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What is M Learning? Mobile Learning pros/cons and tips

Jul 27, 2022

Mobile learning or mlearning can help your students study on the move through videos, podcasts as well as bite-sized lessons. Find out how on this page!

If you're planning to make your online course and training a an integral part of your students' daily routine, you need to be able to connect with them at the place they're spending the most time in the first place - on their phones.

The average person now uses one three-quarter or more of their time on the phone.

With everything from buying to banking to shifting to mobile devices, education is moving too.

Mobile learning or mlearning lets your students learn on-the-go via podcasts, videos and lessons that are bite-sized. M learning can make the content of your courses enjoyable, simple and easily accessible to everyone.

Get ready to explore the world of mobile learning. Find out ways you can be using this tool to engage your students, boost course completion rates and help retain customers.

We'll also take a look at how you can convert your content to make it suitable for learning through Mlearning. successful examples of M learning programs that really work.

You can skip ahead by pressing the hyperlinks below.

What exactly is M learning: Meaning and Definition

M learning is the use of mobile devices, like smartphones, to aid in education. Short for mobile learning, the term M learning encompasses all learning by means of apps, mobile web tablet, and browsers.

Over the past 15 years using mobile technology in education has increased dramatically as students use their smartphones to both learn and teach online. M Learning is easy fast and efficient for our on-the-go lifestyles and it doesn't appear like it's slowing down soon.

Why use the M Learning?

We'll be officially living in a mobile-first economy. Millions of people around the globe use phones every day for tasks ranging from gaming to dating and everything else in between.

as an educator Mobile learning is a good idea...

  • The amount of time spent on mobile applications as than before, with the average user topping 4.8 hours per day , on average. (Data.ai)
  • 92.1 percent of internet users use the internet via the mobile phone (Exploding the Topics)
  • The total number of smartphone users hit 6.6 billion in 2022, an increase of 79% from just 6 years ago in 2016. (Oberlo)

Here are some of the benefits of M-learning for your students - and your brand.

What are the benefits in Mobile Learning?

    Flexibility    

One of the key advantages of m-learning is the flexibility that it provides your students. Learning is easily integrated into everyday life instead of being one-off events.

M learning can be self-paced, so your students are able to move through the content of the course at their own speed at any time, setting, and schedule works for them.

    Convenience    

Students are able to access your course content from anywhere and at any point. Students don't need to stay at home on their laptops to engage with your content and complete their modules on their commute, while they're standing in line for coffee, at the grocery retailer, or at the airport.

The learning experience can be transferred to various social and educational environments, boosting the convenience and efficiency of an online course , and open up your course to more people.

    Usability    

In the eyes of many, m learning is easier to use than other forms of education. It's quick, intuitive and new knowledge is just a tap or finger touch to. There are no textbooks, notebooks or keyboards required.

Anyone who has a mobile phone with an internet connection is able to be educated, regardless of age, location or background.

    Social Learning    

M Learning makes it simple for learners to connect with other students, including on social media platforms, through your membership portal, or the in-app features.

Students can seek help, share updates on their progress and start discussions. M learning makes social learning becomes seamlessand provides opportunities to collaborate and provide more personalized learning opportunities throughout the course.

    Information Retention    

There's some research that suggests that mlearning may improve retention of information compared to regular learning styles, helping your course content to stay in the learners' minds.

In addition to having you watch your teaching, M learning, students can take advantage of many more chances to test and apply their knowledge.

    Engagement    

With the right course design M-learning can make the learning experience more interesting, dynamic and engaging. Mobile learning opens up new opportunities for gamified aspects of your content, like quick quizzes as well as competitions, and much more.

M learning could boost learners' feeling of achievement as well as engagement and enjoyment by making course content more easily accessible through gaming.

    Help and feedback    

Many m learning platforms also offer immediate feedback and assistance that makes it much easier and faster for students to get feedback on their work, raise issues and get the answers they need. This can boost motivation of learners, confidence and comprehension of the subject.

    Habit Formation    

Some students find that m learning could also help them develop an established routine or habit of learning. With mobile learning, everything you teach can be found in your student's pockets, they just have to pick up their phone and log in.

What's the Disadvantages of Mobile Learning?

Although M-learning has many benefits, there are some negatives as well. Here are 5 disadvantages of mobile learning you need to look for.

    M Learning Design    

As with any course online and any other online course, the quality of learning depends on the course design. Course creators must take into consideration how students learn when using mobile devices, such as user interfaces, as well as course structure.

    Distractions    

One of the biggest drawbacks of m learning is distractions from other smartphone apps. There's a myriad of things competing for students' attention and focus on their phones, including messages apps, social media email, and many more.

To catch and hold the attention of your students it is essential to create your course content bite-sized and engaging.

