MAKING ELEARNING MOBILE

AN INTRODUCTION

It has become commonly accepted that if we re going to learn something new, we need to be at our desk to take an eLearning course. However, this doesn’t always have to be the case.

WHY?

There’s a shift happening and we believe in 2016, there will a major move to mobile learning this year. Organizations who can’t upgrade, or who are simply afraid to do so for financial reasons or security ones, will be left behind.

These days, however, a lot of time is spent taking eLearning at a desk. We can’t take out our phone or tablet, and take an employer’s eLearning courses or watch their instructional videos via our own personal device. A far cry from the access to information, most of us are accustomed to. Mobile learning is a very simple concept with it’s own set of challenges which are slowly being overcome.

We are seeing an increase in eLearning growth, but there has not been the same type of growth for mobile learning. For example, there has been an overall growth in the number of courses (eLearning) delivered either online (29.1%) or with a blended approach (28.5%) accounting for 57.6% of programs. There is an overall increase in eLearning or blended-learning adoption of 3.8% over the previous year. A trend that will continue, as more companies consider the instructor-less training approach or have a large mobile workforce.

This trend towards increased eLearning adoption, will also increase as data showing that millennials are accounting for an increasing number of employees overall. A figure that, by the end of 2014, was already at 36%. Millennials have a strong preference for on-line learning and their increase in the workforce will drive the need from just eLearning courses to eLearning courses that are available on their mobile devices.

WRAPPING UP

Pathways is one of the first vendors to launch mobile learning across Canada. If you would like to learn more about our mobile learning and eLearning, take a peek at our company website: Pathways Training and eLearning, at http://www.pathwaystrainingandelearning.com/. We always look for fresh ways to engage learners and to make the learning experience as fun as possible!

Sources:

http://elearningindustry.com/elearning-statistics-and-facts-for-2015

http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/331987/Mobile-Learning-Stats-that-Will-Make-You-Rethink-Your-Training-Strategy

Avoiding pitfalls of using multimedia in elearning

Many successful elearning courses use different types of media (ie: text, images, sound, video) simultaneously to generate interest and direct the learner’s attention around the content. However, using several forms of media together can just as easily create problems that counteract learner comprehension and make your content more difficult to absorb.
Two cognitive science principles that can help you understand when different types of media may conflict with each other are the Split-Attention Effect and the Redundancy Principle.

 

The Split-Attention Effect

The split-attention effect is a common problem that occurs when two sources of related information are presented separately – most often in the form of a diagram or other graphic and its explanation when the two are presented on different parts of the screen. This causes the learner to have to split their attention between the two sources, which can cause them to lose some of the information from each source as they try to process both at the same time, or switch their attention between the two. The effect is worse when there is a temporal component (ie: video) when information can go by while the learner’s attention is on a different part of the screen.
The best way to design for this situation is to integrate the textual component into the graphic or video it’s explaining so that the learner doesn’t have to process the information separately, or replace the text with properly synced audio. If the different types of media are integrated properly, that will cut down on the cognitive load required from the learner.

 

The Redundancy Principle

When using multiple forms of media, another thing to avoid is presenting the same information in multiple different mediums. A frequently occurring example is the use of text to explain a graphic at the same time there is narration doing the same thing. Learners may try to compare the information coming from different formats, and have trouble focusing when doing so. Also, the learners’ attention tends to gravitate towards text as it requires the most effort to process, which can cause them to miss information coming from the graphics or the audio.
Ideally, if the content can be presented with graphics and audio, you can do away with text altogether. Always keep in mind the cognitive demands you are placing on the learner with the content you are presenting, and streamline as much of your elearning as possible to reduce the amount of effort needed to process and understand the information effectively.