Monthly Archives: August 2019

Corporate Learning Best Practices, e-Learning, eLearning Develpment Best Practices, Game-based learning, L&D professionals, Mobile Learning, QuoDeck

How To Enhance The Impact Of Your Mobile Learning Strategy In 2019

Leave a comment

With the maturing of mobile learning, the focus shifts on how to maximize its potential. In this article, I showcase approaches that will help you enhance the impact of your mobile learning strategy in 2019.

Mobile Learning Strategy: Enhance Its Impact In 2019

Mobile learning is the training that is available to learners on their mobile devices. It can be consumed on the go, and it gives them the flexibility to learn anytime, anywhere, and at their own pace.

Access to learning assets is not limited to smartphones. Instead, it features “multi-device” support providing additional flexibility to the learners to move seamlessly across devices during their learning journey (between smartphones, tablets, or laptops and desktops).

Over the last 2-3 years, mobile learning has transitioned from its first avatar—the mobile-friendly format—to the mobile-first format. The initial format of mobile learning was an adaptive or a mobile-friendly format that supported all devices but wasn’t fully optimized for smartphones. But the more recent format of mobile learning is the completely responsive or mobile-first format that is fully optimized for usage on smartphones. Not only does it feature interactions that align better to the way we use smartphones but also the designs adapt fully to the viewable area of each device.

It also aligns well to the changing learner expectations and demographics. Today, mobile learning is the preferred mode of training for learners and this cuts across learner profiles (not just Millennials) and resonates well with the multi-generational workforce.

What Are The Key Benefits Of Adopting The Mobile Learning Strategy?

The mobile learning strategy offers several benefits to learners and L&D teams as it:

  1. Aligns to the way learners want to learn (on the go, anytime, and anywhere)
  2. Empowers learners by giving them control on the pace they want to learn
  3. Facilitates a “pull” of learning vs “push” and this resonates better with the learners
  4. Offers a higher engagement quotient
  5. Can be used across learning needs (formal, informal, or social learning)
  6. Can be used to support Instructor-Led Training
  7. Can address the entire spectrum of corporate training needs (ranging from induction and onboarding, soft skills training, product training, sales training to compliance)
  8. Features better completion rates
  9. Can be used for knowledge acquisition, its application, as well as meeting specific learning needs (through instant learning aids or job aids)
  10. Can be used to retain an ongoing connection with learners

What Is The Value That The Adoption Of Mobile Learning Strategy Offers?

The biggest strength of mobile learning is that it aligns very well with the way learners want to consume learning. For instance, you can craft your mobile learning strategy to include learner-centric formats that sync up with their lifestyle. These could include:

  1. Podcasts that they can listen to during their commute to the office
  2. Microlearning nuggets for learning that can be easily consumed during waiting periods (and avoid carving out specific time slots for training). You can also offer microlearning nuggets as refresher nuggets to keep the “forgetting curve” at bay
  3. Microlearning videos for quick time learning
  4. Interactive videos for the application of learning
  5. Just-In-Time learning aids or job aids to address specific challenges or provide tips, ready reckoners, or learning summaries
  6. Quizzes
  7. Practice exercises
  8. Personalized curated content
  9. Furthermore, you can add dollops of fun through gamified elements or make learning more immersive by using nuggets featuring Virtual Reality (VR)
  10. Mobile apps for learning

How Can You Enhance The Impact Of Your Mobile Learning Strategy Further In 2019?

You can enhance the impact of your mobile learning strategy by providing:

  1. A judicious mix of learning and reinforcements to ensure that the “forgetting curve” does not set in
  2. Adequate room to practice, hone skills, and gain proficiency or mastery
  3. Detailed feedback and remediation or recommendations to further enhance the learning
  4. Nudges to review, challenges, and hooks to come back for more
  5. A channel for informal and social or collaborative learning
  6. An avenue to contribute User-Generated Content (UGC)

Here is a ready reckoner of the strategies that you can use to enhance the impact of your mobile learning strategy.

1. You can use microlearning and video-based learning:

  • To create buzz or awareness prior to the formal training
  • For formal training
  • For Performance Support
  • For informal learning
  • For inclusive learning (provide room for User-Generated Content)
  • For social learning

2. Invest in some of the learning strategies that will deliver high-impact experiences:

  • Interactive video-based learning
  • AR/VR
  • Gamification
  • Scenario-based learning
  • Story-based learning
  • Guided exploration

3. Retain the connection with learners by pushing nuggets that:

  • Reinforce
  • Refresh prior knowledge
  • Provide room for practice and mastery
  • Encourage learning beyond the specified outcomes

As you have probably seen, if you want to enhance the impact of your mobile learning strategy, you need to adopt a multi-pronged approach (that cuts across learner profiles and across various types of training needs). I hope this article gives you the required insights on how you can use my pointers and step up your mobile learning strategy.

By Asha Pandey, Chief Learning Strategist at EI Design

Advertisement
Corporate Learning Best Practices, e-Learning, Employee-Training, Game-based learning, Gamification, Micro-learning, Mobile Learning, QuoDeck

7 Gamification Techniques For Corporate Training That Work

1 Comment

While gamification has been in use for corporate training for several years, there is still a lingering doubt on its impact. In this article, I share 7 gamification techniques for corporate training that work!

What Gamification Techniques For Corporate Training Still Work?

Gamification techniques use elements and principles of gaming to create an engaging learning experience. Some of the associated gains are:

  • Higher learner motivation (to participate and complete).
  • Higher engagement levels.

Gamification techniques can be effectively used to:

  • Have fun and learn.
  • Apply their learning on the job (by providing them practice zones featuring scenarios, similar to what they will handle in real life. Here, the learners can practice and hone their skills in a safe environment).
  • A longer-term implementation of gamification techniques can influence behavioral change.

