Mobile Learning for Corporate Training: The Hard Questions That We Are Asking

I want to go mobile, but how much should I budget and where should I start?

This is one of the biggest questions we get from clients looking to expand their training delivery to mobile devices. And though it appears simple, it’s one of the most complex questions our clients are grappling with today. The reason for this is the complex and ever-evolving world of mobile devices, programming languages and complexities of the content to be delivered.  Now don’t get me wrong.. marketing organizations have been churning out apps for the past few months for the iPhone.  These organizations fill in a template, dump some content and see how it sticks. On the flip side many of our customers are partnering with their ad agencies to create highly complex tools and platforms for their customers.

Are we at the same deciding line we were between classroom and web based training. What have we learned from those times and what are the questions we should be asking ourselves at this juncture?

The simple answer is: there’s no simple answer. There simply isn’t a one-size-fits-all mobile learning solution and anyone that claims so may be peddling some cool technology for you to buy.  Finding the right mobile solution involves understanding the scope of the content you want to deliver, understanding your audience and what mobile devices they’re using, and analyzing these factors to decide on a solution that meets your training goals without busting your budget. Moreover as we have found out at Allen with our own Design Jot application, the cost of creation will be small compared to the total cost of ownership in relation to say a web based course.

Over the next few weeks  we’ll be tackling some of the most common questions currently floating around about mobile learning in an attempt to help you understand the current landscape and start to develop a path that leads from your current state to your training goals, a mobile learning roadmap. The goal of these blogs and the new services we have launched is to provide much like we have done with Design Jot, directions and deliverables that will make your current or future move to mobile learning productive and successful.  These are some of the deliverables we will be addressing:

Create a mobile budget based on your needs.

Leverage your existing training resources for your mobile learning initiative.

Utilize the best technology to reach your audience.

Integrate your mobile learning initiatives to your business goals.

Create the most realistic timeline to go mobile.

You can read more about AllenComm’s Mobile Learning Roadmap. Stay tuned for our upcoming blogs on the subject. We’d love to hear your feedback on what’s worked and what hasn’t in your mobile learning efforts.

Want to read more on mobile? We will be adding links to content that we have found useful in our mobile learning series.

Designing Content for Mobile Devices – Learning Solutions Magazine