Christophe Ferrandou, of goFLUENT.

‘How to Implement Mobile Learning in Global Organisations’ is the title of a whitepaper recently published by goFLUENT, the provider of Business English training. Christophe Ferrandou, CEO of goFLUENT, believes that: “Growth rates for mobile products, including the iPad, iPhone, Android’s smartphones and tablets, have increased so quickly that they’re surpassing desktop computers in some countries. So, it is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ an organisation should deploy mobile learning – and how it delivers that mobile learning.”

“Selecting an e-learning solution that offers mobile delivery in addition to a computer delivered application puts the choice of accessing the training in the hands of the learner,” he said. “Learners are then empowered to decide how they will learn, which delivery model best fits their learning style and, perhaps, overcome any learning constraints – geographical, technological and so on – with which they are dealing.”

goFLUENT reports that, in its experience of the distance learning market, as organisations look to expand their global footprint and reduce costs, they seek a common business language – which, in almost every case, is English. It believes that teaching non-native speakers to speak business English unites them, boosts their confidence and enables them to be more productive, thus improving their organisation’s results.

After discussing the needs of workforces in global organisations and assessing how they are using mobile learning, the whitepaper also explains how organisations can determine the return on investment (ROI) from mobile learning materials. When using mobile learning, goFLUENT recommends that you should:

• Identify business challenges and define strategy. Common business challenges that mobile learning addresses can include:

• Enabling access to business English training content and services across a global workforce.
• Offering learning to a workforce that is already mobile.
• Delivering ‘just-in-time’ and ‘just-enough’ learning.

• Define the solution. Think particularly in terms of technology/ infrastructure; culture; content.
• Pilot the mobile learning solution. Limit risk and cost by using new learning materials on a sample group first.
• Measure, analyse and refine. Measure effectiveness – such as performance improvement, course completion and skill mastery results – to gauge success.

The whitepaper also discusses evaluating the hardware used to deliver mobile learning – including the challenge presented by Apple products not supporting Flash. The whitepaper is available on goFLUENT’s website: http://www.gofluent.com/web/us/download-white-paper-mobile-learning.

Comment: It’s said that many workers rarely find themselves in front of a traditional desktop computer – and their work patterns prevent them from adhering to ‘traditional’ working hours. Workers at all levels in an organisation are increasingly comfortable with technology and so they are looking to that technology to help them – wherever they are – whenever they need support, or have some spare time to  develop  their professional skills.

Initially mobile learning was a minor but complementary technology to other forms of online learning. Increasingly – prompted by the rapid growth in mobile devices – it’s becoming a major delivery mechanism for learning and performance support materials. No self-respecting training/ learning professional can afford to ignore mobile learning these days – so, with that in mind, the goFLUENT whitepaper is probably worth a read.