The mobile market has grown at amazing rate, and will continue to grow at an increased pace. Over recent years information about designing and developing m-learning has increased substantially. Developing e-learning for mobile has created unique challenges, mostly due to the fact that mobile devices come in all shapes and sizes, and have varying levels of quality and resolutions.
It is difficult to create one e-learning design that will work across all devices, however there are some general guidelines and best practices you can follow to help you develop a good user experience.
1. Time
The mobile learning modules must be ranging from 2 – 10 minutes of learning. As the screen size is smaller the user will not be able to focus more time as it will be constrained for the user.
2. Content
Subject matter plays a vital role. The mobile device can support all methods of learning and divide the content into smaller chunks and make them precise is the secret ingredient for cooking successful content.
3. Interactions
Mobile device users interact with their apps. Unless they are viewing videos (which all need to be engaging), people want to engage with the learning on their device. Getting a balance between what you are reading and interacting with is essential.
4.Easy to follow Navigation
It goes without saying that navigation is key; however eLearning can be guilty of overcomplicated navigational structures. With mobile apps we need to be mindful of overcomplicating screens with clickable (touchable) icons and opening other apps/browsers over learning content. Take a simplistic approach to navigating.
5. Social Interaction
There are two elements to social interaction: 1) competitive learning and 2) supportive learning. Competitive learning is linked with a game-based approach. If the subject matter lends itself well to game-based learning then an effective competitive approach will ensure that there is strong interest and ultimately a repetitive approach to learning. Our desire to network with others using our mobile devices almost creates an expectation that learning should also enable this approach. Supportive learning leads to a strong community approach to learning, and this is essential for any organization driving performance among its people.
In conclusion, mobile devices are fast becoming the first choice of learning technology delivery. However structure and control is necessary to ensure that it is suitable for your learners and business. An effective approach to mobile learning can provide this control. The positives completely outweigh the negatives in mobile learning, however consideration must be given to the mobile device users and their behavior.
