A killer app has been defined as any computer program that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, a gaming console, software, or a programming language. Where is the killer app for massive open online courses (MOOCs)? Even though higher education is available for more learners now than ever before and at little or no cost, MOOCs and other innovative online formats for higher education are struggling with completion rates. Online engagement will continue to struggle unless purpose is addressed.  

Mobile devices and applications have finally worked their way into the learning landscape, enabling organizations of all sizes to leverage modern wireless wonders to deliver training, performance support, and business communications to their on-the-go workers. Great devices and rapid technology adoption don’t always outweigh the myriad challenges that hold back mLearning projects, from scaling from smaller pilots to larger implementations. Next-generation ecosystems require next-generation tools, approaches, and teams to ensure adoption, continued utilization, and success.

Developing mobile learning solutions can become complicated if you’re not careful. One wrong turn can leave you mired in extra work you didn’t anticipate. Sometimes this happens due to design decisions. In other cases, the problem stems from choosing the wrong tool, failing to set up templates properly, or any number of other issues.  

While widely used for performance support and learning outside the classroom, and increasingly within K-12 classroom-based environments, mobile devices have not been widely exploited for use in adult classrooms. Even though use cases are not always obvious, the affordances of mobile devices offer great opportunity for supplementing classroom-based learning.

A mobile device affords the ability for a personal experience, such as the apps one chooses, the way the device is organized, preferred media types, the means of communication, and more. People are used to customizing their devices to make their lives easier and to be more efficient. When it comes to training and improving performance, however, people are asking for the same customizability to personalize their learning experience to get exactly what they want/need, when they need it.

Raytheon Professional Services had as a client a global company that has a distributed workforce diagnosing and repairing technical equipment at their customers’ stores. The client wanted to provide a mobile solution to its workforce to allow them to improve upon their key business metrics.

Rent-A-Center has always prided itself on being a pioneer in the rent-to-own industry. In an effort maintain its competitive advantage and significantly increase its customer base, Rent-A-Center decided to occupy the smartphone space. This initiative would require an innovative and revolutionary training strategy to introduce this product line.

Instructional designers are constantly in the process of considering which tools to use in order to best meet the training and development needs of their clients, customers, or learners. Without carefully reviewing the affordances of technologies, instructional design professionals could negatively impact the effectiveness of their educational intervention, lose time, or create a poor design. 

You’ve made a great eLearning course designed to be delivered over your intranet or the Internet. Part of it uses Flash, and your learners use a lot of devices that won’t display Flash. You need to rebuild the Flash parts using HTML5-compliant animations. How do you build a responsive site that all devices, from desktop and laptop computers to tablets and smartphones, can use?