92% of Americans own cell phones. 68% own smartphones. There is no denying the fact that technology will continue to play a significant role in virtually every aspect of life. Education and training has certainly been greatly impacted by this boom.
This is great news for companies that provide mobile learning solutions. While other educational fads come and go, this won’t be the case with technological integration. Elearning is here to stay and technology will continue to evolve to provide even greater opportunities for training.
As elearning methods continue to advance, the combination of mobile learning (mLearning) and games comes to the forefront as an effective option for education in general and specifically corporate training.
There are several benefits to the mlearning/game hybrid:
- Taking learning on the road. Cell phones used to be primarily used for communication, be it talk or text. Smartphones changed all that. Games and apps have opened up a whole new world of uses. Smartphones are still used for communication, but now they’re also frequently utilized for entertainment, social media, and learning. Yes, learning! Employees can engage in training activities anywhere and anytime via their phone or another mobile device. Many learning activities can even be started on a desktop and continued later on a smartphone. In today’s world where people seem to be constantly on the go, the convenience of mLearning games is more important than ever.
- Games are fun and effective. There’s a reason that most people are within arm’s reach of their smartphones. Their phones keep them engaged. They feel the need to check social media, email, calendars, and a whole host of other apps. Games have that same quality. They pull the player into the virtual world. To put it simply, games are fun and mLearning is fun. Combine them and the result is a mLearning game that holds the attention of the user and actively involves them in their own learning. If a user can have fun and learn at the same time, they are more likely to be able to recall the information when they need to utilize it in a real-life situation.
- mLearning encourages social interactions. Mobile learning solutions employ tactics like leaderboards that allow players to see the achievements of their peers. This is a valuable motivational tool. When a learner sees that one of their coworkers is ahead of them or achieving more, they are driven to amp up their own game play in order to keep up. The social nature of the mLearning games also encourages users to continue coming back again and again.
With the ease that most people have with the use of mobile technologies such as smartphones and tablets, it makes sense that mLearning and games would be a match made in educational heaven. The combinations of convenience and fun, competition and motivation cement the learning experience and will stand as an effective training method for corporate training as well as other educational genres.
Contact Designing Digitally Inc. to learn how your organization can combine elearning games with mobile learning to increase employee engagement, improve retention, enhance productivity, and increase profitability.