    Technology    

Students may face obstacles in m-learning due to their mobile devices, including the limited memory of their devices, the small storage size, poor battery life and small screen sizes. There might also be concerns regarding privacy and security in m learning applications that could put some students off.

    Connectivity    

Certain learners may experience problems with connectivity on smartphones due to the absence of broadband or data access. The solution is by adding downloadable resources as well as transcripts that students can connect even when offline.

    Accessibility    

What is the difference between M Learning and eLearning?

It's very easy to mix up between eLearning and m-learning in particular because there's a little overlap. If you're unsure of the differences between eLearning and mlearning is, here's three points to help you differentiate these two types of learning.

    Internet in comparison to Mobile    

E-learning is a type of education where teaching and learning is conducted online, via the internet with the help of an electronic device.

M Learning is a form of education that involves teaching and learning takes place through mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

    Simple vs Complex Design    

As E-Learning can take place on any electronic device, such as laptops, desktop computers and even laptops The design of e-learning tends to be more intricate and could include many diverse elements that appear in the display.

M Learning utilizes mobile devices for learning therefore the design of courses is typically simpler. It has a quick easy navigation, and a simple user interface which makes it easy to follow even on small screens.

    Longer vs Shorter Modules    

The module size can also differ, with eLearning courses that are longer and deeper than mobile learning courses. A typical eLearning course may last between 10 to 90 minutes each.

On the other hand M Learning prefers short brief modules which are simple for students to finish efficiently. Modules tend to be from 3 to 5 minutes long on average.

You now know what the difference is between eLearning and M learning, let's take a to look at some methods you can utilize teaching with m-learning in your classroom.

What is M Learning? How can it be Used in the Classroom?

If you're teaching online or in person, m learning could be utilized to increase the experience of learning for your students. It makes lessons more agile, collaborative and interactive.

There are four ways M learning can be integrated into classrooms and how to incorporate m learning into your lesson plans.

    Collaboration    

M learning is a brilliant tool for increasing cooperation in classrooms. Whether you're teaching in a virtual class or at a location Mobile technology could be utilized to encourage discussion groups, provide peer-to-peer feedback and promote the concept of problem-based learning.

For example, you could use m learning as part of a Think-pair-share exercise.

This is a really efficient collaborative learning strategy. Here's how:

  • Start students off by giving them a prompt to discuss or problem
  • Allow students to briefly work on a response
  • Pair individuals in groups of two and offer them a time to talk about their ideas with each other
  • Pairs of students are asked to share their ideas to the larger group

M learning can facilitate this exercise by employing an app such as Google Docs or Google Slides to write up and present responses from the different pair groups. They can also share their work as well as ideas with each other via a messaging app or your community space. It is also possible to highlight the points you want to build on , or even add your own comments to the document you share.

It is only one of the ways you can utilize the m-learning method to change the way you teach in a classroom setting , and to encourage students to cooperate.

    Gamification    

If you're creating your lesson plans, you can make use of mlearning to include games to the content of your lessons. Gamification employs elements of games like reward systems, leaderboards, and stories to help make learning more enjoyable and motivate learners.

In a classroom context it is possible to use gamification to wake up your students' brains , and hold their attention, while also encouraging more collaboration.

In this case, you can ask questions for the class and then ask them to reply by taking an online quiz or survey. Answers can be collated instantly and you can see the class results, creating opportunities for discussion. Certain students may be asked to discuss the reasoning behind their responses and promote debate.

Gamified elements can also enhance the learning experience by putting in a time limit or letting students win rewards by taking certain actions. All of these are strategies to utilize mlearning to make your classroom experience more enriching.

    Independent Research    

The online research can be a solo or group activity. Students may then be able to present their results to their class, or utilize the research in the assignment.

If, for instance, you're instructing a course about building an individual brand, give your students the challenge of identifying three brands that have a strong brand aesthetic or voice that they admire. You can then ask them to report their findings to the class , along with their reasons for choosing them. Have the rest of the class vote on the top three candidates using a class poll.

    Individualized Learning    

One of the benefits of m-learning is that it could also serve as an instrument to personalize the learning experience for your pupils. Everyone learns differently, and mlearning gives you the chance to make diverse learning options for students. This includes video , audio animated infographics, information graphics, and more.

For students who struggle with learning in a traditional classroom environment, m learning can create new avenues for learning and motivate students to take part in your class content.

For example, you could provide your students with a choice of what type of task or project they'd like to complete at the end of each lesson. The options could be taking an online quiz or locating an online case study and writing a brief article or creating a printable poster.

3 top examples of M Learning Done Well

Check out these 3 top examples of m learning in education to encourage you to see how they make learning easy and accessible to their students.

