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With a noticeable decline in the number of desktop PCs being sold consecutively over the last 3 years, mobile learning is fast gaining popularity. Coupled with this trend, the plethora of powerful yet cheap handheld devices is adding momentum to eLearning on the go. As more consumers embrace this growing trend, the learning opportunities that now exist, from an instructional design point of view, are indeed huge.

Mobile learning, or mLearning as it is popularly called, is not simply about reading a PDF research report on viewing an instructional video while sitting in rush hour traffic. And it is not eLearning using a mobile device. The eLearning Guild defines it as: "Any activity that allows individuals to be more productive... through a compact digital portable device... " In other words, learning on the go is NOT about whiling away time, but rather it's about using that time for constructive learning. Nor is it an alternate to traditional eLearning approaches. Rather, the use of mobile devices to facilitate learning is complimentary to other learning methods.

Why go there?

Embracing mLearning is no longer an option but a necessity if organizations want a productive workforce to stay competitive today. Most educational institutions have already switched their content to allow on-the go learning. Organizations with large distributed work forces find that bringing in everyone into a facilitated learning event has become expensive. They therefore prefer asynchronous eLearning and learning-on-the-go models instead.

Many governments and large corporations have also implemented initiatives for mobile learners, such as The Mobile Learning Environment (MoLE) project of the U.S. Military, GoLearn at Merrill Lynch, and the BLOOM (or Bite-sized Learning Opportunities on Mobile Devices) initiative in the European Union.

Pros and Cons

While there are both advantages and disadvantages of mobile learning, the benefits far outweigh the challenges. Some reasons to design courses

that leverage learning on the go include:
Opportunity to turn otherwise down-time into more productive time
Deliver valuable educational material easily to quickly improve an
organizations workforce
Move to an on-the-go, anywhere-anytime learning experience
Enable greater facilitation and cooperation between trainers and learners
Opportunity to design learning materials that are uniquely customized for individual learners

However, an instructional designer must also be aware of some of the limitations that mLearning brings with it, including:

The fact that not all types of courses are suitable to mobile delivery
Not all mobile devices may support the courses designed
Existing training materials might not easily integrate with freshly designed eLearning content
There may be a significant one-time investment needed to ramp up fore-learners, including learning tools, technology and (possibly 24x7) support
Less technology-savvy trainers and learners might find the learning on-the-go model harder to adopt
Learning delivery models may need to be significantly adapted to learners that are at different levels in the same course

The right tools and design

Not every course can be taught remotely using mobile learning approaches. That's because some knowledge is just not designed for distance learning. Learning aids using mobile devices have been found to be most effective for:

Just-in-time (JIT) learning
Review and Refresher training
Access to Flash Cards and Reminders
Evaluation and Quiz-based learning
Game and Simulation-based learning
Quick coaching and Feedback sessions
Learners-learning-from-learners type of sessions

However, while mLearning works great in the above scenarios, it might not be conducive where hands-on, face-to-face interaction may be required, or where extensive collaborative work needs to be delivered as part of the learning experience. This approach might not be viable where there is intensive reading and reference materials need to be consulted as part of the study program.