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Mobile learning: Because 80% of workers don't sit at a desk

80% of workers do not have desk jobs (Milord, 2018), meaning they aren’t sitting in an ergonomic chair glued to a monitor all day. Most of the workforce is on-the-go. Standing for most of the day and always moving from one location to the next, only slowing down when it’s time for their break. When you think about these workers and how they operate, asking them to take time out of their day to complete mandatory compliance modules is near impossible, isn’t it?

When it comes to learning, these active workers don’t suddenly convert to “desk-sitters” with extra time to kill. These individuals keep business moving - by always moving! Their day-to-day tasks didn’t stop, and they are still expected to serve their patients, customers and communities. It’s critical that workers in any location regardless of job function are properly trained and equipped with the skills they need to succeed. Ensuring worker readiness not only helps individual performance but will contribute to increased efficiency and help the business reach its goals. So how can you ensure their training and compliance requirements are met, when there’s not a desk (and desktop) in sight?

As an L&D professional, you have to think beyond the four walls of an office and think realistically about how people access information throughout the day. There’s a piece of technology that’s typically within arm’s reach and makes a wealth of knowledge accessible literally “right in the palm of your hand.” Yes - I’m talking about cellphones, but specifically how organizations can encourage cellphone use for mobile learning!

Mobile learning devices

Workers can use cellphones to access the same training that’s on the computer – except they don’t physically have to be at a computer. Genius, right? Accessing learning technology on a phone is a solution to save time and increase productivity, but it only works if your LMS offers good UX/UI experience. Have you ever tried to access a website from your phone that you know was designed only to be accessed on a desktop? Tiny font, disproportionate images that take up the whole screen and hard to navigate pages that usually end up crashing - a nightmare!

Now think of your current LMS. While it might be a cloud-based system, is it user-friendly? You want to avoid having frustrated employees unable to click-through modules or verify their completion resulting in more time wasted. To avoid the nuances of navigating a web-based LMS on a cellphone, many technology solutions are offering mobile learning management system apps.

Mobile learning apps

Mobile learning apps use a simple interface to make it easy to navigate training and reporting. Learners using smartphones to access online learning platforms complete course materials 45% faster than those using a computer (Bouchrika, 2022). It makes you think; phones aren’t just common – they’re comfortable. It’s no surprise that more people are using smartphones in their day-to-day lives than desktop computers. Offering a mobile LMS app with one-click launches and little-to-no wait times can help even the busiest employee access the training they need.

However, there is one piece of the mobile learning puzzle you have to keep in mind: learner engagement. The average person’s attention span is 8 seconds (Zauderer, 2023). If your employees are going to use their phones to complete training, it has to be engaging.

Microlearning in your LMS

An easy way to keep content engaging is to keep it short. Organizations use microlearning as way to break up information into smaller bite-size sessions that may only take 5- or 10- minutes to complete. We know compliance is serious business. In highly regulated industries, workers need to be alert during their compliance training to ensure policies and procedures are followed.

Let’s take healthcare workers for example. Nurses spend long shifts on their feet walking back and forth and constantly being stopped along the way and dragged in different directions. When do they have time to stop by the administrator’s office to borrow a computer and complete a compliance course? Yeah, the answer is never. But maybe a nurse has 10 minutes between patients. They can knock out an engaging 5-minute training from their phone using their mobile learning app. Or maybe they want to brush up on a specific health training or procedure, they can access the content from their phone immediately. Whether it’s a video, article or tutorial, the nurse can consume the information and be ready to assist their next patient properly. The right mobile learning app can help your employees improve their patient/customer care experience.