#ASTD Research: Mobile Puts Learning In the Palm of Your Hand

Sharlyn Lauby

7 Sep 2011

One of the things that impressed me about this year’s ASTD International Conference was the opening remarks by President & CEO Tony Bingham. His remarks were dedicated to the hottest topic in the learning profession today – mobile learning (aka mLearning).

Yes, the opening remarks for the conference weren’t about the association or the board or the president. They were sharply focused on the future of learning, how it’s changing and what we need to do to keep up. It was blended with video clips from several senior level chief learning officers about what they see happening both inside and outside their industries when it comes to mobile and learning.

Dottie Brienza from Hilton talked about the popularity of mobile and its place as part of our lifestyle. Add to that the ability to learn on the go and learn from everywhere. Hilton is delivering content to employees in bite-sized chunks throughout the day as opposed to single, separate events. Brienza says matching learning with lifestyle is having a big impact at Hilton.

If you weren’t at the conference, no worries. ASTD has published a report on the state of mobile learning. My thanks to ASTD for sharing a copy of the study with me.

We talk about the idea of being a lifelong learner. This whole idea of learning continuously via a mobile device makes it possible. Definitely something worth paying attention to.

The report leads off with a compelling point: people want internet access. They want it all the time and they want it in small devices. The opportunities this presents are endless.

Now, I don’t want to give away all of the juicy tidbits of data found in the study. I will say ASTD put together a comprehensive look at the mobile market, learning options and meshed them together to show how mobile learning can be implemented and what the future might hold.

They also shared an overview of obstacles to developing a mobile learning strategy along with a vision for blending mobile learning with other mediums such as the classroom environment.

If you’re considering how your organization might be able to take advantage of mobile, check out the research study. There’s plenty food for thought about what training might look like in the future.