Mobile learning in companies: what it is good for and where its limits lie

Mobile learning is learning via mobile devices. Content is available independent of time, place and device, and each person learns in a self-organised way at their own pace. transformis places mobile learning as one of four elements within a blended learning concept. Alongside it are online learning, location-independent webinars and location-based workshops.

The framework is the concept of blended learning, literally mixed learning. According to Reinmann-Rothmeier, the concept combines virtual learning phases with face-to-face phases and thereby tries to combine the potential of e-learning with that of traditional courses. Singh and Reed emphasise matching the right learning technologies to the personal learning style, so that the right skills reach the right person at the right time. In this understanding, mobile learning is one channel among several and not the whole concept.

No. Mobile phases and face-to-face sessions fulfil different tasks. Online-supported learning phases create room for time-consuming exercises and for deepening content that does not fit into tightly scheduled seminar time. This leaves more time in the face-to-face phases for methods and content that only allow valuable experience through direct personal exchange: reflection, role play and personal encounters.

Didactically, it is about a balance between instruction and construction, based on Reinmann-Rothmeier and Mandl. Learning is an active, self-directed, constructive, situational and social process in which learners alternate between an active and an at times receptive position. Teachers guide in the sense of stimulating, supporting and advising as well as presenting and explaining. Blended learning in a systemic understanding is therefore the didactically sound interlinking of e-learning with conventional learning methods and a resource-oriented offer designed for the different needs of learners.

Because, in a systemic understanding, organisations are not physical things. You cannot touch them, you can only observe them. They are highly complex social communication systems. Their basic element is communication, and their most important communicative event is the decision. Organisations are operationally closed and self-referential, they do not see what they do not see, and they cannot be changed from outside.

This has a clear consequence for learning. What a person learns on a mobile device initially changes their own knowledge. Whether this turns into a different way of working is decided in the organisation’s communication, that is, where experiences are discussed and decisions are made. transformis therefore distinguishes two levels.

Individual learning takes place on mobile devices and online, self-organised and at one’s own pace, for example with the Performance Simulator. Organisational learning emerges in reflective face-to-face events, guided in-depth webinars and action-oriented workshops. Why training otherwise often changes little in everyday work is described in the article on learning transfer.

transformis applies five criteria to blended learning and therefore also to learning via mobile devices.

First, self-directed learning at an individual pace: online-supported learning phases enable learning independent of place and time. Second, knowledge construction and practical deepening: only outside the often tightly scheduled time slots do learners find room for time-consuming exercises.

Third, communication and collaborative learning: more time remains for personal exchange in the face-to-face phases. Fourth, learning support and tutoring: learners need clear structures, orientation and feedback in the learning process. Fifth, monitoring of learning success and evaluation: continuous evaluations of the learning methods and checks of learning success document the learning process.

The criteria show that mobile learning is more than content on a device. Support, exchange and evaluation are part of it.

Mobile learning modules run on a learning management system (LMS). In a process example from the presentation, a company wants to convey learning content to a target group, such as guidelines, behavioural development and competency development. transformis designs one or more learning modules for this and programs them to be LMS-compatible.

There are two ways through the modules: learners choose according to personal preference, or the sequence is prescribed. In the second case, the levels are worked through playfully, and the next module is only released after the previous one has been completed successfully.

According to the presentation, an LMS makes activities, learning frequency, enjoyment of learning and a competency factor traceable and analysable in real time. Sample views show learning progress per course and participant, a matrix view and an overview of assignments. How such personal learning data is handled and who sees which analysis is therefore part of the clarification before the start.

The presentation describes the route in several steps. It starts with the objectives and a competency model that defines which skills are to be developed. The content is modularised and a first digital prototype is created. Then the LMS and the Performance Simulator are set up and the content is fed into a digital test environment.

This is followed by an accompanied test phase as a beta rollout. It begins with a kick-off event with selected key players. The test results are presented and validated, and the feedback is used to optimise the tool and the platform. Only then does the final rollout follow, and after that the specific further development. Offline, clarification of objectives, coaching and conflict resolution accompany the process.

The scope of services includes designing, planning and delivering blended learning concepts, developing competency models, developing e-learning tools, administering and distributing learning content via learning management systems, face-to-face events on site and remotely, supporting rollout phases and developing existing modules further. Which devices, platforms and learning management systems are suitable today depends on the state of technology and is clarified in each assignment.

The basis is the presentation “Performance improvement and change via mobile devices” (V 1.4) from 2016. Frédéric Sedlák presented it when transformis was still called SEDLÁK & PARTNER. It names practical examples of targeted competency measurement and development from education, chemical sales, pharmaceutical sales, and service and sales. The technical examples date from that time. The didactic and systemic principles can also be found today on the blended learning service page.