mobile Learning

Working from home? Who’s home?

Posted on by David Hopkins

This has been the hardest thing for people who didn’t work from home before the pandemic to visualize: your current WFH scenario is not your future WFH scenario. Your options are not “in the office, with other people, 9 to 6 every day” or “miserable and alone in my small apartment.”

Anne Helen Petersen

I read this article and started thinking “why have I been only thinking in terms of working at (my) home or in the office?” That’s how I’ve always thought of it but this article described a scenario I’d not considered before – who’s home?

Before the pandemic, I’d frequently go to Seattle, where my closest friends live, and camp out in one of their guest rooms for a week. Some days I’d go work in a coffee shop for most of the day. Sometimes I’d go work in my friend’s office with her. And some days, me and some collection of those friends would work from home. We are employed in wildly different industries, but it worked.

I’ve used a coffee shop or family member’s house as a temporary workplace in the past when I’ve needed to – and by temporary I mean an hour or two, every now and again. Nothing regular. I’ve worked in the airport and on a platform as I’ve needed to when travelling (for work). Sometimes the needs for access and urgency in getting something done has necessitated it.

I’d never thought of working in the way Anne Helen Peterson describes in her article ‘The Future of Remote Work is the Opposite of Lonely‘, but could it work?

Well, I guess there needs to be a few things in place for it to work. Firstly, we’ll have to be rid of the Covid-related restrictions on movement and social distancing.

Secondly, do I know my colleagues well enough to camp out at their house all day, or them at mine? Would my friends want me at their house for a day or more … are they able to work like this or would I be house-sitting for them while they’re out at work? How hard would it be to arrange for a number of us from different teams, projects, organisations even to be available for this kind of work at the same time?

Thirdly, could I work at my parent’s apartment for a couple of days, knowing how they like their space (and me, mine), how distracting it would be after not seeing them for more than a year? My parents have a view of the Isle of Wight and The Needles from their apartment, and the beach is just across the road from them – do I have enough willpower to stay at the kitchen table working when the sun’s out and the sea is calling?

This does actually open up a whole new perspective for me … it’s no longer ‘working from home’, rather it’s working from whose home? And how far away could that actually be?

For me this would give me the opportunity to spend time with friends and family I’ve not spent any time with for years, even before the pandemic. Time away from the keyboard is precious and I spend as much as I can with my wife and kids. Yes, I miss all the social stuff at work, but it’s because this time is my own and I chose my family first. Nothing wrong with that, I hear some of you say, but you’d be surprised at how this can alienate you from some circles.

A day or two with old colleagues, them doing their work and me mine, chatting between meetings and calls, sharing memories and ideas like we use to. Support and social interaction, bouncing thoughts and ideas around, helping each other develop and fine-tune projects or issues that are taking their toll on time or our health. Having a different support network or view from the keyboard is as important as actually being somewhere different.

So imagine: A day or two working with your friends, a day or two in the office, a day or two at home with or without my partner, or my partners, or my garden. Time, during the day, to go to the grocery store, to mail a package, to go play with a friend’s kid for an hour, to take a nap, to read a book for research in the sun, to take a work call while walking the dog. Maybe I have a lot of concentrated work on a Thursday, and then do an interview on a Friday and go ski.

I don’t see loneliness in that scenario, or the equivalent … of a reduced salary. I see my version of a full life … “We don’t work from home because work is what matters most. We work from home to free ourselves to focus on what actually does.”

Photo by Jason Richard on Unsplash

An L&D Manager’s Mobile Learning Guide To Leveraging Personalized Content For Skills Training

Posted on by Steve Lowenthal

How do you bridge skill gaps and build core competencies for your remote workforce? This mobile learning guide offers insights on launching a successful strategy and getting team leaders actively involved.

This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Training The Modern Learner: Delivery Strategies And Content Formats That Work

Posted on by Asha Pandey

Using “yesterday’s” methods to train modern learners in the era of fast-paced learning doesn’t work anymore. A paradigm shift in approach is required. In this article, I outline newer content formats and training delivery strategies that really work.

This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

5 Main Types of mLearning To Use in Your Training and Development Programs

Posted on by Asha Pandey

With “lockdown logistics,” training and development program managers look for new ways to fulfill their training delivery mandates. This article showcases 5 types of mLearning strategies to train remote learners in the new learning environment.

Why is mLearning a Must-Use Strategy in the New Learning Environment?

