The Future of Learning Podcast

Mastering Mobile Learning for Organizational Success

September 05, 2024 • Dr. Reggie Padin • Season 2 • Episode 21

Share episode

Send us a text

Can the omnipresence of mobile devices be turned into a strategic advantage for corporate learning and development? Join me, Reggie Padin, on the Future of Learning Podcast as we explore this transformative idea. In this episode, we dissect the necessity of mobile learning solutions in our rapidly evolving technological world. Discover how AI, AR, and VR can keep your workforce not just updated but ahead of the curve. We emphasize the urgent need to adapt corporate training strategies to align with these cutting-edge trends, ensuring your team is always agile and ready for the next challenge.

But it’s not just about embracing new technology; it's also about empowering your employees through autonomy and continuous learning. We'll spotlight innovative platforms like Learnfinity and Learnfinity Pro, showcasing how AI-generated content, micro-learnings, and social learning components can create a highly engaging and effective learning environment. Learn practical strategies to ensure your team consistently uses these platforms, such as leading by example, incorporating gamification, and linking learning objectives with performance goals. By fostering an environment of participation and incentivizing engagement, we can create a motivated and knowledgeable workforce ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Future of Learning podcast, where we explore the boldest innovations and cutting-edge trends in corporate learning and development. This podcast dives deep into how AI, mobile learning and immersive tech are rewriting the future of how we work and grow here, ready to push boundaries, challenge the status quo and empower your workforce in ways you never imagined. You've come to the right place. The future isn't waiting. It's happening right now, and Dr. Padin is here to guide you through it. Let's go.

Speaker 2:

Well, welcome once again to this podcast. New podcast, new name, hopefully a new focus into what's happening in our world today, especially when it comes to learning and development. So we've retitled this podcast the Future of Learning Podcast, and this is where we hopefully can come and explore the intersection of technology and innovation and corporate training and how that affects each and every one of us, those of us who are passionate about developing people, developing talent. So, thank you once again for joining me. I'm your host, Reggie Padin, and I am so delighted to be back in front of the camera and behind the microphone once again to share with you and we can share with each other what's going on in in our world, especially in learning and development. So today I thought that we would start the new episode of this podcast about how to empower the workforce through mobile learning solutions. I think this is a big thing and, as we see the disruption that is happening in the workplace well, in the world, but in the workplace I think that learning on the go is going to be critical. It's going to be key to developing talent. I think, long learning on the go is going to be critical. It's going to be key to developing talent. I think long gone are the days where we can expect everybody to come in a classroom and partake of a lesson or class together. I think that's still going to be valid and I'm a huge proponent of that. Be that's still valid and I'm a huge proponent of that. But I think I'm also very practical in the sense that we have to look at where the workforce is today, the disruption that AI, ar, vr are causing, and how we maybe rethink the way we do learning and development for a more on-the-go audience, and so empowering the workforce through mobile learning, I think, is going to be key, certainly in the next couple of years, if not sooner.

Speaker 2:

So I want to put a plug. This episode is coming to you from LearnfinityPro. com. It's an application that we have developed that is a mobile-first AI power application, really directed at the workforce. So if you have a chance, please go to the App Store or the Google Play Store, download it today. I think you're going to be pleased with what you see. And please join one of the groups within the application and give me some feedback you know let's share to see how we can make this better. So that's the free plug for LearnInfinityProcom and LearnInfinitycom. When you have a chance, go ahead and download it. So let me start this episode by asking a big question Are you currently using mobile learning to empower your employees or your teams, or your colleagues or associates? And the reason I ask is if we're not using mobile learning, I think that we may be missing a huge opportunity.

Speaker 2:

You know mobile learning has been around for a while. I know that in part of my dissertation I wrote about the importance of mobile learning in corporate training, but it's become hot as of late. But I'm here to say that it's not just a buzzword anymore. It's become, I think, a necessity for organizations to really tackle the changes and the needs within the corporate landscape. Corporate landscape it's not a fad. It's not something that is going to go away. If anything, I think it's more pronounced now. It's going to be more pronounced in the years to come. And we have YouTube to thank for this transition. We have social media to thank for this transition, social media to thank for this transition. We have TikTok to thank for this transition.

Speaker 2:

People are buried in their mobile devices. In fact, I had a conversation with a friend and he's part of a group that owns several coffee shops and one of the biggest problems they're having is getting these younger employees getting their noses out of the mobile device and doing things around the store and taking care of the customer. And so you know, you don't have to walk very far. We've all seen the funny videos on YouTube of people not paying attention to their surroundings and, you know, getting hurt because their noses are in their mobile devices. We're all spending more time in our mobile devices. Rather than fight that reality, why not use it to our advantage and really deliver through these mobile devices, whether it's a smartphone or a tablet, things that people are carrying with them on the go why don't we use them to really promote learning, promote development, promote learning, promote development.

