Mobile Learning has been on the horizon for a long time but has met with scepticism and technical constraints in its early days. Now, even though bandwidths have improved and devices have become more capable, mobile learning is still struggling to take off. The recently released Towards Maturity report ‘Mobile Learning at Work’ indicates that only 30% of organisations are incorporating mobile learning. Interestingly, these statistics are only marginally better than those reported by ASTD for the US market in May 2012. So what ails mobile learning?
移动学习已经存在了很长一段时间,但在初期曾遭受怀疑,受到技术限制。现在,即使带宽有所改善且设备也变得更强大,移动学习仍在奋力腾飞。最近发布在《迈向成熟》的一篇名为《工作中的移动学习》的报告显示,目前只有30%的机构运用移动学习。有趣的是,这些数据仅仅稍微好于ASTD 2012年5月在美国市场的报告。所以,到底什么阻碍了移动学习呢?

Understanding Mobile
了解移动学习

The most important reason for the low uptake of mobile learning, until now, has been the lack of understanding of mobile devices and mobile learning. To truly appreciate mobile learning, it is crucial to understand, what I call, the 3 key principles of mobile learning.
到现在为止,移动学习利用率不高最重要的原因是缺乏对移动设备和移动学习的正确理解。为了真正认识移动学习,这了解我所说的移动学习的3个关键原则至关重要。

It is much more than ‘Learning’
不仅仅是“学习”

The term ‘mobile learning’ is its own biggest enemy. Invariably, it forces you to focus on how to deliver learning on mobile devices. ‘Mobile’ is a unique device that brings together the capabilities of numerous disparate devices – like a phone, a camera, an audio/ video player & recorder, a computer, eBook reader, a GPS device, a game console – all in the palm of your hand. Today’s mobile devices move beyond merely providing access but to actively helping and supporting us at work and at home. It has also empowered and enabled us to do things that we may never have had the confidence to do in the past.
“移动学习” 这一术语是它自己最大的敌人。它迫使你把重点放在如何在移动设备上提供学习。手机是一种特殊的设备,它包括许多不同的设备,比如电话、摄像头、音频或视频播放机和录像机、电脑、电子书阅读器、GPS设备、游戏机等所有能在掌上使用的设备。如今移动设备不仅仅提供链接访问,而且在工作和生活中积极帮助并支持我们。它还使我们能够做一些之前可能没有信心做的事。

If we stay within the comfort of the “learning box”, we will never fully recognise or realise the true value and potential of adopting “mobile” solutions.
如果我们满足于“学习工具”这一项定义,我们将永远不会完全认识到或实现采取“移动”解决方案的真正价值。

Think augmentation
增强

One of the common mistakes organisations make when considering mobile learning is ‘shifting their existing eLearning to all types of mobile devices’. This is like the mad rush to convert all ILT training to eLearning that we witnessed a decade ago. Only to discover years later that a lot of eLearning didn’t work as we thought it would.
企业在考虑移动学习时最容易犯的一个错误就是“把他们现有的在线学习资料移动到各类设备上。”这简直像十年前我们​​见到的疯狂地将所有ILT培训搬到网上。然而几年后我们发现,许多在线学习并不是我们想像的那样。

With mobile, ‘augmentation’ should be the key theme. Clark Quinn in his book’ Designing mLearning: Tapping into the Mobile Revolution for Organisational Performance’, says “…mLearning should be viewed as augmenting your learning or performance…”, which, for me, captures the soul of mobile learning.
对于“移动学习”,“增强”应该是关键。Clark Quinn在《设计移动学习:将移动革命引入组织业绩》这本书中写道:进军移动电话的革命组织性能”说,“......移动学习应被视为学习或绩效的增强......”,在我看来,这句话抓住了移动学习的核心关键。

Context in the real king
语境中真正的王者

We normally use mobiles in short bursts of 1-2 minutes and in environments as varied as being on the Tube, on a plane with no connectivity, or inside a high decibel manufacturing facility. The context, then, in which we ‘the learners,’ use mobile learning is critical and a key element in designing meaningful mLearning.
移动学习环境很广泛,我们一般在地铁上、飞机上或分贝高的制造厂等没有网络连接的时候运用手机移动设备学习1至2分钟。我们“学习者”运用移动学习的这种环境是设计有意义的移动学习的一个关键因素。

