Mobile phones are part of our daily life. Millennials pick up their phones 82 times a day and spend on average 4 hours per day on their phones. As a result, over the past couple of years, mobile website traffic has surpassed desktop traffic worldwide, with 52.2% of websites being opened on mobile browsers.
Sure, we love texting and scrolling through social media when we’re on our phones, but, given their accessibility, interactivity and flexibility, our smartphones have great potential to also be used for educating ourselves in different topics. This is where mobile learning comes in.
What is mLearning?
mLearning has been defined as “learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices” (Crompton, 2013). mLearning is in the family of eLearning, but its distinctive features are:
- Very short sessions
- Interactive content
- Self-initiation by the learner
- Flexible training
- Learning path tracking
Advantages of mobile learning
The most important advantage mLearning allows is flexibility. mLearning is always available regardless of time or place. This makes it great for companies to train remote workers. Having the chance to learn at their own pace makes learners more motivated to learn. Moreover, mLearning usually provides interactive content such as videos, audio files, images, and quizzes by which learners don’t get easily bored.
Therefore, mobile learning is perfect for companies that have a lot of employees or multiple chains so that they can train them more easily and effectively, while also being cost-effective. So, if traditional education doesn’t suit you as a learner, mLearning offers growth opportunities at the tip of your hand.