Speaker 2:

And I think that if, again, if we're not using mobile learning, if we're not leveraging the fact that people are spending more time our associates, our employees, our colleagues are spending more time on their mobile devices than in any other medium. If we don't take advantage of that, I think we're going to miss the boat. So another reality is that today people are busier than ever before, and you know, I think in a future episode I'm going to get into some of the downsizing that is happening, especially in the tech industry and in other industries which really, in all honesty, in most cases you know, they just dump more work into an already burdened workforce, and so people are busy. People are busier than ever. I know that when I was in corporate training and I had classes face-to-face classes it was almost like pulling teeth to get their managers to approve people to come and sit in the classes because there was no time, and for people to sit in those classes because they had no time. And so people are busier now than ever before. And so let's talk about what we can do to remedy that reality that we can't fight it. It is what it is. So let's start with the basics.

Speaker 2:

For those of you who are probably new to this topic, I wanna start from the beginning, very, very briefly. I'm not gonna insult anybody's intelligence, but what is mobile learning? Well, mobile learning really is delivering training right to the employees, right to the associates, right to your team, in their smartphones or tablets. It's a flexible, on-demand and it's accessible wherever people may be, whether they're commuting hopefully not driving, but they can listen to a podcast, which I'll talk about that later but whether they're commuting, they're waiting in a coffee shop, they're waiting for a client. The mobile learning allows people to consume content, to consume knowledge wherever they are, in bite-sized format, and so it's great for the on-the-go workforce of today. Again, people are on the go, they're moving constantly and again, as I mentioned earlier, they're already spending a lot of time on their mobile devices. So mobile learning takes that knowledge and disseminates it through the use of mobile devices.

Speaker 2:

So, on-the-go learning, so we can ask the question so why does it matter? Why does mobile learning in this conversation matter? The question, so why does it matter? Why does mobile learning in this conversation matter? Well, the reality is that, you know, a simple fact is that employees can learn at their own pace. Whether they're having a quick break or, as I mentioned earlier, whether they're commuting, whether they're just winding down for the day, learning can happen without interrupting their workflow. And this is something that, again, for those managers who are very, very time conscious, this flexibility is key to empowering employees who otherwise would struggle to find time to sit in a traditional training. So that's why I think mobile learning is so fantastic. Now, it's been proven that the fact that research shows that companies that implement mobile learning see higher levels of productivity and engagement.

Speaker 2:

Imagine, you know, having employees who are sipping on their morning coffee and they pull out their phone or their tablet and they get a quick five-minute micro-learning module on leadership or management or sales or product knowledge module on leadership or management or sales or product knowledge. You know, adults want to be successful and want to learn in order to be successful. Right, there has to be a reason for learning. And when you give people the tools they need in a way that it's almost you know, it's not a second thought, right, they don't give it a second thought to take that class or take that module because they know it's only going to take them five. You know, 10, 15 minutes at the most. Right, they know that they can listen to, you know, that lesson in a podcast format as they're driving to work, as they're sitting in traffic.

Speaker 2:

Think about the individuals from your team who are constantly traveling. They're constantly on a plane from city to city or other countries in the world, and now they have the ability to continue their development and their learning as they go. They wouldn't have time to sit in a classroom, they wouldn't have time to maybe attend a webinar, they wouldn't have time to, you know, sit in a Zoom training, but they could have time, five minutes at a time, 10 minutes at a time, in their regular schedule to learn, continue to learn and continue to develop. So I think this is a winner. And again, but as I mentioned, there are a lot of organizations that are not taking advantage of this. They're missing the opportunity, really, and many businesses still haven't caught on to the mobile learning revolution. Many organizations maybe some of you who are listening or watching this podcast are hearing this for the very first time, right? And so you didn't think that it was even possible to do that, because we're used to, we're accustomed, we're, you know, we're used to having the long, the long, drag out trainings, right, the one hour trainings, the two, three hour trainings. And listen, I've sat through them and I've conducted them. I've sat through them and conducted them in life and through e-learning. So I've done it, I've been there.

Speaker 2:

Studies have shown that companies that embrace mobile training consistently outperform those that don't, and it's obvious, right. Think about the last time you conducted a training and the logistics that it took for everybody to get invited. Not everybody could show up. People showed up late. You know there were interruptions. Maybe it was too hot or too cold in the room. Maybe if it was a webinar, there was, you know, issues with the connection with the sound or the video, with the connection with the sound or the video. Those are the realities of what we face in the way we've conducted trainings up to now.

