mLearning is not just a passing trend in digital learning; it’s your just-in-time, just-in-case, just-right solution for ongoing performance support and faster time-to-competency.
The Advantages of mLearning
Mobile learning can change the game for on-the-job support, but only if it’s done right. According to Mosher & Gottfredson, experts in organizational performance support, employees face 5 moments in which learning needs affect competency. In these critical moments, the learning support infrastructure your organization provides can either be the reason for improved performance, efficiency, and effectiveness, or the reason for downright performance failure.
Mobile learning, M-Learning, or “mLearning”, is an accessible and effective option for organizations to support their teams without taking them out of their workflow, and consequently expediting the time to competency and improved performance.
Below, we’ve listed the opportunities mLearning offers to Entice, Engage, Enhance, Elucidate, and Empower learners throughout their 5 moments of need.
mLearning Applied to the “5 Moments of Need”
1. Entice
Use mLearning to entice learners who are introduced to new information. Prior to a delivering a course on a new system, procedure, tool, etc, consider rolling out short introductory video clips (mobisodes) to provide a preliminary introduction and entice employee interest. This is also a great opportunity to have employees recall previous information that relates to the new, upcoming information or tool, as a basis for getting everyone on the same page.
2. Engage
Use mLearning as a means for continuous engagement in knowledge development. Develop a quick-access library of modules and illustrative animations that employees can pull from during and after webinars, workshops, and more. This is a great way to deliver extra resources and support for those who seek it.
3. Enhance
Use mLearning to enhance on-the-job application. The quick-access library of reference tools, modules and video bites is essential for scaffolding knowledge application without taking the learner out of their work environment. Individuals access only the information they need to recall, in the moment they need it, creating a tailored and efficient learning experience. Creating a mobile-friendly internal forum for asking questions and seeking quick answers while on the job also provides a great opportunity for your organization to identify what other discussions need to occur to improve workplace performance.
4. Elucidate
Build mLearning tools to help elucidate (make clear, explain) concerns and facilitate effective troubleshooting throughout the workflow. When things go wrong, you want employees to be able to resolve them efficiently and effectively. By making quick-reference guides, common mistakes, reminders and warnings accessible via cell phone or tablet, employees can easily search for information about what could’ve gone wrong and figure out how to make things right. You can also use mLearning to track which documents are most frequently accessed to help identify weak points and common misunderstandings to address in future training.
5. Empower
Use mLearning to empower employees with knowledge when changers occur throughout your organization. Create bite-sized mobile-videos highlighting upcoming or current changes, and an internal forum to facilitate conversations and address concerns about what’s to come. Set up live help-lines and text-to-chat tools during change-introductory walkthroughs to assess your team’s understanding and outlook and plan supportive measures accordingly.
Conclusion:
Organizations, when you build great mLearning tools that your team can easily access in these critical moments, you become a partner in your employees’ growth and performance. You become an advocate for your organization’s success by looking out for your employees’ learning and performance needs and tailoring your support infrastructure to match. Your best employees are actively seeking to improve their own performance, so why not use mLearning to give them the opportunity to do so right where and when they need it, in the work environment?
For more information on mlearning, see our article on How to Design Fantastic m-learning with 9 guidelines! Thanks for reading!
