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Mobilizing Learning & Priority Communications

Business uses cases and technology

advancements

Mobilizing Learning & Priority Communications

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Table of Contents

MOBILIZING LEARNING & PRIORITY COMMUNICATIONS ........................................ 3 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 3 BUSINESS APPLICATIONS FOR MOBILE LEARNING & PRIORITY COMMUNICATIONS ............. 3

Real-Time Training Evaluation to Ensure Results .................................................... 4 Reinforcement of Learning ....................................................................................... 5 Keeping Workers Motivated & Aligned with Key Corporate Initiatives ....................... 5 Maximizing Down Time ............................................................................................ 6 Real-time Push of Critical Information ...................................................................... 6 Mobile Knowledge Management for Limited Connectivity Areas and Crisis Training 7 Mobile in Support of Change Management .............................................................. 7

TECHNOLOGY MATURITY RESOLVES KEY DEPLOYMENT IMPEDIMENTS ............................. 8 Video and Audio Requirements ................................................................................ 8 Deployment to Mobile Devices ................................................................................. 9 Security .................................................................................................................... 9 Content Presentation.............................................................................................. 10

CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 10 FOR MORE INFORMATION ......................................................................................... 11

About OutStart ....................................................................................................... 11

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Mobilizing Learning & Priority Communications

Introduction With the power, instant connectivity, and ubiquitous nature of mobile devices, their use in support of learning and priority communication initiatives just makes sense. But broad adoption will not occur until businesses:

• Familiarize themselves with the business cases and benefits • Understand that mobile content delivery technology has matured and is now

addressing previous deployment impediments. In this paper, mobile learning and priority communications are discussed together as the same technology applies. Both rely on the ready development, delivery, and analysis (was the content read, was it understood, is there feedback) of mobile content. Their applications are numerous and include but are not limited to:

• Nuggets of information to reinforce existing training • Continuous learning updates • Verifying retention • Promoting new material • Testing for knowledge gaps • Determining worker opinion • Communicating new policies and procedures • Aligning messages to all stakeholders • Disseminating information from a variety of individuals • Mobilizing support behind corporate objectives

As with any technology advancement, visionary customers lead the way while working with their selected vendor to identify and overcome key obstacles, help mature the technology, and ultimately provide solutions that work. This paper discusses leading business applications as experienced by these visionary customers as well as key issues that have been addressed through technological innovation.

Business Applications for Mobile Learning & Priority Communications The following examples are actual business applications of mobile content delivery in support of mobile learning and priority communications. Company names have been removed to respect confidentiality.

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Real-Time Training Evaluation to Ensure Results A telecommunication organization with a distributed sales force was faced with the challenge of increasing the effectiveness of their sales conferences. They had implemented a learning content management system and were using online training and assessments to train their sales force, determine knowledge gaps, and assist in establishing the agenda for sales meetings. As a pilot project, the company decided to extend their training to take advantage of mobile devices to monitor and test individuals throughout the sales conference to ensure the meeting’s effectiveness. At the conference, sales executives used the mobile learning solution’s real-time testing and reporting functionality to determine what training material was being absorbed. They achieved these quantifiable results by sending a test to each sales representative’s mobile device before each session to gauge their level of understanding on the topic. Another test was sent after the session to ensure key concepts were learned. All test scores were sent immediately to management for review as a whole as well as on an individual basis. Based on these scores, management was able to:

• Confirm knowledge transfer for their team • Adjust the agenda to provide additional training to groups on key topics that

weren’t well understood • As required, create side sessions for individuals needing further training.

Additionally, knowing that conference attendees were carrying devices, conference organizers used the mobile learning technology to inform attendees of events during the sales conference. Examples of such communication included:

• “Reminder to bring one example of an ‘ideal sale’ to the discussion being held in Conference Room B at 2pm.”

• “The “Speeding up Your Sales Cycle” session has moved to Conference Room C to accommodate the large number of individuals signed up for this session.”

The results they received post conference included:

• Sales representatives tested 20% higher versus previous post conference surveys that gauged the level of knowledge on new product introductions.

• The overall conference rating rose by 16% compared to previous years. Although this business application was in reference to a sales conference, the same approach could be used for other training opportunities, e.g., customer training, user conferences, and new employee induction training.

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Reinforcement of Learning Mobile devices are an ideal medium for reinforcement of learning and information sharing. They also can provide access to training content when laptops and networks are less convenient or unavailable, e.g., prior to boarding a plane, waiting for a meeting to start, or riding in an elevator, train, or taxi. An example of this business application is a global pharmaceutical company that used mobile learning to extend the new product introduction training provided to its worldwide sales force. The company used a variety of mobile learning formats, including text messages, images, audio, video, PowerPoint, and short quizzes to reinforce key concepts covered during the company’s formal training. The quizzes, along with real time reporting, enabled management to determine if the training was a success. Using this approach to reinforce the company’s formal training improved knowledge retention by 53% and increased sales representative retention by 27%.

