The constant advancements in the edtech sector has given birth to a lot of various technologies that are being integrated in the education sector.
In this post, you’ll find 10 Mobile Learning Trends that will be gaining a lot of attraction in the coming times and are must to be familiar with.
Read below to know more.
1. Automation / Automated eLearning Course Authoring
This mobile learning trend – Automation in eLearning course development will be witnessed like never before. Some authoring tools in the market have already started to auto-generate eLearning courses making eLearning developer’s job easier. This means the eLearning course development is going to be faster and cheaper. Most of the tools in eLearning market provide the flexibility to publish responsive eLearning content that supports multiple devices from a single source.
2. Personalized Learning and Big Data
Personalized Learning and Big Data can be next big trend in the digital learning. Most platforms have already started leveraging Big Data to bring the personalized learning experiences for students.
One size doesn’t fit all – every learner has individual learning needs and styles and this is where personalized learning comes into picture. Personalized learning is aimed at bringing the individualized learning experience while addressing personal learning needs. And Big Data plays a significant role in providing personalized learning experiences. The data collected from learner’s interaction with the course via LMS provides valuable insight into the learner’s achievements. Analyzing this data helps in creating personalized eLearning tailored to meet learner preferences and organizational needs. This is one big game changer in the online learning industry making online learning a big hit among the learners.
3. Micro Learning
Micro Learning is more than a fad. It provides a structure to deliver learning content in a way that fits with what we know about how people learn – short, focused, regular challenges that stretch and, perhaps are rewarding. In the coming times, there would be a major shift from the discussion on “resources and courses” the focus would move on to approaches that use Micro Learning to personalize and structure content in digestible sizes.
4. Social eLearning
Mostly, social learning and informal learning happens around eLearning experiences.
There is great power in social polling, where learners can give their opinion or rate something, like a video, and then see what everyone else thinks. This learning trend caters to some of the imperative needs of 21st century like collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creative thinking and more. This enables learners to look beyond the white and black aspects and explore the gray part of any concept, come out with individual ideas and perspective.
5. Location-based Learning
This is one different approach for those involved in learning that hugely depends on the environment. Common in the industrial learning or corporate training, the trend will soon be expanding to help students learn. All mobile devices have in-built Global Positioning System (GPS) and this enables location-based learning. Mobile learning delivers granular information to the learner and further personalizes it based on the learners’ location. The training content can be delivered based on the geographical location of the device. For example, learners in a hilly region will receive safety precautions and personal protective equipment information specific to the location on mobile. Similarly, in a rainy region, they’ll receive information that suits the requirement. It’s an upcoming trend that seems to have potential in the mobile learning world.
6. Game-based Learning and Assessments
Game based learning is one mobile trend that will rise significantly for the reason of likeability of students towards gaming and the added value of learning that they get. Apps that target the mobile market are going to contribute huge growth to game-based learning. Game-based learning assists learners in learning a new skill because they play and apply the skill to the real scenario as and when needed. The immersive and engaging nature of this method accelerates learning, improves retention, and enables recollection of knowledge. Mobile-based learning games include simulation programs aimed at imparting skills to employees to do their jobs effectively. Providing gamified quizzes or assessments on the mobile device is engaging, interesting, fun, and convenient. This kind of approach is used to assess learners’ performance and reinforce their learning to a greater extent.
7. Video-based Learning
Integration of multimedia in education started long time back but no one knew that video will serve education in this big manner. If an image is worth a 1000 words, then every video is worth a 10,000 words. Videos are great tools to facilitate product or process learning. For example, they are used to demonstrate a piece of equipment, working of a process or machinery, troubleshooting, assembling or dismantling a piece of product, etc.
Video-based learning helps retain learners’ attention throughout the course where they are motivated by watching videos through their Smartphones. It gives learners access to content relevant to what they are seeing and experiencing at the moment. This trend is still a big hit in the mobile learning and will continue to gain a lot of likeability and adoption.
8. Augmented Reality for Mobiles
Bringing education to life, augmented reality is one of the most growing mobile learning trends in the digital education industry. Apps, that superimpose digital information on devices that captures an object using the camera have already been developed and seeing a lot of attraction from the community.
9. Wearable Devices
Since Google announced Google Glass and launched its Explorer program, Wearable Devices are gaining a big part of the market. Being used for educational purpose just like other technologies, one thing is certain: These devices are coming and they will change the ways we look at mobile learning.
10. Tin Can API
Also known as Experience API (xAPI), Tin Can API is the latest e-learning standard in learning technology that can record learner activities and deliver data that is measurable, sharable, and trackable. It can track activities such as simulations, mobile learning, real-world activities, serious games, social learning, offline learning, etc. You can use authoring tools (Adobe Captivate, Adobe Storyline, and Lectora Inspire) to produce content compatible with xAPI. You can even allow your LMS to adopt the Tin Can API to avail its benefits as did Moodle and Blackboard LMSs.
To conclude, the biggest trend that needs to be addressed is the change in the mentality and realization that what’s needed is a mindset shift to modernize learning design. We need to think of terms like “Mobile Learning” as being much, much broader than it was some years ago. The only constant thing will be change so there is no point in getting obsessed over something that will change in few years again.
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