Speaker 2:

But mobile learning and microlearning takes care of that right. Because these are packaged specifically to be consumed in short periods of time, you give them exactly what they need to know. You take out the fluff, you're focusing on one objective at a time, one piece of knowledge at a time, and, of course, people are step of the way to go up against a competition that may not be as well trained as their teams, and so this is a huge, huge missed opportunity. The good news is it's not too late to make the switch. I think the technology today makes it easier okay, it makes it so much easier to make that shift. And again, I'm not saying you have to get rid of all the other trainings that you have. I'm not saying you have to forego face-to-face training or longer format training. There's a place and a time for that, and I think it's still very much needed.

Speaker 2:

But for, I think, a lot of the training that we're offering individuals, mobile learning may be the way to go and I think, to really keep people engaged. So you can still do this and it'll work mobile learning, a mobile learning strategy if they have the right solution, if they select the right solution. So start by choosing an easy-to-use platform that integrates you know, your team's knowledge base, that maybe integrates some of the tools you already have, so you're not having to reinvent the wheel and then make sure that the learning content is aligned to what your organization is trying to achieve. This alignment is key to making sure that your workforce is empowered, is motivated, is excited about learning and not overwhelmed. Now, with the technology that we have in our pockets right now, you can deliver a quick read or a podcast or maybe a message from the you know, the head of sales. You know giving the workforce a how-to right presentation that is short, that is inspirational, that is to the point. I think that that would be a lot better than having this. You're empowering your employees and motivating them to empower themselves and to gain the tools and knowledge and experience they need in order to be successful at their jobs. It's a really win-win for everybody. So you know, when choosing the platform, make sure that it's flexible, that it can do what you want it to do. That is video-based, that maybe has even AI content. Everybody's different. Everybody has a different inclination as to what they want to learn, how they want to learn it, and I think AI AI is a big tool. It should be user-friendly, scalable and really allow people to again just click one button and away they go. Now I'm going to again.

Speaker 2:

This is going to be another shameless plug, but that's exactly how we design Learnfinity and Learnfinity Pro. This is a mobile learning application, first and foremost, that uses the power of AI to generate content. That uses things like podcasts. You can have short micro-learnings, you can have book summaries that they can read or listen to, where people can create groups and have discussions within those groups. So there's the element of social learning, where there's longer format training as well, where companies can upload their policies and procedures so they can have it in all in one place and they can always refer back to it.

Speaker 2:

It's it's it was designed for for people really on the go and without having a need to log into another system and all I have to take you know this course here, but then I have to read policies and procedures. Here, everything, everything is condensed into one. I really invite you to call us if you have any questions, and you can start by downloading the application for free. We're making constant changes to it. We're listening to those of you who have downloaded it and have given us feedback. We really take it seriously and we're trying to make it better. But go ahead and try it.

Speaker 2:

So now, once you have chosen the right platform, the next step is really making sure that employees are actually using it right, and so this is where, again, the right application can help you with that. If you have things such as badges and points, so gamification is part of it. If you are encouraging, if you're the leader and you're encouraging, you know you put a message there, you put a course, you record a little podcast and you feed it into the system so your folks can really put. You can make it personal for your organization. So it's not a disconnect. This is a vendor that's providing the training. No, this is our people, our leaders, either through a blog or a podcast or a short lesson, or there's also gamification.

Speaker 2:

The key is to have people engaged and, by the way, again, people may be more prone to come back to the training. If they know they don't have to sit there for an hour or two, if they know they don't have to, you know, beat the traffic to make it to a class, know that they have the time that they have in order to really participate in the learning they're going to come back to it. So here's a couple of things that you can do. Is you model by example? You yourself download the application, you yourself use the application. They see you interacting. So, you know, in the case of Learn Infinity Pro, there's again, there's social learning components, where there's groups where people can chime in, they can share with each other, they can put a video clip, they can upload a document, and you, as the leader, can be part of those interactions. Right, you're not removed from the individuals that you're wanting to develop. You are in the trenches, you are in the front lines with your team, and so if they see you involved, then they're going to get involved. So you, as a leader, you can encourage them to download it, so you can show them hey, I downloaded the application, it's great, it's awesome.

Speaker 2:

The second point of making this work is you encourage people to come back to it, and so you can, you know, assign people. Hey, you know, there's, you know, books available on leadership or management or sales or whatever the case may be, and we want to challenge everybody to participate and at least listen, to read and comment in one of the groups on three of those books for the next month. So, encourage people to come back and, you know, in small bursts, participate in their learning. Very important is to always connect. I mean, this is, like you know, l&d 101, but you always you have to connect the learning to the performance goals, right, they can't, there can't be a disconnect. And so you got to make sure that you integrate learning with performance. And it's very important to also incentivize your team, because if you and it's very important to also incentivize your team because if you let them know hey, I love what you're doing here they're going to be motivated.

