Despite decades of research and years of touchscreen mobile phones and tablets being in use, there’s still a great deal of myth and disinformation in place about how these devices work, and how best to design touch-based interfaces. Mobile technology is now mature enough to mandate that we design mLearning solutions in a way that better matches the ways our learners actually interact with these devices. Too much mLearning design involves scaled-down desktop interfaces, or makes incorrect assumptions about how people’s thumbs work. We can’t design with poor foundational knowledge, and expect good outcomes.

In this session you will explore new research from The eLearning Guild that brings to light how people use all their different devices in all environments, from the street to the classroom. You will learn the research findings and synthesize them into actionable guidelines that you can use to immediately improve the design and development of your mLearning projects. You will leave this session with an understanding of how humans interface with touchscreen mobile devices, and how you can leverage this information in your mlearning design.

In this session, you will learn:

• How people hold devices
• Where different devices are used
• How different devices are used
• How different methods of use impact the ability for users to view and touch parts of the screen
• Tactics for mobile design

Audience:
Designers, developers, and project managers involved in designing apps or websites for mobile handsets or tablets.

Technology discussed in this session:
Mobile handsets, phablets, and tablets, regardless of platform.

Everyone seems to have an app these days. Many organizations are interested in developing an app, but do not have an understanding of what such a project entails. Before you spend time and money creating an app, it’s important to become familiar with terms, resources, and app-user behaviors.

In this session, you will learn the basics about creating apps for learning. You will explore the differences between native versus web apps and learn what to consider when designing functionality, including the importance of having a user-interface strategy. You will understand the resources needed to get you started when you’re ready to build. You will leave this session with an app-building implementation-plan worksheet, along with an understanding of mobile apps and how to implement them for your own organization.

In this session, you will learn:

• The difference between a native and web application
• Important strategies for designing your app
• Considerations for functionality and the user interface
• An overview of basic development tools
• Resources to help you get started

Audience:
Novice designers, project managers, managers, and directors who are new to the world of apps.

As a mobile usage grows, we no longer get to decide which device learners will use to access learning. Applying responsive design enables your customized, interactive course to display beautifully in both desktop and mobile learning environments. With true responsive design, course content needs to automatically rearrange and reflow depending on screen size and orientation. It is important to take the mobile environment into consideration beginning with the initial storyboarding of design and development.

In this session you will learn the design principles and techniques for applying responsive design to eLearning. You will explore the key areas you must address when designing for mobile devices: performance, accessibility, content parity, device-agnostics, and future-friendly design. You will discover the advantages and benefits of using responsive design from the onset of projects as well as how to transform existing course content for mobile learning.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why responsive design involves more than scaling content to a device’s screen size
• How to differentiate responsive design principles from traditional eLearning
• How the application of responsive design relates to various devices
• The key areas important to a successful responsive-design course

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, and project managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Captivate, general eLearning design, and video.

In the last few years, organizations were busy evaluating whether mobile devices are an effective channel for employee learning needs. However, research suggests that “organizations have moved beyond this stage and are now focused on solving challenges around security, content, bandwidth and cost” (Brandon Hall). Why is it that many organizations excited about mobile learning are yet struggling to start implementing them?

In this case-study session you will explore some of the best practices that have helped Qualcomm move past these barriers and align ourselves with the characteristics of high-performing organizations and top learning groups. We will discuss the different barriers to using mobile technology for learning, explore the mobile journey we have taken, and learn how our lessons can be applied in your organization. You will leave this session with a number of solid tactics and strategies used to overcome the barriers associated with mobile learning.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to identify potential barriers your organization could face for mobile learning
• Best practices to tackle some common barriers to mobile learning
• How Qualcomm has dealt with some common barriers to mobile learning
• The lessons learned by a mobile-learning pioneer organization

Audience:
Novice and intermediate project managers, managers, and directors.

The Brandon Hall Group’s research shows that most organizations are still in the early stages of mobile learning, if they have begun at all. All organizations have some level of a learning strategy in place already, and it can be very challenging to integrate mobile with that and to develop a strategy and identify what works and what doesn’t for your particular company.

In this session you will explore Brandon Hall’s empirical data and investigative research. You will discuss a framework that has been built based on this research. You will learn how this framework includes multiple factors impacting mobile learning, including all of the components, influencers, and considerations that organizations should be paying attention to. You will leave this session with the ability to self-assess your organization’s mobile learning maturity, and identify a path forward to a more robust approach.

In this session, you will learn:

• The role of mobile learning in the new learning ecosystem
• Which mobile content is the most effective
• A framework for building a mobile-learning strategy
• The mobile-learning practices of high-performing organizations

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Current studies show that more than five billion people will be using mobile devices by 2017, making smartphones and tablets more prevalent and accessible than desktop or laptop computers. Mobile learning has the ability to be a truly global solution for education delivery. At the same time, organizations must develop new knowledge and skills to support this expanded scope of learning.

In this session participants will explore why a mobile learning strategy is essential to meet the currently evolving technology trends. You will explore the considerations that must be addressed in order to implement a successful strategy leveraging mobile technology. You will discuss the opportunities mobile technology presents for eLearning, performance support, and more. You will leave this session with a number of tips from our successes and pitfalls that you can use to build your organization’s mobile strategy.

In this session, you will learn:

• To consider the audience needs and current technology trends when defining a mobile learning strategy
• Instructional considerations for multiple screen sizes
• To distinguish electronic performance support from mLearning
• To differentiate between mobile websites, native apps, hybrid apps, web apps, and responsive web design

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Android operating systems, iOS, Windows 8, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer.

Like many organizations, Goodwill is facing the challenge of supporting a large mobile workforce. It has over 2,700 retail stores staffed with sales associates and processing staff. There is usually no more than one computer in any single location that is available for training. Due to the premium placed upon retail floor space, expanding the desktop-based PCs that are available is prohibitive. This created a difficult challenge to provide training, share knowledge, and disseminate/gather information for the workforce.

In this session participants will explore Goodwill’s approach to solving this problem using authoring tools, text messaging, and a mobile platform. You will learn how it was able to minimize the time required to implement this solution and will discover the benefits it has seen since the solution was implemented. You will leave this session with an understanding of the process used to develop this solution, and tips to replicate the solution in your own organization.

In this session, you will learn:

• About various technologies to start your mobile learning journey
• The process Goodwill used to implement mobile learning
• How to address human resource’s concerns
• Lessons we learned from mistakes we made along the way

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors. Participants should have a general understanding of eLearning concepts.

Technology discussed in this session:
Brainshark for content authoring and Train-by-Cell, which provides a mobile platform and a text messaging service.