Learning in the palm of your hand

Some interesting changes are taking place in Learning & Development. In many organisations, there has been a cultural shift from seeing ‘training as an event’ to ‘learning as a journey’. Trainers - instead of being the ‘sage on the stage’ - are becoming ‘the guide on the side’: business partners and members of a collaborative team focussed on performance. The entire balance of training is tilting away from the classroom and closer to 24/7 access to a myriad of learning assets.

Technology has made this possible. It is also facilitating further change, as smartphones and tablet computers such as the iPad now offer a dynamic and innovative way for individuals to consume learning content. As a result, the world is entering into a new era of mobile learning.

The use of technology for learning has a long and sometimes chequered history. Experiments with ‘technology-based training’ began in the 1970s, in an attempt to improve the effectiveness of learning and to cut down on the time and expense of classroom-based training. With the advent of desktop personal computers in the 1980s, this evolved into computer-based training, then into e-learning and more recently into online learning.

The PC created an expectation that workplace training was going to be transformed. When the term e-learning was coined in 1997 - by the US learning strategist Jay Cross - it was thought that this was the blueprint for the future and that no one would ever train in a classroom again. Of course, this didn’t happen. What did happen was that organisations - and suppliers - were forced to learn some painful lessons.

It’s not that e-learning was a bad idea. The problem was that it just wasn’t done very well. Several factors, including dull courseware and learner indifference, meant that success was patchy. However, after the lessons were taken onboard, e-learning did eventually get its act together. So much so that today’s e-learning programmes - which are a far cry from their early counterparts - are now used in 67% of UK organisations.

Ten lessons from e-learning

All of this has implications for mobile learning (or m-learning as it is termed), which can be defined as utilising handheld devices to access learning content.

M-learning is extremely fortunate to be following in e-learning’s footsteps. Because mistakes were made with e-learning - and because people are now much more comfortable with technology - m-learning is simply a much more viable proposition.

So what exactly has been learned from e-learning? Ten lessons stand out and these should be considered as good practice guidelines for m-learning. They are:

1. Start with the learner. In the past, there’s been an over-emphasis on technology and an under-emphasis on the realities of learning and the learner in organisations. Yes, technology has always been able to improve access and increase efficiency, speed and productivity in terms of the way information and opportunities for learning are delivered to individuals. But a key lesson from e-learning is that technology is merely an enabler in the learning process. You still have to focus on the learning. Before even considering which technology platform to utilise, L&D teams should recognise the needs, preferences, strengths and limitations of the populations they are trying to reach. Questions should be asked, such as: What skills do people need to learn in the organisation? What are their preferences for learning? Why should they be willing to acquire the necessary skills and how can technology assist in that process?

2. Learning is not training. There is a conceptual distinction between the two. Training is something the organisation provides; learning is something that lies in the domain of the learner. Only learners can learn. You can offer people great content but they’ll only learn if they’re motivated.

3. Effective learning demands engagement. The essential principle here is that people learn nothing when they’re asleep and very little when they’re bored. To learn, we have to be engaged. One of the problems for e-learning was that early courses often comprised endless screens of text, with limited interactivity. Not surprisingly they were seen as boring. The clear challenges, which are highly applicable for m-learning, are to make your content fun and interesting and to design specifically for the medium. This view was supported, in a recent webinar we ran at Video Arts, by Elliott Masie, the US analyst of workforce learning and emerging technologies. He said that m-learning developers should be designing specifically for handheld devices, not just ‘porting’ across e-learning content to a smaller screen or dumping some text from a website into an app.

4. Video is the killer application. E-learning really began to gain a foothold when it started to incorporate video. Video has always been a popular and effective means of training because it stimulates, engages and entertains people, triggering them to think, feel and do things differently. It allows quite complex ideas, particularly ones around soft skills behaviour, to be put across in a short space of time. User demand is therefore likely to favour video-rich m-learning programmes. Different types of video clips can be utilised. For example, in our programmes, we include ‘wrong-way, right-way’ scenarios, as these are effective at demonstrating behaviours or reinforcing a key message.

