Mobile learning strategy | Mark Berthelemy Consulting

At this week’s meeting of East Midlands Learning Technologists the focus for discussion was mobile learning.

Mobile – What is it good for?

With the introduction of ubiquitous, connected mobile devices into the workplace or the classroom, what can I do now that I couldn’t do before?

Expect people to be able to access information at their point of need
Expect people to be able to communicate with peers and experts outside of fixed times or locations
Capture data (eg. audio and video) at any time

What needs to be in my mobile strategy?

As in most strategies, there are three components:

People — Processes — Technology

People

You will need to consider:

Current capabilities – of learning professionals and learners
Required capabilities – around study skills, digital literacy, learning design and content development
Organisational structures – such as online mentoring and content design and development
Training & support
Change management & communication

Processes

You will need to consider:

Your content development workflows – mobile adds a whole new dimension to this!
Your learner support processes
How you will retrieve data from mobile devices – to share in a classroom, or online

Technology

You will need to consider:

Are you going to focus on online mobile delivery, using responsive web design?
Will you use mobile apps? They are great for offline use, but can mean an extra layer of complexity
Will you need to handle many types of device, or do you have control over the devices?
Which tools will you use to develop and deliver content?
Security – how will you handle sensitive data on devices you don’t control?

Addendum

The recently released mLearning Design Reference Model from ADL’s MOTIF project provides a useful interactive Powerpoint (why Powerpoint rather than HTML, I’m not quite sure). It helps learning designers and architects to focus on the unique characteristics of mobile devices and usage patterns.

If you would like help to develop your mobile learning strategy, please get in touch

If you'd like to discuss this article, or how I can help you, get in touch.

Posted: 02 July 2015

Tags: Solution design Project management Supplier selection