CHAPTER 1

Mobile Learning Overview

When I speak to audiences about mobile learning, I often jokingly say that ourphones and other mobile devices have become part of our DNA. Think about it fora minute. We never leave home without them. They are always on. We check them anaverage of 34 times per day; panic if we lose them; and a large percentage of ussleep with them within an arm's reach. Let's face it: mobile devices have becomea part of who we are and how we interact with the world around us.

Mobile Device Adoption Rates

It seems that everywhere we look, people are on their mobile phones and tablets,but how many people actually have mobile subscriptions? According to theInternational Telecommunication Union (June 2012), at the end of 2011, therewere approximately 6 billion mobile subscriptions. With the world's populationstanding at about 7 billion, 6 billion subscriptions represents more than 85percent of the world's population. Wow! So does that mean almost everyone in theworld has a mobile phone? Not quite. Many individuals have multiplesubscriptions, and Ericsson (June 2012) believes the actual number of uniquesubscribers as of the first quarter of 2012 was about 4.2 billion. So we arelooking at close to 60 percent of the world's population that owns and uses cellphones.

With the ever-growing global workforce, I'd like to take a moment and look athow mobile devices have been adopted worldwide by region.

Portio Research (see Table 1-1) has broken the mobile penetration landscape intofive worldwide regions, and, based on its 2011 data, the only regions thatdidn't exceed 100 percent penetration were Asia Pacific, Africa, and the MiddleEast. They forecast by the year 2016 the only regions not to exceed 100 percentwould be Africa and the Middle East with 91.3 percent.

Not only are we looking at more than half the world with mobile subscriptions in2012, and a future growth rate to exceed 100% worldwide by 2014, but mobiletechnologies (including devices and mobile software) are the fastest-growingtechnology in history to date.

Data Plan Costs

Currently in the United States, mobile carriers are doing away with theunlimited data plans. At the time of this writing, Sprint is the only major U.S.carrier that still offers an unlimited data plan to new subscribers. This leadsto an implication that data plan costs are skyrocketing. In reality, the costper MB of data has continuously dropped since 2008. Portio Research forecaststhis trend will continue, and by 2015, the cost will be a mere US$0.01 per MB(see Figure 1-1). Free Wi-Fi networks are popping up everywhere—from your localMcDonald's to your local gas station. The problem is not the cost of theservice, but rather, most individuals purchase a data plan that exceeds theirneeds, as the typical U.S. mobile subscriber uses less than 2GB per month.

Corporate Adoption

All this sounds great. Most people are hooked on their mobile devices, and datacosts are dropping. But will corporations adopt this technology, or is it allonly for personal use? According to Gartner Research, by 2014 it will becommonplace for organizations to support corporate applications on employee-owned smartphones and mobile devices.

In addition to supporting enterprise-wide corporate applications, organizationshave been using social media and mobile technologies as a way to reach theirconsumers. For example, if you "like" a company's Facebook page, the company maysend you coupons for discounted or even free products. Flip through the pages ofany magazine or newspaper, and you will see quick response (QR) codes, which, ifyou scan them with your smartphone, will give you additional product informationby sending you to the company's website or even redirecting you to watch avideo.

With the information I've shared with you in this section, it's easy to see thatmobile technologies aren't only the hot devices of the moment—they're here tostay. Corporations are quickly (or not) adapting their IT strategies to includemobile technologies as a way to support their internal applications as well astheir customer needs. As managers, we must explore how we can leverage thistechnology to aid in training employees, enable employees to achieve greaterperformance, and educate our customers.

What Is Mobile Learning?

While we cover this question in detail in Chapters 3 and 4, I'd like to brieflytake a look at mobile learning, also referred to as m-learning, from the 50,000-footview.

Mobile learning isn't really about the technology or the device, and itshouldn't be a primary mechanism to deliver your e-learning courses. Rather,think of mobile learning as a way to provide your employees or customers withthe right content at the right point in time. Consider allowing them and,indeed, encouraging them, to create their own content to support peer-based andsocial learning opportunities. Look for ways to maximize the devices' uniqueattributes to augment and extend the learning process. Last, support yourlearners on the job with performance support tools accessible from their mobiledevices. Make your m-learning tools a prominent component of your corporateteaching tool kit and part of a well-thought-out, long-term employee andcustomer support strategy.

Devices Used for Learning Today

Today, a variety of mobile devices deliver mobile learning experiences, and thelines between these technologies is blurry. While many of us have a variety ofmobile devices close at hand, soon we will own only one that accomplishes allour goals. Let's take a moment to look at some of the technologies that delivermobile learning experiences today.

Portable Digital Assistant

The portable digital assistant (PDA), a long-time staple for many executives, ison the verge of extinction. They are often called a palmtop computer, and theirprimary focus is on personal organization and office productivity. PDA softwaretypically includes a calendar, address book, notepad, e-mail, and picture and/orvideo display. PDAs contain memory cards to save data and use Wi-Fi or Bluetoothtechnology to connect to the Internet. Since they do not connect to cellularnetworks, their Internet accessibility is tremendously limited compared toother, more modern technologies.

Feature Phones

I often refer to a feature phone as a dumb phone since it does not run on amobile computing platform. Typically feature phones are used to communicate,either via voice or SMS....