No escaping mobile learning
不要逃避移动学习

To be fair, understanding mobile learning is a bit difficult, especially for organisations with a ‘push learning’ mindset. Further, particularly in past, there have been challenges of small screen sizes, low bandwidths, low penetration of smart devices, security of content, Flash vs. HTML5 confusion, native vs. web based options, and more. Honestly, most of these are myths; myths with a logical and convincing argument against them. What’s important is to realize that there is no escaping mobile learning. Here’s why: we live in a mobile world, which is changing the very nature of work, and together these present a fantastic opportunity to transform workplace learning. I elaborate on each of these below.
凭良心说,理​​解移动学习是有点困难的,特别是对那些打算“推进学习”的组织。此外,特别是在过去,有来自智能手机屏幕小、带宽低、渗透低的挑战,还有内容安全,Flash和HTML5混乱,本地与基于网络的选项以及更多的挑战。说实话,这些大都不实际。最重要的是认识到不应该逃避移动学习。这是因为:我们生活在一个移动的世界,这改变着工作的本质,同时目前这是一个绝佳的转变工作场所学习的机会。我在下文一一阐述。

We live in an increasingly mobile world.
我们生活在一个日益移动世界

Smartphone sales have overtaken PC sales in the US and the trend is similar everywhere too, soon tablets will do the same, and before we know it, PC sales will be dwarfed by that of mobile devices. Further, smart phones and tablets are becoming cheaper – some have already reached a £50 price point and in a year or two, almost all of your workforce will own one (if they don’t already) for their personal use.
在美国,智能手机销量已经超过了个人电脑销售量,而且其他地方有同样的趋势,并且平板电脑也将如此。在我们见证平板电脑时代之前,个人电脑销售量与智能手机销售量相比就相形见绌。此外,智能手机和平板电脑越来越便宜,有的已经达到了50英镑,并且在一到两年内,几乎您所有的员工都将自己的(如果他们现在还没有的话)自己的智能手机或平板电脑。

Intel futurist, Rob Johnson, in an article earlier this year, writes, “As we pass 2020, the size of meaningful computational power approaches zero. When you get intelligence that small, you can turn anything into a computer,” Johnson writes. “All of a sudden, it’s possible to turn your shirt, your chair, even your own body into a computer.” I think this will have a huge impact on learning as an era of embedded ubiquitous learning unfolds.
英特尔未来学家Rob Johnson在今年早些时候的一篇文章中写道:“到2020年,有意义的计算能力设备的尺寸大小趋近于零。如果你有那么小的设备,你可以把任何东西装到计算机里。”“突然间,你可以把你的衬衣、椅子、甚至是你自己的身体装进电脑。”我认为,随着嵌入式的泛在学习时代的到来,这将对学习产生巨大的影响。

There is no doubt that computing is shifting to mobile devices and it’s only natural for learning to follow suit.
毫无疑问,计算机转移到移动设备,学习很自然的会随之也将转移。

Work is changing
工作在改变

Over that last few decades, the concept of work has changed. With the advent of computers and Internet, work is increasingly knowledge-based and for many it’s no longer a place you go to.
在过去的几十年里,工作的概念发生了变化。随着电脑和互联网的出现,工作越来越以知识为基础,对于许多人来说不再是去一个地方上班。

The workforce is now more mobile than ever – IDC estimates 37% of world workforce will be mobile by 2015. To manage and support the new workplace and mobile workforce, ‘enterprise mobility solutions’ is a rapidly evolving trend in driving productivity.
现在的劳动力比以往任何时候都更具移动性,IDC估计,到2015年,世界上37%的员工将具非常移动性。为了管理、支持新的工作场所和移动的员工队伍,“企业移动解决方案”逐渐成为促进生产力迅速发展的趋势。

Research by Dr. Robert Kelley, at the Carnegie Mellon University, indicates that the amount of information one needs to memorise to get the tasks completed has dropped from 75% to 10% between 1986 and 2006. This hints at the declining importance of formal structured training programs, which aim at ‘pushing’ information into the learner’s minds. More and more of learning is now embedded in the workflow.
内基梅隆大学Robert Kelley博士的研究表明,人们需要记忆来完成任务的信息量从1986年从75%下降至2006年的10%。这意味着正式的旨在“把信息塞进学习者的大脑中的”结构化培训的重要性不断下降。越来越多的学习现在已融入到工作流程中。

The opportunity
机会

Mobile presents a transformation opportunity for workplace learning.
手机为工作场所学习提供了一个转换的机会。

Of the five moments of learning needs listed by Gottfredson, the latter three – when trying to remember, when things change, and when something goes wrong – are more pertinent to the workplace. It is in these moments that the staff applies knowledge and skills to do the job. Any learning that can help it is immediately effective. And mobile, being always on and always carried, is the ideal device to target for such performance support.
在Gottfredson列出5种学习需求的时刻,后三个(当想要记住某些事情,当事情发生变化,当问题出现的时候)与工作场所更有相关性。员工正是在这些时刻需要相关知识和技能来进行工作。任何能够有所帮助的学习都会立即生效。而随身携带的手机是支持这种学习的理想目标。

