An Overview
An increasing number of learners are using their tablets and smartphones to take up courses in their domain knowledge and to develop their skill sets. We can also see an increased demand for bite-sized learning and learning on the go. The course completion rates are higher on mobile devices. Also, learners appreciate having more control over their learning sessions. Learners are keen on learning on their mobile devices.
Importance Of Learning Effectiveness
Learning effectiveness refers to the degree to which learning outcomes have been achieved or that learning is effective. It shows how effective was learning or training in helping learners gain relevant knowledge or skills. According to Edgar Dale’s “Cone of Learning” (Figure 1), after two weeks of learning, we tend to remember and apply only 10% of what we read, but remember a remarkable 90% of what we do or apply in a real-life scenario.
Figure 1 – Edgar Dale’s Cone of Learning
In other words, when we look at the knowledge retention levels in different learning methods (Figure 2), it has been proved that immediate application of learning or training in real-life situations or real-world scenarios provides a significant 90% of knowledge retention.
| Teaching/Learning Method | Knowledge Retention |
| Hearing to Lecture | 5 – 10% |
| Reading | 10% |
| Audio-Visual Presentation/Video Lecture | 20% |
| Demonstration | 30% |
| Discussion Group | 50% |
| Practice by Doing/Simulations | 75% |
| Teaching Others | 80% |
| Immediate Application of Learning in Real-life Situation | 90% |
4 Ways To Improve Learning Effectiveness
Here are 4 ways in which you can improve the learning effectiveness of mobile learning courses in a corporate environment.
1. Focus On Learner-Centered Approach
One of the primary benefits of mobile learning is that your employees can immediately apply their learning in their daily routine tasks. Therefore, you have to develop your mobile learning courses in such a way that learners should feel that the learning provided is useful for their job role.
For example, a sales team employee wants to know more about conflict resolution or sales techniques. He can spend a few minutes and refer to a short mobile learning course on sales techniques, sales pitch, or conflict resolution so that he can meet the customers with better clarity and increased confidence. Thus, the learner-centered approach offers the best possible learning effectiveness.
2. Keep The Duration Very Short
Mobile learning is an effective way of delivering essential learning content to your learners in short one- to five-minute courses. For example, many of us have learned cooking recipes from videos posted on Facebook or YouTube, which are under 60 seconds. This is one way of providing learning content effectively. You can even deliver the courses in the form of interactive games, infographics, or flip cards so that learners can rapidly digest short bursts of information.
3. Use Interactive Training Mechanism In Learning Approach
Mobile learning platforms can appeal to all types of learners because of media-rich content and environment. They can offer a variety of content formats like images, video files, animations, gamification, interactivities, audio files, etc., to drive learner participation and to improve the learning experience. Therefore, use interactive training mechanism in your learning approach to increase learning effectiveness.
For example, consider the employees at a retail fashion store. The employees should know about the different products they sell, unique features of specific products, what care the customer should take, and side effects if any. All this information can be made easy using gamified or interactive mobile learning modules, thus providing a better learning experience for the employees. When such information is readily available on their mobile devices, employees can deliver a smooth customer experience.
4. Provide A Better Learning Path To Learner
Learners prefer learning methods which do not disturb their daily routine at work. Therefore, you have to provide a better learning path to your employees to motivate them to take up the courses. Integrate reminders and organizers with mobile learning platforms so that the learners receive timely notifications and updates on both existing and new courses, which they can check any time.
They can also resume an incomplete course easily. Thus, the learning path provided in a mobile learning platform becomes more personalized and provides a continuous learning experience to the learner. Learners can find the required information easily using their mobile device, facilitating the overall learning experience in the best possible manner.
