How to Create an mLearning Strategy for Your Corporate Training Programs

With a large percentage of the workforce working remotely, mLearning is a must-have strategy for the new learning environment. In this article, I show mLearning strategies that offer enticing value propositions for both learners and the organization.

Due to the changed workplace dynamics, training delivery must cater to remote learner needs and mLearning is the way to go. mLearning solutions enable learners to take the training seamlessly across devices.

When leveraged right, mLearning can help you:

1. Meet the learner and business expectations.
2. Increased learner motivation and engagement.
3. Create sticky learning experiences.
4. Facilitate the application of acquired learning on the job.
5. Offer reinforcements to offset the Forgetting Curve.
6. Offer challenges to learners so that they review or refresh the learning.
7. Provide practice zones that can help learners achieve higher levels of proficiency.
8. Trigger change in thinking.
9. Influence or drive changes in behavior.
10. Foster a culture of continuous learning.

What Are the Uses of mLearning?

mLearning fits perfectly with the 70-20-10 L&D model accepted by organizations globally to improve the effectiveness of their training and development programs. As you embark on your distance learning journey with your fellow employees, mLearning can help you meet the entire range of your training and development program needs. This includes:

• Formal Training– Through structured VILT, Blended Learning programs, and Self-Directed Online Training.
• Social Learning and Instant/Just-in-time learning aids– By delivering Social Learning, peer-to-peer learning, point-of-need training, and job aids to learners when/where they need it most.
• Informal Learning – By offering experiential learning opportunities to support Blended/Formal Learning programs.

What Are the Benefits of Implementing mLearning Strategies in Your Corporate Training?

mLearning offers better learner engagement and higher completion rates.

Key benefits of mLearning are:

1. Learning on the go: 

   Today learners do not want to learn at their office desk. The biggest advantage of mLearning is its innate capability to offer anytime-anywhere learning on the go.

2. Multi–device support: 

   By definition, mLearning designs support all devices learners need and use. The courses can run seamlessly across laptops/desktops and tablets/smartphones.

3. Flexibility to learners: 

   mLearning offers tremendous flexibility to learners to choose the device they wish to learn on, when they want to learn and most significantly, at the pace they can consume and assimilate.

4. Interesting design formats to learn from:

   mLearning features design formats that are popular with learners and also create a better retention and recall. This also includes formats we often use on our smartphones (videos, animated videos, interactive videos, and so on).

5. More options to create engaging learning: 

   Microlearning has changed the format of training delivery. It is increasingly used to offer Formal Training and promote Informal Learning. Microlearning nuggets can be ideally consumed on mobile devices. Likewise, you can incorporate Mobile Apps for learning in your overall strategy.

Why Should Organizations and L&D Teams Invest in mLearning? 

mLearning can be used to meet varied training needs, including Formal Training, Informal Learning, Instant/Just-in-time learning aids, Self-Directed Learning, and Social or Collaborative Learning.

It ensures improved learner engagement, better completion rates, and is easy to update and re-deploy. It undoubtedly has lower costs when compared to classroom/ILT.

What Types of Trainings Would Benefit from mLearning and Blended Training delivery?

Any traditionally delivered corporate training initiative can benefit from a Blended Training approach. This includes:

1. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training.
2. Compliance Training.
3. Induction and Onboarding.
4. Leadership Training.
5. Sales and Sales Enablement Training.
6. Application Simulations Training.
7. Soft Skills Training.
8. Product Training.
9. Professional Skills Training.
10. Sustainability Training.

How Can You Leverage mLearning to Support Formal Training?

You can leverage mLearning to offer learning aids and resources that will help you supplement the Formal Training.

Here are some of the techniques you can implement in your trainings:

• Append learning resources for Informal Learning (for application, challenges, reinforcement that can urge learners to refresh/review, trigger change in thinking, increase sensitivity, and offer spaced repetition to bring about behavioral change).
• Learning aids to support ILT/VILT (pre-workshop reading, during-workshop exercises and assessments, post-workshop learning resources, and nuggets to sustain the connect).
• Resources to support Social Learning.
• Curated resources to facilitate Self-Directed Learning.

How Can You Leverage mLearning to Support Virtual Training Transformation?

You can add components of mLearning across the Virtual Training as follows:

• Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT): Add online resources in a Mobile-first/Mobile-friendly format – pre and post the VILT session.
• Blended Training: A part of the training can be offered as VILT and the balance as Self-paced Online Learning – accessible in a Mobile-first/Mobile-friendly format.

How Do You Create an mLearning Strategy in 5 Steps?

Step 1 – Define your strategy:

It’s vital for organizations to identify the business strategy and establish goals and objectives. This helps understand the role mLearning will play in providing the requisite training and solve challenges, if any.

Step 2 – Build a team:

To implement the mLearning strategy, you have a team of specialists to achieve the best results, for example, project manager, stakeholders, IT group, instructional designers, SMEs, and so on.

Step 3 – Plan out the training content:

Once the learning goals and objectives have been determined, you need to decide the type of training content required that is most suitable for the mLearning, for example, videos, knowledge checks, PDFs, podcasts, quizzes, and so on.

Step 4 – Select suitable training tools:

mLearning will not be complete without the appropriate training tools. You will need a robust authoring tool, which can be viewed on multiple devices with different browsers and operating systems, to create high quality, impactful, sticky learning experiences for learners.

Step 5 – Create a thorough implementation plan:

Ensure feedback collection and analytics to measure training effectiveness and ROI.

What Are the Characteristics of an mLearning Strategy?

Authentic learning

mLearning empowers learners better as they can take control of their learning and learn at the moment of need.

Ubiquitous learning

mLearning offers learners training on the go or as they work from home; on-demand, anytime, anywhere access; gives them control on when and how to consume content; enables them to consume at their own pace; can be pulled by them, as required (rather than pushed); and syncs with their lifestyle.

Personalized learning

By adding elements of Personalization and Curation (particularly, recommendations based on learner’s consumption/interest or career progression aspirations), you can step up the learning pathways to be very focused career pathways. Personalized training in the form of mLearning can help you offer custom, relevant, and more meaningful learning experiences.

Remote learning

With changed workplace dynamics, mLearning solutions enable learners to take the training seamlessly across devices. You can provide an entire range of corporate trainings in this format now. This offers learners the flexibility to take the learning when they want to, move sessions across devices, and align it to their pace. Therefore, you will see greater engagement, higher completion rates, and more learners going back to refresh and review the learning resources.

Parting Thoughts

mLearning offers an efficient and scalable approach to ensure that your employee training aligns with the business goals – even in the changed workplace dynamics.

I hope the mLearning strategies mentioned in this article provides insights to incorporate them in your corporate training and benefit both learners and the organization.

Meanwhile, if you have any specific queries, do contact me or leave a comment below.