So, How Can You Make Gamification Techniques Work In Corporate Training?

Let’s take a step back and identify what the expected gains are from any learning strategy.

Your list is likely to read that it should be:

  1. Motivating
  2. Engaging
  3. Relevant and relatable (preferably personalized)
  4. Challenging
  5. Rewarding

It must:

  1. Create sticky learning
  2. Facilitate the application of learning
  3. Provide room for practice and proficiency gain
  4. Provide reinforcement to ensure the “forgetting curve” does not step in
  5. Trigger behavioral change

How You Can Use Gamification Techniques For Corporate Training To Influence Each Aspect

  1. Step 1
    Identify barriers (intrinsic or extrinsic) that might be hindering the required changes and thereby improve the learners’ motivation levels.
  2. Step 2
    Generate interest in learning by providing relevant and personalized learning paths.
  3. Step 3
    Create effective learning experience using scenarios, simulations, and challenges.
  4. Step 4
    Provide feedback for performance improvement that can help learners pause and think or recalibrate their way forward.
  5. Step 5
    Use rewards and recognition to sustain the learners’ momentum and motivation, and ensure that learners walk away with a sense of accomplishment.
  6. Step 6
    Implement repetition and reiteration for successful change in behavior.

What Is the Impact You Will See If You Apply the Right Gamification Technique For Corporate Training?

Through the right gamification technique, you can:

  1. Create a sticky learning experience
  2. Provide reinforcement (to offset the “forgetting curve”)
  3. Ensure the successful application of learning on the job
  4. Influence or trigger the desired behavioral change

How Can This Value Be Delivered?

At EI Design, our gamification practice is nearly 5 years old. During these years, we have created successful corporate trainings that have leveraged on gamification techniques at several levels, including:

  1. Partial gamification (to enhance traditional eLearning courses)
  2. Gamified aids to support ILT
  3. Gamified learning path
  4. Game-based learning
  5. Gamified portals

Our Next Gen gamification techniques build up from the success of the current approaches. For instance,

  • Instead of just having simple badges and leaderboards for each challenge, you can put the learner through a more complex narrative that can truly challenge him or her. The narrative is selected based on the content type, learner profile, and is aligned to the learning goals.
  • Personalization holds the key to the learner’s attention, engagement, and motivation. You can use mobile apps for learning to offer a personalized learning path that is aligned to the learner’s goals. Thereby, it is relevant and more engaging.
  • You can use a combination of learning strategies to gain higher impact. For instance, the usage of immersive techniques like a Virtual Reality (VR)-driven learning path that is gamified will surely multiply the impact and help you meet the learning goals.

7 Next Gen Gamification Techniques For Corporate Training

You can opt for the following 7 Next Gen gamification techniques for corporate training and achieve your mandates successfully:

1. Longer-Term Gamification

Behavioral change requires the use of gamification over a long period of time. You can use this longer-term learning path to have milestones over successive weeks/months/quarters.

2. Periodic Checkpointing Of Learners’ Progress

Alongside, plan for a periodic assessment of learners’ progress (against the required outcomes) that can range from learning acquisition, its application, or a behavioral change.

3. Multiply The Impact

To make the learning journey more engaging, you can add immersive approaches like Virtual Reality or wearable tech in your fold.

4. Leverage On Microlearning-Based Gamification

Give the learners a “bite-sized” gamification experience.

5. Personalized Gamification

Offer personalized learning and gaming paths for learners.

6. Social Media-Based Gamification

Let the learners collaborate with peers or experts and address challenges or solve problems, much the same way they need to in real life.

7. Invest On Niche Gamification Portals

These can be designed to offer customized learning paths and elements of gamification, microlearning, and social learning.

This Seems To Be Too Good To Be True; Is There A Catch?

Over the years, I have seen several views (or misconceptions) associated with gamification techniques for corporate training.

I share 5 myths and contrast them with facts to highlight how you can make gamification techniques effectively work for corporate training.

Myths And Facts #1

  • Myth
    Gamification in eLearning doesn’t really help learners learn.
  • Fact
    Gamification is not just about having fun. Much like traditional eLearning, it can be used to meet specific learning outcomes.

As I have highlighted, you can map the learning goals to a gamified approach to gain better engagement. It also creates a far more sticky learning experience. The use of gamification techniques over a period of time will influence learner behavior as well.

Myths And Facts #2

  • Myth
    Gamification cannot drive learner performance.
  • Fact
    Several aspects of learning, including retention, an application on the job, as well as behavioral change can be influenced by gamification.

The Next-Gen gamification techniques for corporate training (highlighted earlier in the article) show you exactly how this can be achieved. 

Myths And Facts #3

  • Myth
    Gamification doesn’t provide real value to learners and businesses.
  • Fact
    Both learners and businesses see value in this approach at several levels.

Learners love it as learning is fun, challenging, and rewarding. L&D teams find value in it on account of its wide application across varied corporate training needs. The correct gamification technique can help them deliver their goals (learning, its application, or behavioral change).

Myths And Facts #4

  • Myth
    Gamification can’t drive learning.
  • Fact
    Gamification can provide an effective approach to drive learning.

This is on account of its inherent features that resonate with learners and help them perform better.

Myths And Facts #5

  • Myth
    Gamification appeals only to Millennials.
  • Fact
    The correct usage of gamification techniques will ensure that it will be well received across the multi-generational workforce.

I hope this article will help you use gamification techniques extensively for your corporate training and my 7 gamification techniques for corporate training will help you make it work well for you.

By Asha Pandey, Chief Learning Strategist at EI Design