Adaptive learning and mobile learning

When it comes to training, today’s workforce is looking for greater personalisation and flexibility. Both adaptive learning and mobile learning help to meet these needs—and there are benefits for companies who choose to implement them. In this article, we’ll show you how using mobile learning together with the right adaptive learning software can make your training programs more effective.

Adaptive learning: a fast-growing part of digital learning

About adaptive learning

Adaptive learning is an educational method that draws upon neuroscience, artificial intelligence and big data in order to create personalised training courses. Within the context of a business, adaptive learning provides each employee with a programme suited to their needs.

The reason why this is so important is because every member of your organisation is unique in terms of their job role, abilities, existing knowledge and skills, their current and future responsibilities, their career goals, and so on. Adaptive learning systems take every one of these factors into consideration so as to put together individually tailored training courses.

You might think that all of this happens at the start of the course—but the beauty of adaptive learning is that it continues to evolve over time. As employees use their training platform, the system gains more data about their preferences and behaviours, as well as results from any assessments they take. This information is then processed, and the content and format of the learner’s course are adapted and refined further to best meet their changing needs.

Advantages of adaptive learning

The positives of adaptive learning rack up quickly when this approach is used within a broader digital learning environment. Firstly, it helps to keep learners motivated, as the modules they take will actually be relevant to their needs and will help them to achieve their goals. By cutting out unnecessary or irrelevant exercises from the process, employees are much more likely to complete their training—and will do so more quickly, too.

The best adaptive learning tools on the market back up this system with virtual tutoring. This means that employees have access to support whenever they need it, even when working remotely. All of this makes adaptive learning ideally suited for any business looking to help their employees gain new skills as efficiently as possible.

Mobile learning: an essential tool for today’s training programmes

The origins of mobile learning

In the first days of mobile phones, it would have been difficult to predict how powerful the devices would become in the decades to come. Nonetheless, as early as the 1990s, it became possible to envision a future in which they could play a role in the training sphere. After all, even these early mobile phones were capable of storing content and could be taken anywhere. The idea of on-the-go learning was born.

As technology has moved on throughout the years, mobile learning has gone from concept to reality. Now, we’re able to take advantage of the full potential of our phones as training devices.

Mobile learning: definition

Nowadays, the vast majority of us have our phone by our side at any time and in any location. This helps us to understand the utility of mobile learning as an instrument for easier access to training.

Thanks to mobile learning, employees can access training modules from their smartphone or tablet. They can also discuss topics with their peers and with trainers thanks to messaging apps and forums.

Mobile learning is even reshaping the way we conduct training. New formats have appeared specifically to cater for mobile users, such as videos and podcasting. This quicker, snappier approach is known as microlearning, and each of these modules lasts no more than a few minutes. This makes it perfect for bite-sized training sessions that can be completed when commuting or when there’s a lull in the schedule.

Getting access to all of this content is simple: all a learner has to do is download an app to their phone, such as the Rise Up app. As soon as this is installed, you can access training content instantly—even when you’re not connected to the internet.

Trends in mobile learning

As with all aspects of vocational training, mobile learning isn’t standing still. Several trends have become prominent in the past few years and are helping to make this educational method even more effective.

Recently, mobile learning has taken a leaf out of social networking’s book, and has put a greater emphasis on sharing content, as well as on discussions with fellow learners and trainers.

Another important trend to note is the growth of virtual reality. This technology helps to enhance the training experience by immersing learners in a situation that feels real. For example, an employee in a sales team might find themselves on a call with a (virtual) difficult customer. A related trend, augmented reality, sees visual overlays applied to the real world.

Advantages of mobile learning

The appeal of mobile learning to employees isn’t hard to discern: it lets them train whenever and wherever they want, and they can access educational content at any time. This provides them with as much flexibility as possible.

The growth of device-specific learning content has helped to make this an even more effective approach. Microlearning, for example, fits in perfectly with the way each of us uses our phones on a daily basis—in quick, focused bursts. The process is enriched even further by the use of VR and AR, which help to make scenarios feel more real than ever before.

Adaptive learning and mobile learning: a winning combination

Training that focuses on employees

In the past, training could often feel like an obstacle to be overcome or an imposition during the working day. Adaptive and mobile learning are helping to change this perception by creating individually centred learning.

With the training process now tailored to the individual and accessible at any time, employees can fit learning into their schedule easily and benefit from content that suits them. Thanks to this combination of adaptive and mobile learning, training is becoming highly optimised.

Growing engagement

Adaptive and mobile learning are transforming professional training. Once a top-down process, these tools are helping to empower employees and help them to feel more involved in their own training.

With a diverse range of content that is actually useful to employees and which can be used on-the-job, learners’ expectations of training are finally being met. This means that your team is more likely to use an LMS platform and to stay engaged throughout the course.

Long-term knowledge retention

After an employee completes their training course, you want to be sure that they will actually continue to remember the skills they have gained. Thankfully, digital training programmes including both mobile learning and adaptive learning can help to boost knowledge retention over the long term.

In the weeks and months after the employee completes their course, they’ll be given regular updates and reminders to help ensure they don’t forget their newly learnt skills. For example, they might be offered a quick refresher module or a test to check what they remember—all of which can be accessed via their mobile app. A perfect solution for any business looking to help their employees cement their skills!