With the rising popularity of portable devices, learners are turning to their tablets and smartphones to develop their skill sets. In this blog I'll share 5 tips and tricks to boost effectiveness mobile learning courses to take it to the next level, offering learners an unforgettable learning experience.
The success of a Mobile Learning Course depends on its effectiveness as time goes by. With the rising popularity of portable devices, learners are turning to their tablets and smartphones to develop their skill sets. Apart from the benefits of mobile learning, it is noteworthy to mention how learners are able to complete courses at leisure, without the fear of deadlines or being away from work. It is often assumed and there are preconceived notions that only the millennial workforce prefers mobile learning. However, given the rise in the usage of smartphones, most people prefer learning on the go. With mobile learning we see higher rates of course completion. In this blog I’ll share 5 tips and tricks to boost effectiveness mobile learning courses to take it to the next level, offering learners an unforgettable learning experience.
1. Offer Bite-Sized Learning Opportunities
Learners need information. Bite-sized courses are perfectly “tailored” to their brains, which is more effective in comprehending morsels of information compared to mountains of data. What you could do is, create short, 2 to 4-minute videos that can accessed on their devices, anywhere, anytime. You could offer bite-sized learning in the form of infographics, job-aids, or flip cards. Learners will be able to rapidly digest short bursts of information, regardless of their crammed schedules. It is always better to keep the audio narration the bare minimum as learners will be accessing the video in different settings.
2. Discussion Through Mobile Apps
The best part of a mobile learning experience is that learners can team up with their peers and get the needed support from instructors at any time. You could also assimilate the collaborative component of learning into the mobile learning course. You can create discussion forums within the mobile apps that encourage learners to use mobile apps to interact with other learners. Give them the opportunity to engage in active discussions on the app that could prove beneficial, allowing them to explore concepts at length.
This way, every learner will be able to voice their opinion, especially those who may not be comfortable speaking up in a physical classroom setting. When they work in smaller groups they can retain some sense of anonymity. Learners can chat and discuss, with or without the instructor, on a topic discussed in class to increase comprehension of notions. This will surely boost the efficiency of their mobile learning experience.
3. Learning Flexibility
Mobile learning offers learners the flexibility by making content such as videos, podcasts, and other multimedia formats accessible on smartphones and tablets. Another feature that you can incorporate into your mobile learning courses is User Generated Content. It encourages learners to share their experience about the topic being discussed that in turn helps other learners gain more knowledge. The social reach is higher and learner engagement increases. Let’s take the example of a hardware technician who finds an easy way to troubleshoot an issues, he could shoot a video of the same and upload it on the LMS for the benefit of other learners.
Apple’s #ShotOnIphone campaign is an apt example of User Generated Content. In this campaign, Apple iPhone users were encouraged to shoot pictures using their iPhones, which were later published the world over. The strategy is simple, when a customer gets firsthand proof of the product, they are more willing to make their purchase. Similarly, in eLearning, when learners share their firsthand experience with other learners, it enhances the learning experience.
4. Gamified Micro Assessments
Assessments play a crucial role in assessing the understanding and knowledge of a learner. However, boring assessments can make learners lose interest. So, how do you make assessments engaging and effective? Regardless of the age of your target audience, promoting assessments through games makes the learning experience more efficient and meaningful. When you integrate gamified micro assessments into the mobile learning strategy, the prospects of exploring the topic on their own increases and it eventually helps in expanding their understanding of the topic. This can be used to complement the primary learning program.
5. Social Learning
New technologies have driven us not only to alter our assumptions about individual life, yet more as of late and similarly significantly to change the ways we work. Many of us can do our work pretty much anyplace, and whenever. What’s more, bosses anticipate that employees to remain connected with the working environment day in and day out. Collaborative learning is acknowledged as a solid strategy for adult learners. Today, mLearning or mobile learning makes it less demanding for learners to talk about, think, share, work together, and learn. One of the most noteworthy benefits of collaborative social learning is constant peer-based feedback. Within the LMS framework, you can integrate discussion forums, access to Twitter, Facebook and other social sharing apps wherein learners can share their learning or post questions to initiate discussions with other learners.
Therefore, if you wish to increase your learning base, invest well in mobile learning. When we talk about investment, we are talking about investing in a well-thought out and well-executed learning investment. This will surely help you boost effective mobile learning courses.
