Mobile learning and micro-learning is on the rise! And why wouldn’t it be? Our lives are hectic and often on-the-go. There’s a million things to do and trying to cram in an hour of learning every day with your text book or laptop…? That’s what the hashtag #thestruggleisreal was invented for, I’m sure. Mobile learning, however, offers a completely different way of learning that suits our busy lives! So… how do you go about creating something like that?
Creating a mobile learning course can be an easy experience, when you have the right tools and knowledge at your disposal. And at UQalify, we’re not shy to mention that we have both. 😌
So here’s how we would create a fun & engaging training course for employees:
Use a powerful tool that’s mobile-first
The UQ Pocket Coach app was created with Teach on Mars technology, and it’s pretty amazing what that platform can offer you in terms of personalising training courses. Not only can you create your content immediately for mobile use – no matter your operating system – but there’s so many options to structure your content too! You can add videos, use web links, insert images, create games, etc. The list of options is pretty endless.
Having a strong tool available to turn your rather “traditional” training course into a bite-sized mobile learning course is crucial if you’d like it to be successful. And after all: isn’t that whole point of creating your course?
Rely on ELPA when designing your content
ELPA was born from its creator Jerome Wargnier and it is an acronym that stands for Engage, Learn, Practise and Apply. Its principles roughly translate as follows:
- Engage: engage your audience by using different content formats and by making it clear why a topic is important. When learners understand why they’re learning about something, it makes them much more intrigued to continue. And variation in both format type and length is ideal in a mobile environment.
- Learn: naturally, it’s all about creating your content so your audience will happily learn!
- Practise: repeat, repeat, repeat! When you’ve introduced a new concept to your learners in a video, then next let them listen to short podcast explaining the same. Or create a short quiz based on the new information they’ve just learned. Repetition is key for learners to start practising what you preach!
- Apply: once a learner understands the new concept you’ve introduced, it’s important to showcase real-world examples. Whether it’s through a podcast or another game you’ve created: make sure that theoretical principles become tangible. Using real-world examples that they’ll encounter in their day-to-day lives will ensure that your learner commits the new knowledge to memory.
Don’t think in lessons, think in activities
Mobile learning isn’t the same as memorising a long text book or sitting through a 2-hour lesson from a teacher, it’s a completely different way of learning. A mobile course isn’t filled with a ton of “lessons”, but it has “activities” that just happen to benefit from a lot of educational content. 💁
Let users explore your course and learn about things through videos, podcasts, articles, quiz games, memory games, questions, quotes, etc. Variation is key, because it will make a learner excited about what comes next. In addition, learners often think “just learning” is boring, but answering questions about a specific topic actually does help them learn something new!
Whoever said “you learn best by doing” had it right: so stop thinking that a mobile course is filled with boring read-only lessons, but know that it’s best served as an interactive course filled with all different types of content!
Ready to get started?
Create your very own mobile learning course for your business with the UQ Pocket Coach! Our Community Managers and Training Managers can help you transform your learning content for a mobile environment, so none of your older material goes to waste. And you’ll quickly understand how easy it is to build a mobile course and how much fun learning can be…
