For many companies the first step towardsmLearning seems to be adapting existing eLearning content for mobile use. MovingeLearning courses onto smartphones is not the best approach for mLearning—thecontext for using mobile content is very different. (See “Right Time and Place: mLearning Use Cases” in the RelatedArticles listed at the end of this article.)
Better uses of mLearning are as performancesupport or as content to supplement your existing ILT and eLearning. However, giventhat many companies are committed to re-using or re-purposing existingeLearning content—I thought it timely to at least provide some guidelines, tips,and caveats.
Just to be clear, I won’t be talkingabout technologies, tools, or how to implement a particular solution. I’llsimply be talking about guidelines for designing good mLearning. My definitionof mLearning is, “Learning on a device you carry around with you most of theday.” I will focus on touch-screen smartphones—not tablets. Tablets might seemsimilar in many ways but they have a very different use case thansmartphones—closer to that of a laptop experience than to a smartphone.
Tip 1: Resist
The first tip is to not do it if youreally don’t have to. mLearning works best when you design it for a specificpurpose and context—not simply when management asks you to “create some mobilecontent” or to give “anywhere, anytime” access to existing training or learningcontent, thinking this will somehow provide effective learning. This is likegiving someone Wikipedia access instead of sending them to college.
Tip 2: Supplement, don’t replace
Before you commit to converting existingcontent for use on a smartphone, I encourage you to think of ways in which yourmobile content can supplement or support the content you already have. Think howtypes of mobile learning or mobile content could add value to the classroominstructor-led training, the virtual-classroom instructor-led training, and theeLearning you already have—rather than to simply be a smaller version of existingcontent. Think about delivering mobile content to help your learners review, useas a quick reference, as support for specific tasks, for taking short quizzes,or for learning games.
Tip 3: Chunk your content
Distill your existing content into smaller,digestible chunks. You might currently have one ten-or-fifteen-minutemodule—you may need to break these into five two-or-three-minute modules orsections—so that each one addresses an idea, concept, or procedure. Study thecontent—how can you divide it into meaningful self-contained sections.
Try to have one idea per sentence orparagraph. Consider using bulleted lists where appropriate instead ofsentences. Think in terms of short “learning bites.”
Tip 4: Use portrait orientation
Don’t assume your existing eLearning orILT landscape orientation will work for a smartphone—even if your users canturn it sideways. You want them to access the content quickly and in the samemanner they access most other content on their mobile device—in portrait mode.
This means redesign. You now have aportrait canvas to work with. The only time you may wish to consider landscapeis when you have a game—where having two available thumbs is advantageous—or avideo, where users are familiar with viewing in that orientation.
Tip 5: Cut to the chase
Reduce the amount of text. Get to thepoint quickly. No fluffy intros. Create mockups of your users’ screens and tryout the text size and content. (I usually create a PDF from a PPT of thecorrect screen-aspect ratio, write text in an appropriately large font, emailit to myself, and open it on one of my target phones to see what it will looklike.) Avoid using the auto-text-size feature—you want to accurately design thelayout of a screen, not have it change. Will you have combined text andgraphics on the same screen? How much text can you get on one screen that iseasily readable for your target audience? How much text if you have a graphic? Havea smaller margin between the edge of your text and the edge of the phonescreen.
Tip 6: Redesign graphics
Redesign your graphics for a small screen.Don’t use existing eLearning or ILT graphics and simply reduce the size formobile. The detail you can see in an eLearning graphic will disappear onmobile. If the user has to pinch zoom a graphic you’ll slow them down—apartfrom annoying them. This means deconstructing diagrams. You may have many elementsin the existing graphic. Try to reduce the number or just show the salient information.What was a single graphic may need conversion into two or three.
One approach to providing moreinformation in a graphic is to tap on the graphic element and have a popup oroverlay that shows more detail within that element.
Tip 7: Simplify animations and interactions
Animations are useful in eLearningmodules to grab attention or clarify a process or idea. You can use interactionsto engage learners. With mobile you don’t have to work so hard to get alearner’s attention—if they pick up the device you already have it—albeit for ashort time.
Keep animations and user interactions toa minimum on mobile unless you have a very good reason for including them. Thescreen may be in motion and smaller animations will be difficult to see. Simpleinteractions like tap, swipe, or drag are fine for quizzing but don’t overusethem in content. Avoid having the user enter any text in your mLearning—unlessit’s to login—it’s too time consuming and error prone on a small keyboard. Whenyou develop interactions be keenly aware of how your users may be holding thedevice—make it easy for them to interact one-handed.
Tip 8: Redesign navigation and user interface
You need to redesign the navigation and the user interface. You needto adapt the size, placement, and arrangement of navigation elements to workwell on a small screen. Try to design navigation with the assumption thatlearners will be using the device with one hand—especially for performance-supportcontent.
Keep navigation simple and intuitive. Make sure it’s very easy to accessthe content quickly. You don’t want five taps before you can start reading, listening,or viewing. Have automatic bookmarking so that the user always comes back towhere they left off. Have an easily accessible main menu or table of contents. Increasethe relative size of buttons or controls—they need to be big enough for thumbsor fingers.
Get the user interface out of the way. Reduce the amount of userinterface “chrome” so the content is always front and center. A goodapproach is to have navigation elements that only appear when you tap thescreen—so you get to use the whole screen for your content.
Don’t stick with the same navigation as your eLearning—use gesturesthat are typical on a smartphone: swipe, tap, drag, shake, etc.
Tip 9: Consider context for video and audio
If you are using existing videos think carefully about theirappropriateness for mobile consumption. Consider the context of how the learnerwill use the video or audio narration. Video is not always the best method toprovide quick access to learning or information on a mobile device. The userhas to be relatively static to view video and has to be in a quiet environmentto listen to a video or audio narration without headphones. And if you intendthe user to wear headphones—how convenient will this be to your target audienceif they’re on the move?
If you can, add the option of closed captions for videos or narration.If you re-purpose existing video then edit into smaller, meaningful chunks ofone or two minutes.
Tip 10: Get your users’ input
Don’t forget—one of the most important parts of distilling yourcontent is to get feedback and input from your target audience—both before youredesign the content and after you have your first prototype. You may have goodinsight, but I guarantee there will be a few essentials you might overlook.
As I said earlier—it’s not always a good idea to adapt your existingcontent for mobile. Avoid it if you can, and create mLearning from scratch thatsupports what you already have. But if you must—then these guidelines shouldkeep you in good stead.
From the editor: Want more?
The eLearning Guild’s mLearnCon Mobile Learning Conference & Expo (June 23 – 26, 2014 in San Diego, California) offers over 140 learning activities focused on mobile learning. Pre-conference certificate programs provide depth on key topics, presented by experts. Concurrent sessions, keynotes, morning learning discussions, and learningstage presentations, not to mention the mLearning DemoFest, will give you tips, techniques, inspiration, andexamples, wrapped up with abundant networking opportunities and the largestexpo in North America for mobile learning. Register online today!
