Getting into the employee’s workflow has been the holy grail for many learning professionals and vendors.  The theory is simple, if we can get into the employee’s daily routine, we have a better chance of making knowledge and behavior stick.

By using experience based learning techniques, many learning organizations are seeing dramatic results with minimal amounts of expenditure.  Some of their best practices include…

1.   Aligning to the goals of the learning program and enhancing its results.  Plain and simple, all technological reinforcement needs to work to enhance and improve the use of new knowledge and behavioral skills that accomplish the business goal. 

2.   Requiring a minimal learning curve.  Participants will not use it if it will take a copious amount of time while creating a feeling of unease.  Closely related to this is the need for a minimal amount of IT support and initial usage training which can stress resources.

3.   Creating a learning trail.  Whether the technology is used alone or in groups, this best practice is to create an “evergreen” archive of ideas, documents and actions to follow through and improve upon.

4.   Fostering collaboration and shared learning.  Bringing teams, managers, coaches and mentors together in new and exciting ways has shown tremendous results.  Learning that can be fairly tedious suddenly takes on new life and urgency through the right collaborative design.

5.   Encouraging behavior change with follow through.  Accountability is often the key missing ingredient for training initiatives.  Holding managers accountable for new team skills is every bit as important as the key individuals.

By considering these five best practices you can breathe life into new programs and evaluate technology vendors with a level playing field.  If you are looking for further insight, please send me an email at skingsley@trainingindustry.com I'd also encourage sending me any comments about successes you've had or pitfalls we all need to consider.

“Play the tape machine, make the toast and tea, when I’m mobile” – The Who

A recent study by Information Week on mobile technology pointed to the ususal suspects of cost, security and complexity as potential roadblocks.  In the study they found

• 54% - Declare cost as an issue
• 53% - Are concerned about security
• 39% - Say complex application integration is a factor 

From the perspective of learning curriculum libraries, many professionals continue to be hard pressed to see the appeal of mobile learning.  First of all, the small device and screen size continues to scare mainstream learners.  It takes a lot of imagination to see how any kind of useful experience could be enacted, even with an iPhone’s fairly large screen.  In many opinions, enlarging and reducing text continues to be a nagging and fatal flaw.   Another issue is that memory continues to be a problem, though Moore’s law and the desire to improve technology will shortly render this disadvantage moot. 

Less easy to overcome, is the lack of consistent operating systems.  If you're like me and have wrestled between your Blackberry and your Microsoft apps/media, you may have encountered plenty of compatibility frustration.  Then there is the fact that Palm, which people often forget, continues to have a large chunk of the market. Anyone deciding to rollout mobile learning will have to provide lots of service unless they target their audience very wisely.

But, looking at mobile learning solely from the curriculum viewpoint may miss the real potential.  Job aids, performance aids and behavioral skills reinforcement (a true sore spot for remote managers), all have the potential for immediate impact.  More importantly, continuing education and consumer oriented companies are making investments and sales.  Leapfrog’s Crammer(tm) is an interesting education device aimed at the student market that provides access to over 1000 downloadable quizzes.  It also includes a built in Spanish translator.  It doesn’t take a large leap (pardon the pun) to see that these applications could help the corporate traveler with business learning.

In my discussions, many enterprise focused professionals are continuing to take a wait and see approach.  With budgets continuing to shrink, that might be prudent except for those that rely on a flexible and mobile workforce.  Meanwhile, the consumer products, healthcare and continuing education companies continue to forge ahead.  Mobile learning applications for these players are quickly becoming table stakes.

In conclusion, there are valid concerns to implementing a mobile strategy but, there is also an increasing possibility that breakaway strategies will emerge and take hold.  As these best practices start to take shape, I will continue to share them here. 

Talk to anybody in the learning space and you’ll hear a common refrain.  The business of learning thrives on the technological innovations we bring to market. Our jobs and our careers hinge on us getting it right. For some, the stakes are high. Technologies are their business. For others, we use technology to improve performance, reduce costs and align to core business priorities.  And we must do more with less budget than last year.

But, here we all are, thriving on the edge. Trying to figure out what's coming next. Place your bets! You might win, you might lose, but odds are you will always move forward with new and better information.

So who's responsible for the idea and the execution? Who drives technological innovation for learning? Students? Trainers? Universities? How do we identify what's next? Where do we go to get the answer for what the next killer app is going to be in training? 

An Invitation to Learn From Each Other...

As training professionals we are a diverse group according to our function and that is powerful when it comes to creating insight.  We are buyers, suppliers,  integrators, instructors, product managers, sales managers, instructional designers, training managers, HR professionals, consultants - just to name a few - and here we have the opportunity to learn, rethink, debate, hypothesize and tap into the wisdom of each other.  Here we have little consequence to get it wrong and quite possibly a whole world to gain if we get it right.  We might even have fun doing it.

So, if you are ready, how about a quick assignment?  Please take a look at our learning technologies polling question (lower right column) and check what you think will be the next broad influencer, the emerging technology that will shape the future of learning more than any other in the next eighteen months?  Please feel free to leave more involved responses whenever you have more to share.  And while I've got your attention, go ahead and put a bookmark here.  We are going to need your insight!