot will not necessarily stand up when you’re dealing with an organisation-wide programme. Mobile needs to be scalable across the organisation. This means taking account of the many devices learning might be accessed on, and the situations in which it is accessed and used. It draws in IT infrastructure and the legal and cultural issues
12 e.learning age april 2012
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