|
Technology without a purpose is the pet peeve of self-professed gadget fanatic Mark Stimson. "Technology should make a difference," he says, and holds to that every day in his capacity as EMEA Technical Director at SumTotal Systems. He is excited about the possibilities of mobile learning, which he believes could be used for a variety of learning experiences.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Mobile learning could provide field workers with information on how to diagnose a problem, such as fixing a broken tractor, says Mark Stimson.
SumTotal Systems provides learning solutions to corporations and academic bodies. The company is to has operations in the US, UK, France, Germany, India, Japan and Australia. Stimson has seen the rise and fall of the term "e-learning" and believes it's on the rise again.
"Previously e-learning was tarred with the brush of being purely web-based training, when in fact it is about managed learning delivered in many different ways," he says. "It can include classroom training, skills and competency management, using on-line interactive training, or attending virtual classes, posting on forums, as well as reading on or off-line."
Stimson says e-learning is growing up. "People are now seeing that blended learning can add real value, by moving from on-line learning to managing access to a rich variety of learning, knowledge and information."
He presents the equation that access to a rich variety of learning methods equals increased productivity. On-line collaboration allows knowledge that is held by a few to be shared with many, reducing the need for duplication of effort. "Learning systems, unlike enterprise resource management, have the unique potential of touching every person in the business - from the CEO down to the last person hired," Stimson says.
Exiting possibilities
As far as mobile learning (m-learning) goes, Stimson repeats his mantra about technology. "Don't invent gadgets for their own sake," he cautions, yet he is excited about the possibilities of m-learning.
"It's perfect for messaging, for reminding people to come to class, or alerting them to new information on the learning portal, providing access to timely information," Stimson says.
A key limitation is what Stimson calls "real estate." Simply put, mobile phone screens are small. In addition, lack of mobile browser standards makes it difficult to produce good basic learning systems for mobiles. He'd like to see interactivity via mobiles even stronger.
Learning to become subliminal
Overall, however, he foresees that m-learning will allow learning to become subliminal. "It's just like accessing news - you don't worry if it's TV, radio or the newspaper, you just get news."
He describes, for example, a farmer whose tractor breaks down in a field. "He gets the phone out, retrieves instructions on how to diagnose the problem, maybe watches a short video, and then acts on the information received. He's learned something without realizing it," says Stimson.
In the corporate world, it could be the sales force of a pharmaceutical company getting the latest information on product usage guidelines. It could be seeing presentation slides on a 3G phone, live from a CEO's company update. "No more being cut off if you're at the airport," Stimson points out.
He foresees that access to learning in the future will be via many different devices. "M-learning is about leveraging wireless and mobile technology to better enable people to learn. What we need to do is use mobile devices to really make a difference."
|
|
|
