mLearning - The Future Is Getting Closer

One key theme that is becoming evident in organisations learning strategy is the concept of mLearning - bringing the right content, to the right person at the right moment and in the right size (eg anywhere, anyplace and anytime).

Although this concept has been desired for many years technology especially with such devices such as Blackberry, a variety of smart phones, the iPhone and the rise of cheap, reliable and truly portable PC's have all become feature rich, faster and more available and now making the possibility of learning in the palm of your hands an increasing possibility.

In Australia the Federal Government has just commissioned several million dollars of grants to begin delivery of mLearning products to schools and education institutions by 2011.

Accenture has recently completed a year long investigation into making mLearning a reality. Some of their key findings were of interest to note :
1. A Business Case - that showed the clear business need for mLearning, a receptive audience to understood the important of the learning in this way and sufficient technology that allowed all of this to work efficiently. Get the right people involved upfront !
2. A Clear Vision - a one page document that describes the target audience, defines the learning problem, and explains how a mobile learning solution addresses the problem. This will allow effective conversations of the value of the learning amongst stakeholders.
3. Create a Prototype - No more than 10 minutes to complete, make it available to be downloaded rather than rely on a live connection so it can be done when travelling, topics that helped on the job performance support rated highly amongst users.
4. Make It Part of The Organisation - Make sure it is integrated into your LMS , appropriately branded product and ensure it will be a good organisational and cultural fit.

The future is getting closer !

How does this effect you and your organisation - let me know ?

Creating A Community

"The age of mass production is fading fast. The emerging economy is based on knowledge, imagination, curiosity, and talent. What if we could learn to tap the wonderful, rich differences among people" Tom Peters, 2008.

At this year CPA Congress, we launching the first of many "Connecting and Exchange" initiatives to all CPA members to connect and exchange ideas and information, no matter where they are in the world!

You do not need to be a CPA Member to contribute

This is part of CPA Australia's knowledge blueprint, which has a major focus on enhancing the ability of our members to be able to connect and exchange with each other in both traditional and non-traditional environments.

For CPA Congress, this includes extending the experience past the traditional face-to-face sessions by enabling online community and exchange around CPA Congress themes and hot topics.

Along with the CPA Congress blog <http://cpacongress.wordpress.com/>, here is a snapshot of what you can expect from your online experience at this year event:
- CPA Congress online community
- virtual Q&A sessions through the online community
- video, audio and multimedia highlights of CPA Congress presenters and activities
- the opportunity to attend a conference session in the virtual world of Second Life

Please take some time to contribute, review and open your minds to the possibilities as the future is in your hands.

A New Door Opens

Welcome

I hope you all had a great break over the Christmas / New Year period and are refreshed for 2008. For me it was a time of reflection about the year gone and the year to come. What ever does actually eventuate in 2008, change will certainly be a key factor through out the next 12 months.

One example of change which caught my eye over the Christmas period was the Queen's Christmas Broadcast being delivered for the first time on The Royal Channel on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TheRoyalChannel

Could this have ever been considered a realistic option 2 years ago ?

Many futurologists see 2008 as the rise of Youtube as a means of true educational value, where there will be a greater use of this approach to provide education in the terms of short video segments covering a whole range of topics from cooking to calculus.

Other trends that are being predicted to influence the world of learning are :

• Economic "Jitters" - How will the industry cope with this uncertainty? Learning is usually the first causality of any type of down turn.


• Generational Differences - How do we prepare the next generation for the workforce?


• How do we pursue learning that engages a younger workforce and still makes business sense?


• Organizational Development - As companies change how do we ensure we meet their needs with our efforts?


• Technology - Do we have enough capacity? How do we deliver at the moment of need? What technology can we leverage given fewer resources?

This is all food for though, but what ever happens enjoy what ever the next 12 months brings to you.