5. Create ‘just-in-time’ learning. The big advantages of e-learning are that people can go through a course at their own pace; they are not away from their desks for long periods and they can choose to learn (or brush up on) specific, salient points. M-learning offers all of these benefits too. However handheld devices have even more potential for providing real just-in-time performance support and learning content for staff on-the-move. M-learning will therefore be particularly appropriate for providing bite-sized chunks of practical learning for employees who aren’t always at a desk or who are difficult to bring together for classroom training.

6. A blended approach works best. E-learning is often most effective when it is combined with other forms of learning. The best results have been obtained when it has been linked with instructor-led courses, coaching, performance support tools or other self-study tools to ensure a holistic approach. This applies equally to m-learning. A key role for m-learning will be to reinforce and embed the messages from classroom training or e-learning.

7. Relevance drives out resistance. People are more likely to use technology for learning if the courses on offer relate to the challenges and issues that matter in the organisation. If they don’t, the target audience will find all sorts of excuses and arguments not to use them.

8. Don’t use gimmicks for the sake of it. E-learning designers often resorted to creating a flashy user interface or using high-tech gimmicks to get their points across. Just because technology enables you to add ‘all singing and dancing’ features doesn’t necessarily mean you should incorporate them into your design. Keeping things simple is a good motto. Simplicity is also good for m-learning too. Over-designing can lead to overkill. It doesn’t necessarily make the learning experience more engaging. What does work very well, in our experience, is humour. Learners have always cried out for humour and personality in training. It can certainly make the learning messages more memorable. However, the humour has to support the learning and it has to add value to the message you’re putting across. There’s no value in just shoe-horning gags in, for the sake of it.

9. Differentiate between generic and bespoke content. One of the lasting lessons of e-learning is that there are different levels of content. In many organisations, there will be generic situations that justify using professionally-produced content. It would be ridiculous for every small company to create a video learning course on selling skills, for example. If you’re providing training that has a long shelf life, or when a number of people all need the same skills and knowledge, then buying generic content - and using it as part of formal learning - is a worthwhile investment. Equally, it can pay dividends to work with a learning specialist to develop content that is wholly bespoke to your needs. However, there are other occasions when you may only be training a relatively small audience or the training may only have a short shelf life. In these cases, formal content can still have a role but you might also consider whether rapid content and user-generated content could be used to fill the learning gaps. This lesson is equally valid for m-learning.

10. Track your progress. Another advantage of e-learning is that course usage can be tracked and monitored. With m-learning, mobile content management systems allow L&D teams to offer different programmes to different groups of learners, for example the sales team or the customer service team. At the most basic level, these systems let you see who has completed the learning. If you need to demonstrate something closer to a return on investment, some systems will also allow you to elicit feedback from the users as to its value.

Future-proofing your learning

Technological shifts are inevitable both in society and in business. It’s therefore perhaps unrealistic to be able to expect to completely future-proof your learning. The surest way to ‘protect’ yourself against technological shifts in the future is to open up lines of communication with the people who are responsible for your organisation’s technology. Ask them what they are working towards and what technology platforms are likely to be in place in five years’ time. The L&D team will know then what technology they’ll be able to utilise for learning.

Specialist external help will certainly be available. However, it may be that you don’t need help in all areas. Only look for outside help where it can really add value. It may be that you need help with specific areas of content - or you may have great content but need help with a content management system for whichever platform you’re going for. Make sure that your chosen provider has the relevant knowledge and experience in the exact area of your need.

For L&D teams who want to support business performance, e-learning is still a very viable proposition. M-learning is simply a new option in the training mix that has been created by technological developments. It presents a great opportunity to deliver performance support and learning content to employees whenever it is needed. However its success ultimately depends upon whether the lessons from e-learning are truly taken onboard.

• Learn more about Video Arts e-learning
• Learn more about Video Arts mobile learning