Are You Ready For The Mobile Learning Revolution?

Empower and engage your employees through mobility...
#hr #astd #shrm #hrtechchat #atd #mobilelearning

It's time to change “hands" – from the HR & Training Department and into the hands of the employee… out of the classroom and into the hands of your talent.

Ok…hold your horses...I’m not suggesting the elimination of these departments or classroom delivery.  I am suggesting our role must evolve more into true facilitators and strategist of learning and engage all stakeholders in the on going process of training and development with the use of technology. Yes, training and development is not a one time event - it is an ongoing process. This is not happening in many organizations.

And yes all stakeholders.  That means changing how managers, supervisors, team leads and dare I say the "c-suite" are engaged in the planning and process.  There needs to be a fundamental change in how they see their role in training and development and it's relationship to impacting the bottom line.

An emerging trend is showing itself to be a relevant tool to support this needed change!  Going mobile is a key solution and allows for self-directive, collaborative learning facilitated by employee training specialists. Additionally, It naturally incorporates key adult learning principles, it's easy to use and has surprisingly affordable formats.

In this current economic climate, with so much restraint on training budgets, now is the perfect time to work with alternative modes of learning and training...the irony?...the alternative may be the most effective way to get the results decision-makers want with the cost that anyone - that any company can afford!

Consider this - spend less - get higher return-on-investment! In many cases it's not what you use, but how you use!

Using A Mobile Training Solution...

Employee Training & Development - There's An APP For That

Use of an APP is one way that employees can have an engaging training & development experience. An App can house content and can be flexible for delivery and usage. 

An APP can also be used as a connection to community as a source for user generated content, sharing best practices and obtaining real-time feedback. This is 21st century learning, training, and employee development at it's best.

This tool can also help drive engagement, help develops learning rhythms that nurture measurable change/outcomes.  One key advantage to using an app, for many users you’re not asking them to create new behaviors for it's usage.  Many people are familiar with using apps and that usage is only growing.

A great example of the mobile revolution is demonstrated in this AT&T Commercial of mobile sharing for a management, best practices solution: 

Benefits Of Certain App Solutions

• Don’t need to be bogged down with an LMS (learning management system)

• Can be used in any part of the world

• Doesn't take up server / bandwidth space

• Nimble design for evolving training needs

• Simple authoring tools

• User friendly design functionality - don't have to be a techie to use or administer

• Cost effective - very affordable

• Very accessible/usable training resource

• Highest return on investment with the integrated design for crowd-sourcing best practices, "just in time" learning & application, and maximizing the use of adult learning principles.

• Does not require wireless access only, only a cell connection is necessary

• Can be a stand alone solution or can be easily incorporated with any blended learning-training strategy

• Content provided or proprietary content can be incorporated

Technical Considerations

A while back I attended a Chief Learning Officer breakfast in Atlanta. One of the questions and conclusions was how do we leverage technology to meet our pressing talent management needs? (By the way, one of my conclusions from the breakfast is -- knowledge of technology is not an option for any hr/training professional – it’s a competency!)

In the spirit of constricted training budgets, a useful question to ask is "how can I leverage free and low cost technology to get more training and development outcomes for my organization?”

Here's a list of simple Web 2.0 resources that can be used for short learning bursts or just-in-time delivery.

• …rss feeds
• …short audios
• …short videos
• …learning links
• …podcasts
• …blog platforms
• ...apps
• ...sms (texting)
• ...screen captures
• ...social sharing

The point: most of these are free or low cost easy to use authoring tools, nimble in delivery and can be used with any mobile device. 

If you want to assess how you can use some simple strategies utilizing free or low cost Web 2.0 tools, I'm happy to help. Email for a free consultation:joann@thehumanpshere.com

If you'd like additional value to training seminars you bring to your organization, you'll want to explore our Individual Employee Core Competency Training package with our integrated app.