Speaker 2:

A motivated workforce is a knowledgeable workforce. A knowledgeable and motivated workforce is a productive workforce and, of course, that is going to help your organization succeed. Now, you can also make that as part of the application itself, right? So if you complete X number of courses, if you complete this challenge in this month, if you complete, you know the training, you know you can redeem points for swag or a gift card. However, you incentivize individuals in your organization, make sure that you connect all of that and if we do this, if we do this as leaders and we give people the right tools for them to empower themselves, I think they're going to continuously come back to their learning tracks and participate and be motivated to learn more.

Speaker 2:

Now here's one thing that I think deviates from a lot of what we've done certainly the way L&D has been done in the past. In the past, l&d and our strategies were very much prescribed. Right, here's the X number of courses, and you have to take it in this order. Those days are almost gone, and so true empowerment comes through autonomy. Right, you have to give employees the freedom to choose when they're going to participate in training, where they're going to participate in training and how they're going to participate in training. Where they're going to participate in training and how they're going to learn.

Speaker 2:

You have to empower people to learn and give them the freedom to choose when they're going to learn, how they're going to learn, where they're going to learn, and you know you're respecting everybody's preferred learning style. Some people are going to be readers, some people are going to be listeners, some people are going to be. You know they want to play a game, they want to do something active, but the idea is you give them control. You give them back the control to develop themselves. You're giving them the tools. You're giving them the tools, you're giving them the resources, you're giving them everything they need in order to be successful, but it's really on them to really more likely to apply what they have learned in their day-to-day work.

Speaker 2:

When we prescribe and we say, hey, it needs to be completed by this and it just doesn't, it doesn't, it doesn't, it doesn't work, it's not, it doesn't connect. So when, when we do this, so we lead by example, we are involved in the training ourselves, we give people autonomy to really care for their own learning and their own development and their own professional development development. This creates a culture of continuous learning, the holy grail of every leader that I've talked to. As to how do I create a culture of continuous learning. That's how we do it right. That's how we get to the point where there is really a culture of learning, and that culture of learning, of course, is going to help the bottom line. It's going to help the morale, it's going to help. You know it's a win. It's a win both for the employee and certainly for the organization and, probably more importantly, for the customer that we are serving. So it's a win-win for everybody.

Speaker 2:

I take the odds of any organization that has that mindset against any other organization. That number one probably pays no attention to it. Number two makes excuses we don't have time, we don't have money, we don't have the expertise or the ones that have it, and it's just you know. It's just you know to check a box right. So here's a takeaway that I want you to leave with today If you want to empower your teams, your workforce, make mobile learning the norm, not the exception.

Speaker 2:

Introduce an easy to use platform that aligns with your company's goals, that gives people the freedom to learn wherever they are on the go and watch your employees, watch your teams, watch your colleagues become more skilled, more engaged, more in power. Remember, it's not about forcing employees to learn. It's not sitting there checking boxes to see who's learned and who hasn't. It's about giving people the tools they need in order to learn when it works for them, when it works best for them. When it works for them when it works best for them. So if you forget everything else that I've talked about.

Speaker 2:

Well, number one you can always rewind, and if there's some of you listening to this podcast or watching this podcast, if you're ready to take it to the next level you've probably never considered it, you probably never paid mind to it, or if you've read about it and you just didn't know how to get going, I encourage you to visit LearnInfinityProcom, download LearnInfinity and start playing with it, and then please, by all means, give us a call, send me a DM. Send me a DM, send me a note, schedule a demo. There's no pressure. As a leader, you know what's going to work for your team, and so I encourage you, if you want to take it to the next level, just feel free to reach out. Use me as a resource, listen to this podcast.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to be providing a lot more written content, a lot more content on this topic, and we'll get you there. We'll get you to the next level. So I hope this was fun for you as it was for me. Again, I can talk about this forever. Thank you so much for joining me on this first episode of the Revamped the future of learning podcast. I hope you've gained some valuable insights into how mobile learning can empower your workforce. Stay tuned for more. We're going to have a lot more episodes where we explore the future of corporate learning and development, where we will explore all these technologies. And remember, keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible and you're going to see some great things in your organization. Until next time, my friends, thank you so much for joining me. I am Reggie Padin. I'll see you next time and remember, keep learning. Thank you.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Dr. Reggie Padin

Host