There is pressure on everyone in learning and development to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to new technology. Knowing the right questions to ask and getting clear information on how to educate clients enables you to switch gears from a reactive order-taker to a consultative partner. Instructional designers and managers need to be grounded in the fundamentals of mobile learning strategies.

In this session, you will learn the right questions to ask as you move through the engagement process with your clients, specific to mobile learning. You will examine the similarities and differences for consulting when mobile learning is involved. This session will demystify and clarify key terminology, explain the main technology options, discuss how to select the right technology for the project, and show you how to present your solutions and conclusions to your clients. You will see where the rules have changed and be educated on those differences, and you will be offered tips for presenting the very best options to your clients.

In this session, you will learn:

• To determine the right questions to ask in a needs analysis for a client who is asking for a mobile solution
• To recognize the signs when mobile learning is or isn’t the best fit in a particular situation
• To educate clients about what a mobile solution is and isn’t
• To present your analysis and recommendations to your client

Audience:
Intermediate designers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Tablets and smartphones.

There is an increasing appetite for knowledge in high-competition business environments. At the same time, when knowledge and information are growing at the fastest pace, it is nearly impossible for employees to retain and recall everything that they know or need to know to perform. With a large part of the workforce always on the move, how to reach them effectively and deliver performance support is a challenge all L&D teams face.

In this session, you will engage cases and demonstrations of performance support tools based on learning technology. You will see how these tools, used in tandem with traditional learning, provide the short bursts of critical knowledge based on employee demand. You will learn various design strategies that can be opted for designing these tools and see a demonstration of the various platforms and technologies used in development of these tools. You will also learn the critical do’s and don’ts when developing these tools.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to effectively support training with performance support tools
• About the various technologies and strategies used to create such solutions
• The benefits incurred by satisfied clients that have adopted these solutions
• What works and what doesn’t while developing these tools

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Responsive performance support tools that work across devices.

Mobile is the new way of learning. Learners want it and companies want to provide it. However, app development can be expensive, especially if you are starting from a mostly print or standard eLearning model of training. Finding a way to give learners and organizations the mobile learning they want without breaking the bank is a must in today’s training market.

In this session, you will learn how EPUBs can be used as a low-cost solution for taking training content mobile. See how these digital books are able to support many of the same bells and whistles traditional eLearning interactions support. You will examine how digital books leverage the same inputs as traditional apps such as gestures, but cost a fraction to develop and maintain across multiple operating systems and devices. You’ll discover there is a slightly different design process required when building training for eBooks. And you will learn some great examples of how it’s done so you can try it yourself.

In this session, you will learn:

• Which platforms and tools are available for digital publication use
• The different audiences for each publishing platform and which best fits your audience
• Real world strategies from companies that use digital book platforms as part of their mobile strategy
• The do’s and don’ts of digital book publishing

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Apple iBooks and Adobe Digital Publishing Suite.

Including media in the training you create can be a fantastic way to make your content easier to understand and remember. But you don’t always have the time and budget to hire someone to create these design assets for you, and sometimes stock media just won’t cut it. There is another option, however: creating media yourself, as you likely already have with two tools that can help you out—your smartphone and tablet. By knowing more about the apps and tools that can help you create some of the media needed, and using a device you already own, you can be more efficient and keep project budgets down.

In this session, you’ll explore apps that can help you build animated videos in under an hour, create comics without needing to draw, quickly record your own podcasts, and make people who think they can’t draw look like competent artists. You’ll also learn about the physical tools that can push your mobile devices even further.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to recognize situations where media created in an app can work for a project
• What apps you can use to easily create images, video, audio recording, and more
• What basic media design skills you’ll want to develop to push these apps even further
• What physical tools, such as styluses and stand clips, can help improve the content you create on mobile devices

Audience:
Novice designers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Adobe Voice, Tayasui Sketches, Comic Life, and Paper. Physical tools that can be used with these apps, such as the Jot Pro, and Pencil by Fifty Three.

Most organizations operating in the modern training space ask many irrelevant and/or misdirected questions about mobile and social learning, e.g., “Will this be on an iPad, iPhone, or Android?” This question leads to discussions about screen real estate, etc., but misses the critical point relating to the learner experience in mobile and the equivalence of experience for others in non-mobile environments.

In this session, you will explore a host of important elements for an instructional program, such as: long-term learner engagement, non-traditional sequencing and delivery, learning environments, and communities of practice. In today’s hyper-networked and mobile workplace, organizations often turn to the virtual classroom. You’ll also explore mobile technologies and social media as a means to provide rich resources for informal learning outside of the classroom, as well as supplemental learning within the classroom. You’ll learn how to use these tools to build community and continue the learning conversation started in the classroom.

In this session, you will learn:

• To identify why, when, and how participants will be utilizing the mobile virtual classroom
• How to apply design strategies that maximize the live, mobile environment
• How to incorporate social media tools and networks into a virtual learning experience to accomplish formal and informal learning
• How to integrate social media into a virtual classroom design during live sessions and in-between live sessions

Audience:
Intermediate designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Mobile technologies and social media that can be incorporated into a live virtual classroom event.