A learning management system can significantly boost the efficiency and effectiveness of your organization by offering access to helpful training and education related to your industry and specific to your employees’ positions. However, in order to better meet the evolving needs of the modern learner, a mobile LMS can significantly improve your training programs by making them even more convenient, digestible, and effective. Below are key mobile LMS benefits and how you can implement a mobile learning strategy for your team.

Major Mobile LMS Benefits

A mobile learning management system is an LMS that is optimized to work well on a mobile device such as a cell phone or tablet. Different solutions offer unique advantages and/or limitations when it comes to mobile learning. Additionally, every organization will benefit from a mobile LMS in its own ways. However, there are a few benefits for just about every organization, including:

• Flexible Schedule and Location: Finding time to learn isn’t always easy. Nonetheless, working on new skills and developing knowledge is important. Having a mobile learning platform lets your team pick up lessons wherever they are and whenever they like, allowing them to catch up on courses or access resources around their busy schedules. A mobile LMS allows your learning programs to work around your team’s schedules or locations, not the other way around.
• Just-in-Time Learning: Another challenge that a traditional learning program often presents is timeliness. People retain information and typically have a more effective learning experience when they can apply what they’ve learned soon after. Mobile eLearning is perfect for just-in-time learning, with activities and resources within reach whenever and wherever needed, including right when they’re ready to apply it.
• Better Compliance: In the workplace, compliance-related lessons and certifications in order to perform a certain job or skill are important legal requirements. A mobile LMS allows team members to access specific compliance rules and resources whether they’re on the job or in the office. Therefore, employees can better ensure they’re meeting compliance requirements and following proper procedures at all times without having to rely simply on memory.
• Offline Options: Most traditional LMS solutions are accessible via the internet and, thus, require a connection. However, many mobile eLearning platforms do not need to be online all the time. For example, a user could complete her lessons while riding on public transportation.
• Superior Engagement: Millennials and Gen Z have grown up with access to technology and information at their fingertips. They are very adept at mobile user experiences and, in many cases, prefer to interact with systems via phone screens. A mobile LMS improves engagement and learning retention for these important users.
• Reporting and Analytics: Learning management systems offer you the option to gather and analyze data on your users and lessons. With this added element incorporated into your learning programs, you can analyze more learning styles in order to improve your content, courses, and overall engagement among learners.

Ultimately, having a learning management system makes providing training and professional education easier and more productive than ever before. When you include a mobile solution in your learning ecosystem, you allow for more modern, accessible, and impactful workplace learning. Any type of organization –  a corporation trying to manage training and knowledge, a school, university or college, or anything in between – can benefit from a mobile learning.

Incorporating a Mobile LMS

Clearly, using a mobile LMS can be highly beneficial for your organization’s L&D program. However, this still leaves the question of how to incorporate it. The exact steps depend on the users, the technology, and the goals you’re looking to achieve with mobile learning. Nonetheless, there are a few overarching themes that should always play a role in setting up a mobile eLearning platform.

1. Begin by defining expectations.  Understand what the primary goals of incorporating your mobile LMS are. For example, you may want to make your current LMS content more mobile-friendly and allow employees to access resources directly from their phone when performing a task. Or, you may want to increase the number of hours per week spent on professional learning and development by including fun activities or specific courses learners can explore when on the go.
2. As you create a plan for implementation, set specific and measurable goals based on your overall objectives. For example, you may want to run a pilot in one month before performing a full rollout by the end of the year. Or, you may want to conduct A/B testing from your onsite LMS to your mobile platform to discover which methods are working by measuring the success of mobile vs. onsite training. Understand what functionality, content and availability are needed for each time-bound goal.
3. Don’t forget about the importance of user testing. As mentioned, it’s important to test and analyze learner data in order to determine which tasks or lessons are better utilized on a mobile LMS or in an onsite course (digital vs. instructor-led). Except for the smallest teams, organizations should pick a pilot group to test the solution before a full implementation. Give your users opportunities to offer feedback and be open and responsive to their ideas and concerns. At the end of the day, your users are the ones who will interact with the system. Their feedback is essential for your success.

Ready to Add Mobile Learning to Your Training Program?

A mobile LMS is a valuable tool for a wide range of businesses, educational institutions, non-profits, and many more organizations. Mobile learning allows talent developers and instructors deliver convenient and engaging learning that employees actually want to explore.

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If you want to start taking advantage of the many mobile LMS benefits, get started today by contacting eThink, experts in mobile learning management systems. You may be surprised by how much your users can gain from on-demand, mobile learning opportunities.