As mentioned earlier, mobile is unique as it combines many distinct capabilities. It is also a very personal device (may not be so true for tablets) and is available at the moment of “creative impulse”. If you could capture that moment for further reflection or share with colleagues to build on it further, that’s a phenomenal opportunity. Imagine creating a digital water-cooler for your enterprise where your staffs come to chatter. It’s your informal & social learning hub if you like. It helps bring continuous learning in your enterprise. To me that is a transformational opportunity which mobile presents.
正如前面提到的,手机非常特殊是因为它结合了许多不同的功能。同时它也是一种个人设备(平板电脑可能不是),在人们有“创作冲动​​”的那一刻能够利用。如果你能抓住这一瞬间作进一步的思考,或与同事共同进一步探讨,这是一个不错的机会。想象一下,在员工闲谈的地方创建一个数字​​水冷却器。如果你愿意,这可以是你的非正式学习和社会学习中心。它可以为你的企业带来持续的学习。对我来说,这是移动带来的变革机会。

Thus, with our computing habits, work culture and even our daily life inclining more towards a mobile world, I do not see any way by which anyone could escape from adopting mLearning for very long.
因此,随着我们的计算习惯、工作文化、甚至我们的日常生活越来越倾斜向移动世界,任何人不管以哪种方式都不能长时间逃避移动学习。

Just do it!
放手去做吧!

Once we realise the transformational opportunity mobile presents, it’s easier to get started. The challenge, however, with trying to create a comprehensive strategy before you get started is that mobile strategy is a moving target. You can’t wait till things settle down – as they won’t. Start small but do make a beginning. The strategy can simultaneously fall in place as you gain some insights into how it works in your enterprise. Here are some simple options to get you started:
一旦我们认识到移动带来的转型机会,开始移动学习就很容易了。然而,在正式开始之前,创建全面的移动学习策略的挑战是移动学习策略是一个不断变化的目标。你不能等到所有事情都尘埃落定,因为这一刻不会到来。从小事做起,但一定要开始。当你发现它如何在你的单位内发挥作用的时候,这个策略就开始落实到位了。这里有一些简单的做法帮助你开始:

mEnable your eLearning
使你的在线教学移动化

Many organisations who have done eLearning in the past have first converted their existing content to make it tablet compatible. Not a bad move, unless you plan to put the same eLearning onto mobile phones too. Technically, this tablet learning lies in between eLearning and mLearning. And, if done well, delivering eLearning on tablets could help get you started with mobile learning.
许多过去实施在线学习的机构开始把他们现存的内容转换为平板电脑兼容的格式。不错,除非你打算把相同的在线学习内容转移到手机上。从技术上讲,平板电脑学习处于在线学习和移动学习之间。如果干得好,在平板电脑进行在线学习可以帮助你开始使用移动学习。

Support portal for sales (Field Force)
支持销售门户网站(场力)

Field based staff are the most mobile and need to be kept updated with, for example, the latest information, new developments, changes to operating processes and policies and any other materials, resources and communication that could help and support them in their day-to-day work. A mobile optimised website designed exclusively to cater to these needs could be a great first project – and it is not restricted to learning.
现场工作人员的移动性最大而且需要不断更新知识,如最新的信息、新的发展、操作流程和政策的改变以及其他能够帮助并支持他们日常工作的材料、资源和沟通。一个专门设计的满足这些需求的移动优化网站可以作为第一个项目,它并非只限于学习。

Custom app for a specific task
特定内容的应用程序

Survey your operations teams to identify any support opportunity that can be provided using mobile devices. It could be creating checklists to increase safety compliance or a custom calculator to help process certain tasks faster.
调查你的运营团队,确定可以用移动设备的情况。可以是创建清单来增加安全标准或自定义计算器,帮助某些工作进行的更快。

I’m sure you can think of many more such simple options.
我敢肯定,你能想到很多这样简单的选择。

Although mobile learning is a seemingly complex learning technology, given its newness and rapidly evolving nature, avoiding it is not a choice anymore; especially for organisations that wish to bolster their employees’ performance and progress in midst of tough competition. While the possibilities in mLearning and the domain per se will continue to evolve, it is important that organisations initiate mLearning. And to get past all the scepticism and mundane objections, a leap of faith is needed to get you started.
虽然移动学习是一种看似复杂的学习技术,由于其新颖性和快速发展的本质,回避不能再作为你的选择,特别是在激烈的竞争市场那些期望改善员工的表现促进员工进步的公司。随着移动学习及移动学习领域本身的继续发展,企业进行移动学习非常重要。不去在意所有的怀疑及世俗的反对,你的信仰需要质的飞跃来开始移动学习。

Go ahead, just do it!
去吧,放手去做吧!