Mobile Learning Trends 2016

The benefits of mobile learning are many. When Learning is available for the learner at all times, it creates an opportunity for ‘just-in-time’ learning. Being learner-driven, this provides a learning opportunity whenever the learner needs it the most. There are a several reasons leading towards the shift towards mobile learning, but five in particular stand out for the year 2016 making it evident that m-Learning will continue to be the driving force in the future of employee education and development.

• Global Mobility Continues To Rise: All organizations are looking forward to global growth and with this comes the opportunity for employees to travel abroad for work. But it is not advisable to send an employee to an unfamiliar location with no prior preparation. International assignments bear great costs on a business, and when lack of preparation causes stress to the employee, it often leads to poor productivity and early return.
  
  
  Training the employee to deal with vast amount of changes they may experience is crucial to the success of the assignment. They won’t have time pre-departure and during work hours to truly focus on their training, so it only makes sense to create a mobile learning program they can engage with while on the go.
• New Crop of Employees are Demanding Mobile Based Training and Development: Instead of wasting on travel and commute, mobile learning employees can spend their time more fruitfully by building skills, and attaining knowledge that helps them achieve targets. New crop of employees tend to value training over many other work perks as it opens a lot of career avenues. Most modern corporate learners choose to receive training over flexible hours, cash bonuses and even a company car. Many teams within the organizational structure, including sales teams, are mobile, and using tablets and other devices for learning is becoming very popular. If employees are demanding training, it should be accessible when and where they need to access it.
• Evolving Technologies To Be Par With: With global competition rising, having great talent on your team is now more important than ever for business survival and growth. Due to constantly changing technology, there is the continuous need to keep your employees at par with the developments so that your organization does not lag behind. By implementing an m-Learning training program, organizations can easily distribute ongoing training to keep up with the latest industry trends and new skill sets to stay ahead of the competition.
• The Need For Engaging Content: On-the-go employees like sales executives of FMCG companies or pharmaceutical sales reps aren’t receiving value from the traditional paper-based training they are currently forced to learn by cramming the information into a one-day instructor-led event. The employee doesn’t learn anything, and the company doesn’t receive the benefits of the employee knowing, understanding, and implementing the information -- which is why it's important to create learning experiences that complement the individual and make learning accessible wherever they are and whenever they have time to fully engage with the material.
• The Need For Performance Support: m-Learning and performance support makes an awesome team! Performance support is all about providing employees with the support they need, in the moment they need it, so as not to interrupt workflow. While both m-Learning and performance support extend far beyond one another in applications, the relationship between the two will continue to grow stronger as we continue heading more and more into a mobile-focused world.

The need of the day is that businesses must find solutions to meet the demands of the new employee who craves much greater flexibility and work-life balance -- and the adoption of mobile learning will provide solutions for better learning as well as better employee satisfaction.

Source and suggested further reading: forbes.com/sites/theyec/2016/04/13/five-trends-pointing-to-mobile-learning-as-the-future-of-corporate-education/#49cfa719196a