Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 29

eLEARNING

Mobile Learning: The Power to Perform
I By Malcolm Poulin

support the release of a new drug to the harmaceutical companies are market. at training material is facilifaced with an increasingly remote workforce. e pace of tated by an instructor in a classroom or business is hastening every day and the auditorium. It is also facilitated by an volume of knowledge that individual instructor online using a web conferperformers need to master in order to encing application. at session is serve customers is exploding. is recorded and made available online presents chaland on demand. lenges of manage same inforThe volume of ing demands mation is made knowledge that from day-to-day available online work activities, to be used for individual performers as well as ensurupdate, refresher need to master in order ing that sales and review. to serve customers is exploding teams have real Making the time access to learning, perthe critical product information they formance support and collaboration need to be productive. How do we efavailable to the mobile workforce is the fectively address the learning needs of challenge. Although Blackberries are our mobile workforce while ensuring common mobile devices, others like we are within our regulatory and comthe iPhone, iPad and Droid increase pliance boundaries? the challenge of developing solutions. Mobility isn't just about how to use Criteria for success: developing a clear the latest smartphone — it's about agile strategy for mobile learning and enperformance. It's more than merely hanced communication. pushing old training to an already overContent in Context communicated workforce. It's about Much attention so far has been on changing how information and content the learner or front line performer. Let’s is designed and used, creating new now focus on the subject matter expert, ways to work and ultimately improving business stakeholder and content auperformance. thor. Information must be relevant e workforce needs real-time into the performer and transaction. formation, learning capability, perIn other words, the content formance support and collaboration. must be in context. It In this article, we will articulate stratemust also be consumgies and methods to address these able – not too little but needs and how to show true impact to not too much. Create the business. solutions that validate Content Challenges learners’ needs and inImagine that you develop training to vite further use or re-

quests for more. e content and its presentation must vary depending upon its intended audience. e eld sales rep, the customer service rep in the call center, the product support team or the executives all have some needs and content in common, but their means to access content and their intent for its use vary. Multimedia technologies are constantly evolving. Suppose a developer was working to meet the needs of a pharmaceutical company releasing a new drug. e product line manager could prepare a succinct video supported by product documentation. Complementary videos could also rapidly be developed to support their audience needs.

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Focus Magazine - Fall 2011

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