Keeping Workers Motivated & Aligned with Key Corporate Initiatives Successful organizations acknowledge that alignment of their team with their CEO is crucial so that the entire organization has a common vision, mission, and values, as well as a clear understanding of key strategic priorities. This alignment can be a challenge for organizations of any size but the challenge is extenuated when the organization must deal with different locations and time zones. To address this issue, a high tech company used a mobile priority communications approach to record presentations from the CEO to distribute them to the entire workforce in order to address important company updates, e.g., product or services information, company updates, and new hire introductions. This approach worked well as the CEO was able to personally communicate through his own words, while individuals were able to view the address based upon their schedules. Communications went out on an as needed basis, or, in some cases, became part of a weekly internal communications plan. The systems real-time reporting provided management with immediate feedback as to who had not yet viewed the message. Reminders were sent and tracking continued to ensure that everyone viewed the messages. The pushcasts were followed by mobile surveys to measure the results. The data supported the original theory as follows:

• 40% more informed about their company • 60% more aligned with the CEO himself

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Although this business application references video for an executive address, the same results could be incurred if a PowerPoint presentation with an audio voice, for example, was sent from any team lead or member of an organization. As mentioned above, it could also apply to any number of content scenarios, e.g., product or services information, company updates, or new hire introductions.

Maximizing Down Time Organizations with a workforce that does not have convenient access to computers, has a mobile workforce, or has individuals on a shop floor would benefit from mobile learning to reach their workers. As an example, a transportation company repurposed content from online courses to run on mobile devices. Workers receive training bites that they viewed while on the road during down times. The company was able to track what training had taken place through online, real-time reporting. As a follow up to the training, workers received quizzes to test them for retention of the material and surveys to get their feedback on the initiative. The results were:

• 76% improvement in retention • 30% improvement in being prepared for the job

Although this business application references online courses adapted for mobile devices, the same results could be incurred if audio, video, short quizzes, or polls were used.

Real-time Push of Critical Information A challenge for any organization is keeping their workforce proactively informed of critical and rapidly changing information. An oil and gas company leveraged smart devices to feed their workforce in the field with critical information. They sent information updates to individuals and provided documents through e-mails and text messages with a link to the downloadable document. Videos, presentations and audio clips were also distributed. The company used the mobile learning technology to obtain real-time reporting on which members of the workforce had viewed the updated information. Reminders were sent out to those individuals who had not read the update. After implementing mobile learning for three months, the oil and gas company measured a 19% decrease in user errors due to changes in process or technology that was covered by the mobile learning.

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Mobile Knowledge Management for Limited Connectivity Areas and Crisis Training Organizations dealing with crisis situations often need to communicate with members of their workforce when internet bandwidth is limited or non-existent. Cellular coverage, in these situations, is likely the most reliable communication method to send instruction/training. A global insurance company used mobile learning as a way of reaching its workforce in a crisis situation. Polls were sent to workers to gauge the situation. Once assessed, information was sent to workers in the form of text messages, audio, video, and in some cases, diagrams detailing resolution tactics and providing training on specific topics. Job aides and checklists were also sent to mobile devices to ensure that crisis workers were not missing a step due to the high level of stress at the emergency site. In each instance, management had the added benefit of real-time reporting to ensure everyone had completed the poll, read the instructions, taken the training or simulation, passed the assessment, and was ready to do their job. A post-crisis mobile survey indicated that emergency workers were able to assess damage 20% faster than in previous crisis situations. Although this business application was in reference to natural disasters, similar results could be incurred for any number or corporate crisis situations, e.g., a serious virus on corporate computers where IT has no other channel to communicate with individuals, a black out in a large corporate building, or a security threat within a office facility.

Mobile in Support of Change Management When organizations are looking to rebrand themselves, one of the crucial areas of change is with its workforce. Cultural change can only be achieved through continued reminders on the various aspects of the change program, e.g., risk awareness, following corporate guidelines, and communicating with customers. Mobile devices work extremely well in this situation. A financial institution, needing to rebrand itself, developed a portfolio of mobile learning modules to present new corporate information to its workforce. The change management program began with a mobile survey to establish the present view of the workers; further surveys were conducted to measure the progress of the change program. An audio-led animated PowerPoint presentation was used to introduce new corporate messaging to all workers. This was followed by an assessment module where managers had to demonstrate that they could not only recall the key learning points but also apply them. The results they received were as follows:

• 85% of managers passed the assessment module of the program. • The remaining 15% of managers were given mobile refresher courses in the

areas where they required more training.

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Although this business application was in reference to a financial institution, the same results could be incurred by any organization wishing to implement cultural change or unify after a merger or acquisition.

Technology Maturity Resolves Key Deployment Impediments As with all new technologies, there is a learning curve and maturation process as early adopters and innovation technology vendors work together to learn and deliver successful deployments. The business applications described above are examples of such deployments. As a result of working with our early adopter customers, OutStart has gained extensive experience in mobile learning and priority communications, and has resolved key deployments issues that needed to be addressed to enable broad business use. This section of the white paper will highlight these issues and OutStart’s resolution for successfully addressing them.