COVID-19 has created a pressing need for learners to continue learning from home (or other venues away from the “office”). It has also highlighted the need for L&D teams to increase their focus to train remote workers. A strong mLearning strategy offers enticing value propositions for both learners and the organization.

mLearning – Value for Learners

  • Learners can train on the go, or as they work from home.
  • They get on-demand, anytime, anywhere access.
  • Various types of mLearning assets give remote learners varying degrees of freedom on when and how to consume content.
  • Learners can pull content as required, leaving them with a sense of “control,” rather than having it pushed to them, which may sometimes feel like “forced” training.
  • mLearning empowers learners with the ability to sync training around their lifestyle, as opposed to the other way around.

mLearning – Value for the Organization

  • mLearning addresses remote learners as well as a geographically dispersed audience.
  • Delivers higher engagement with learners.
  • mLearning is proven to result in higher training completion rates.
  • Is easier to manage and administer, and provides seamless ability to update, upgrade, and re-deploy elements of a corporate training program.
  • It is a significantly lower-cost training solution as compared to classroom/ILT.

How Can You Leverage mLearning for Your Training and Development Program Needs?

mLearning fits well with the 70-20-10 L&D model – adopted by global organizations to enhance the effectiveness of their training and development program. The model, developed and pioneered by Morgan McCall, Robert Eichinger, and Michael Lombardo at the Center for Creative Leadership, holds that a significant part of work-related learning (70%) is experience-based, while 20% occurs from workplace interactions. Formal training accounts for just 10% of employee learning.

As you embark on your distance learning journey with your employees, mLearning will help you meet the entire spectrum of their training and development program needs, including:

  • Formal training (10%) – Through structured VILT, blended learning programs and self-directed online training.
  • Instant/Just-in-time learning aids (20%) – 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 (70%) – By offering experiential learning opportunities to support blended/formal learning programs.

Due to its multi-device capability and the ability to mix and match different types of mLearning content, such as targeted short-content format, mLearning delivers better learning outcomes.

When integrated with appropriate learning strategies, mLearning offers rewarding learning journeys to remote learners.

What mLearning Strategies Can You Use to Train Your Remote Workforce?

Leverage mLearning to create a comprehensive learning and performance ecosystem for the entire organization. Here are 5 mLearning strategies to use when training remote workers:

  1. Microlearning to create personalized learning paths and learning journeys. These may also serve as useful job aids and to make point-of-need training highly effective.
  2. Video based learning to enhance learning, its application, engagement, and drive behavioral change.
  3. Gamification for serious learning is a great strategy to use to deliver an immersive, engaging learning experience.
  4. Social or collaborative learning to promote, share, and recommend learning nuggets. This strategy is great to foster collaborative learning as part of an integrated training and development program. Leverage it as an effective channel to promote informal learning.
  5. Self-directed learning to foster a culture of continuous learning.

What Types of mLearning Content Formats Should You Consider?

Instead of focusing on only formal training, leverage on a Learning and Performance Ecosystem based approach as shown here for your training and development programs.

To create a long term, sustainable remote learning, here are 5 types of mLearning content formats worth considering. Use them to develop your corporate learning and performance ecosystem as shown here.

Learning and Performance Ecosystem EI Design

Pre-training

  • To initiate learner engagement through What’s In It For Me (WIIFM) and build awareness, use infographics and interactive infographics as quick reference guides.

Formal Training

  • Leverage Microlearning based learning journeys. – personalize them, if possible.
  • Use immersive strategies like Gamiification, AR/VR for select Microlearning nuggets.
  • Use Scenario based learning and Interactive stories to bring in real-life experiences and engage the learners better.
  • Implement Video based learning formats. For enhancing learner engagement, make use of interactive and branching videos.

Just-in-time Learning/Job Aids

  • In order to deliver point-of-need training and quick-review learning, use PDFs, interactive PDFs, eBooks, and flipbooks.
  • For point-of-need learning and post-training reinforcement, utilizing Podcasts, in conjunction with other types of mLearning content, are highly effective as review and refresh training aids.

Social and Self-Directed Learning

Post-training Connects

  • Retain the connect with the learners, even after they have completed the training successfully. Push Micro challenges (mini quizzes) to check their retention or practice or for proficiency gain.

The prevailing COVID-19 situation has forced so many learners to “learn differently.” Corporate L&D teams can respond to those needs by creating new learning and performance ecosystems around creative mLearning solutions.

Hope this article gives you cues that will not only help in meeting your immediate remote training and development program mandate but also help you craft a long-term, sustainable mLearning strategy.

The post 5 Main Types of mLearning To Use in Your Training and Development Programs appeared first on eLearning.

Advantages of Mobile Learning For On-boarding and Induction Training

Posted on by abdullah m

The on-boarding training served with Mobile learning which is tailored to their needs as it should be engaging and motivating as well.

The post Advantages of Mobile Learning For On-boarding and Induction Training first appeared on Top eLearning Development Solutions Companies India, Swift Elearning.