Mlearning in the workplace is very beneficial. It allows learning as it is needed and while the employee is on the go. This is a great way to make courses and learning materials accessible. However, it is not always easy to justify it with the company management. We need to have it approved because creating mobile learning courses will entail costs.
Admittedly, there are a couple of obstacles that you need to overcome when you plan on using mobile learning in the workplace. Depending on your training objectives, this can be a great tool to use in the learning process. But at the same time, it can also be quite limiting. By understanding the mlearning obstacles, you can head off any counter-arguments that can hinder you from using this method of learning in your training program.
So what are the obstacles that you need to look into? Here are 4 that deserves your immediate attention.
- Security risks. One of the great things about mlearning is the fact that a lot of people own a smartphone. You do not have to provide them with a new device. However, this also means you hardly have any control over the security of each device. This is something that they need to bring wherever they go. If the employee is not a very technical person, they might end up downloading a virus that can compromise their device. If it is connected to the data of the company, that can also be compromised. This is only one of the many scenarios that you need to consider. A potential breach in the corporate network can be caused by one of the many mobile devices that is being used. You need to address the security issues connected to the mobile traffic.
- Content compatibility. Mobile learning content has to deal with the smaller screen of the devices. You need to check if your current content is flexible enough to be accessed and understood when viewed through these smaller screens. This can easily be addressed through the learning management system (LMS) that you will use in the training program. Make sure the LMS can accommodate mlearning so you can convert your content easily.
- Evidence of profitability. This is probably where you need to bend backward to get approval from the company for the mobile learning. The thing is, it is not enough that you convince them that the employees will provide better output after the training is done. You need to convince them that mlearning is the ideal method of delivering the training material. To start with, you can show them statistics of how this method of learning is effective. But you also have to set up an analytical program that will help you track the improvement in the output of the participants of the course.
- Financial restrictions. Like all training programs, mobile learning will entail costs to produce. You need to invest in the material that will be created – especially if you have to create new content that is mobile-friendly. The first mlearning course is usually the most expensive because you need to buy a lot of resources. But after that, you can reuse the software programs that you initially bought. There is no way you can avoid the costs but with careful planning, you might be able to minimize what you need to spend.
These 4 mlearning obstacles can be tough to overcome but it is not impossible. You just have to focus on your learning goals and make sure that all your decisions during content creation will bring you closer to it.
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