Video and Audio Requirements The concept of delivering audio and video content to learners’ mobile devices has gone from an idea to a requirement. Organizations recognize these mediums as highly effective ways to convey information to members of their workforce. The ability to combine media-based content with assessment for a comprehensive mobile learning and priority communications experience creates a compelling mechanism for delivering content and measuring effectiveness. The issue that arises is the lack of standardization of audio and video formats that can be supported by mobile devices, even when dealing with devices from the same manufacturer. OutStart suggests two solutions for delivering audio and video content to learners:

1. In organizations where there is control and standardization over which devices can be used by the workforce to consume media-based learning, developers can employ specific video encoding tools to encode to formats which are appropriate for the target devices. This can be done for little or no additional cost.

2. Where no device standardization is possible, streaming technologies can be employed to dynamically deliver content in a format appropriate for the device carried by each learner. There is generally little if any additional cost associated with this approach.

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Deployment to Mobile Devices Organizations implementing a mobile learning or priority communications strategy encounter the challenge of creating content that fits a wide variety of screen sizes and resolution settings, scales to various devices, and is portable. OutStart’s solution to this impediment focuses on how content is authored as well as how it is delivered:

• Development: Content should be developed generically in a device-independent manner. This allows maximum flexibility by removing the burden of tailoring content to individual mobile devices from the content developers and provides a measure of “future proofing” of the content.

• Delivery: Content may be delivered in two ways: Either using the browser in a user’s mobile device or through an application installed directly on the device.

1. The browser-based solution has the advantage of providing broad-based

device support but can be limited in its ability to tailor the user’s experience to any specific mobile device.

2. Learning delivery applications installed on the device can provide the user a “native” experience when consuming content. Typically, content is downloaded to the device and presented and tracked through the application, whether the user is connected to the server or not. The applications deliver the content in the same way as other applications with which users are familiar.

Security Within any organization, security of its intellectual property is important regardless of the delivery mechanism being used. Therefore, delivery of mobile learning or priority communications content must also adhere to the same protection and security as other modes of delivery. OutStart’s solution provides a multi-dimensional approach to security to address the multiple ways in which learners may access content. Some of the ways in which security is maintained for mobile learning and priority communications delivery are the same in which security is handled for computer-based learning. Examples include:

1. Authentication: Users are typically required to provide logon credentials in the form of a username and password prior to accessing any mobile content.

2. Encryption: Communications between the system delivering the content and the user’s mobile device should be encrypted so that sensitive information is not transmitted in clear text.

3. Authorization: Learning Management Systems (LMS) or other similar systems may be used as control mechanisms to determine which content is available to which users, and to provide tracking on content usage, test results, and survey responses.

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4. Device Centric Security: Content downloaded for delivery through an application installed on the user’s device should be stored in a format readable only through the application, and should be “locked” to the device to prevent it from being forwarded to unauthorized users.

Content Presentation The screen “real estate” available on mobile devices is smaller than on computer screens, therefore content intended for mobile devices needs to be presented in a way that matches the form factor (screen sizes and resolution setting) while providing a rich user experience. In some cases, existing content may be “scaled” to fit mobile devices, but in others it may be necessary to rethink the way content is laid out to optimize the presentation for mobile delivery. OutStart’s solution provides the ability to develop content independent of mobile devices, providing the ability to take advantage of the user interface offered by higher end devices while still meeting the requirements of lower end devices.

Conclusion Mobile content delivery has progressed significantly over the past 12 to 18 months. Early adopters have shown that applications can be deployed securely and with measurable impact. By working with these early adopters, innovative mobile learning and priority communication vendors such as OutStart have experienced their pains and challenges, and evolved and enhanced products to address these issues. Future mobile learning and priority communications deployments can take advantage of these technological advancements to quickly and successfully deploy their corporate mobile delivery strategy.

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For More Information To learn more about how a mobile learning and priority communications solution can be best deployed in your organization, please contact OutStart for a business review and assessment, or visit www.outstart.com for more information.

About OutStart OutStart’s software helps organizations constantly learn across a continuum of ways – formally, socially, and now through mobile. Recognized as a Visionary in Gartner’s Corporate Learning Systems Magic Quadrant since 2004, OutStart is regularly acknowledged for its industry leading solutions. In 2010 alone, OutStart has been named a Top Learning Portal, one of “Five Emerging LMSs to Watch,” and a winner of two Best of Elearning! Awards for OutStart LCMS and Hot Lava Mobile. OutStart’s award winning solutions include OutStart LCMS; OutStart TrainingEdge.com, a complete SaaS corporate learning system (LMS, LCMS, social, and mobile); OutStart Participate for social learning; Hot Lava Mobile for mobile learning and priority communications; OutStart Trainer for eLearning desktop development; and OutStart SoftSim for the development of software simulations. OutStart is honored to serve organizations that are surpassing expectations and delivering exceptional business results such as AgustaWestland, BB&T, Boeing Company, BT, CVS Caremark, DIRECTV, Hewlett-Packard, Internal Revenue Service, McDonald’s, MetLife, Prudential, Australian Defence Force, U.S. Navy, UK Ministry of Defence, Verizon Wireless, Xerox, and Yum! Brands.

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