Mobile learning is frequently designed for the special requirements of employees who travel a lot or whose work requires them to spend considerable time away from the office, but what are the incentives for workplace mobile learning?

Alessia Messuti: The issue of workplace learning has become increasingly important in the development of workforce skills in a time of increasing globalization, new technology, and changing patterns of work.

However, in the context of increased competition, it is difficult to find suitable time for attending formal training sessions. Workplace-learning initiatives are also often geared towards providing quick access to content-driven instruction. As a result, professional staff are relying more, and more often, on informal initiatives where learning happens at the moment of need.

Building effective workplace learning is challenging, as we need to consider that there is a need for integrating work and learning so that learning and work happen simultaneously. Another factor is that the rapid uptake of new technologies is changing behaviours: it is common for us to be able to communicate and to access, process, and send information without being tied to any location.

Yes, mobile learning is almost always associated with the concepts of "anywhere, anytime": the perfect solution for people whose work requires regular travelling as mobile technology enables learning beyond space and time dimensions. However, we also need to take into account that individuals are not able to learn 24 hours a day or under any conditions, e.g. they rarely learn while physically moving. But it is true that they tend to take their learning tools with them to the most appropriate places. Therefore, it is important to understand how it will be possible to strategically use already available learning tools and integrate them into work, where by "work" we do not mean a place but a thing we do.

In terms of efficacy, m-Learning is much more effective for knowledge application rather than knowledge acquisition. Web-based technology is used to speed up content delivery to large groups of learners. On the other hand, m-Learning is more suitable to increase knowledge retention, provide regular or on-demand updates, provide context-embedded learning opportunities, and act as an accelerator for social learning.

Last but not least, it is important to take into account the learners’ characteristics and their intention/motivation to use mobile devices for learning.  Any learning experience should be designed through a human-centred approach that takes into account not only learning objectives to be achieved, but also learners’ profile, age range, digital skills, and the available technology.

Nevertheless, resistance to technology does not have to be taken as an excuse to slow down creativity, as nowadays learning and technology go hand in hand. It is about fine-tuning all these parameters and making learners’ lives easier, and if possible, fun!

What learning effects can be achieved better through mobile learning than via regular eLearning (WBT)? Has the former replaced the latter?

Alessia Messuti: Quoting John Feser, one thing that should be clear is that m-Learning is not eLearning on a mobile device. Most workplace eLearning is designed for the learner or worker to sit at a computer and access a specific resource, module, or set of assignments made available online. The length of time to complete eLearning may vary depending on the content and learning objectives, but it is set according to the use of laptop computers.

In terms of achieving particular learning effects, well designed eLearning is an efficient way for an organisation or company to reduce the cost of implementing regular training for its staff, speed up content delivery by providing self-paced learning modalities, and easily manage large group of learners.

However, being characterized by smaller screens and different features, mobile devices are used differently and therefore they need to facilitate the achievement of different learning effects.

Rather than saying that m-Learning has replaced eLearning, it is better to talk about different contexts, different needs, and therefore different technologies.  One very good example comes from Africa: the mobile revolution is not about having replaced web-based services, but about strategically using the technology that is right for the context and needs of users and is also widely available.

In which fields and areas of work do you think this approach makes sense?

Alessia Messuti: To provide a concrete example, since July 2013, I have been investigating how to integrate mobile learning solutions for learning-and-development staff of the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO), based in Turin. ITCILO colleagues overall agreed on the fact that work-related training should be short in duration but regular, inspirational, collaborative, and most importantly, connected to workplace activities such as the effective design and implementation of training activities. Manuals and tailor-made training sessions have been made available for them to take informed decisions about training delivery. However, what happens if staff members do not have time to attend traditional training, to go through lengthy manuals, or to innovate and learn new methodologies?

To address all the above-mentioned questions, it was initially requested to create an institutional mobile application for ITCILO trainers to regularly consult methodologies and get to know about updates and other experiences. This option was finally not considered, as some trainers do not yet have a smart phone, other colleagues are resistant to using mobile devices for learning, and internet connectivity can become an issue while travelling in developing countries for work. As a result, a set of method cards was conceived to serve as a quick-reference tool or refresher to select the right learning methods for a workshop or training session. In order to bring this mobile set of cards to a further stage, it was therefore decided to enrich them through augmented-reality data to allow timely access to online videos and resources.  Learners’ needs and technology were therefore carefully embedded in the final product without stopping the process from embracing new technological opportunities and, on the other hand, supporting different learning styles.

Which learning objectives can be better achieved via mobile learning?

Alessia Messuti: mLearning is well suited to supporting the achievement of a broad range of learning objectives, from creation and application, to analysis, evaluation, remembering, and understanding. It all depends on the design of the activities and on the choice of technology. Take tablets for example: they are user-friendly devices that come along with a set of built-in features such as camera, note-taking, and internet browsing. The combination of these three features can already support learning activities both inside and outside traditional classrooms. Additional applications can also be downloaded to support communication among large groups in classroom and connection at distance, foster collaboration and creation of content, access learning resources, and provide feedback. The opportunities are endless!

Recently at the ITCILO we decided to invest in truly blended learning, where the online-learning component becomes a natural extension of the face-to-face phase. By designing a technology-enhanced pedagogical framework, it was possible to support learning activities through tablet computers during a two-week event gathering eighty participants! The tablet was not only used to continuously connect participants to the online-learning platform where they could access resources and materials live. It also served to enhance and augment group collaboration by engaging participants in visual brainstorming where they had to submit feedback in form of images, create conceptual maps throughout the event, annotate  materials, do live polling and feedback, engage in interviews, and other activities.