    Khan Academy    

A non-profit education organisation, Khan Academy offers a vast library of videos and activities for students to study math, science as well as computing, history, and many more via mobile phones. With millions of users across the globe, Khan Academy is one of the most popular online education tools for students and teachers.

Their M learning app is specifically created for personal learning. It comes with a customized education dashboard for every student, as well as quick test-taking and sharing features that allow you to study on the move.

How Khan Academy uses M learning

  • Video lessons for straightforward learning
  • Practice tests for quick and easy with instant feedback
  • Personalized course dashboard to monitor lessons

    Duolingo    

One of the best-known programs for language acquisition, Duolingo is a great example of an m learning application that delivers. With more than 40 million active users in the year 2020 Duolingo ranks high on the list as the most downloaded education app in the world.

The app is loved by students all over across the globe for making learning languages enjoyable, Duolingo makes use of gamification in order to make their m-learning app easy-to-use and engaging for learners.

What is HTML0? Duolingo utilizes M learning

  • Instant feedback at each step
  • Gamified elements with rewards, leaderboards and 'streaks'
  • Bite-sized lessons that are completed in a matter of minutes

    Ted-ed    

The goal of TED-Ed is to spread great ideas, TED-Ed is an educational platform on mobile created to allow users to collect and share lessons, videos and discussions. Students can receive personalized suggestions to learn new topics and also a "Surprise Me!' feature that gives instant inspiration on what they should watch next.

The TED-Ed app also allows students to study wherever they want, thanks to features that let you save video clips and then access offline.

What TED-Ed does with M learning:

  • Learn and share your lessons and discussion points with the other students
  • Video synchronization across different devices to on top of your how you are learning
  • Save content and watch offline any time, anywhere

6 Tips for How to adapt your course for M Learning

There is no need to be a multi-million-dollar educational company to take advantage of m-learning for your students.

No matter if you're to coach your students, educator or course creator, here are 5 tips to make the switch to mobile simple and assist you create the best course you can!

    Make Lessons Bite-sized    

The best way to go about designing mlearning content is that it should be smaller in size.

The typical duration of mobile sessions is about 20 minutes, ranging between 5 minutes of banking to 20 minutes for informal gaming.

If you've ever tried to read a huge newspaper or view a film on your mobile You'll be aware of how hard it can be to focus on an extremely small screen for prolonged time.

If your learning material isn't long enough it will be difficult for students to complete the task. This is as easy as that.

    Repurpose content from your existing website    

It's not necessary to be concerned about beginning from scratch when it comes to designing an online learning course.

Everything in your current course could be used for M learning, you just need to think about how to translate your current content into something that is mobile-friendly.

Remember, M learning content must be brief and simple.

Here are some methods to reuse your already-published content for mobile devices:

  • Break training videos down into shorter clips
  • Turn text heavy content into infographics or bullet points
  • Translate long assignments into questions and tests in a short time.

If you're not sure where to begin, look up ideas from course creators like these and see how they've used the power of m-learning to enhance the content of their courses.

    Include More Videos as well as Audio Elements    

One format for learning that works really well for mobile learning is video as well as audio.

Use videos and podcasts to help you translate complicated concepts into content that's simple to comprehend when students are out and about.

If your students happen to be taking a train ride or strolling in the park, they're much more likely to sit and watch an online video or watch a show rather than reading a whole lesson.

    Make a Course Community    

If you do not already have it, it's probably an ideal idea to establish an instructor community that will enhance the m learning experience for your learners.

The course community is a an element of social interaction to your course, giving students the chance to collaborate with their classmates on the content of the course, to share their achievements and debate the most important ideas and questions.

Use the community of your class to:

  • Celebrate student achievements and achievements
  • Bonus challenges to set and competitions
  • Share results from class surveys, polls and quizzes
  • Promote user-generated content (UGCs)
  • New learners are welcome to the class

    Enhance Student Achievement through Onboarding    

to help you start your students off and running with m learning quickly, be sure to spend some time client onboarding.

It is also possible to open your community space for students to ask questions about how they are learning. If they are having difficulty getting access to your material, they can post questions online to be answered by students from other classes or yourself and your staff.

    Allows you to create courses for Mobile    

This course is fully mobile-responsive, so whenever you create an online course using HTML0  students, they are able to access it on their desktop, mobile, tablet or another device.

This means you don't need to upload your course materials onto a different m-learning platform that allows students to learn whenever they'd like. The course material is available to students at all times and at all times.

  Use M Learning to Move your Course to the Next Level  

If you're creating an educational course for 2022, M Learning is a no brainer. Your students are using smartphones - so you need to follow suit.

With , it's easy to build a seamless education experience by using Our mobile-friendly course player.

Get started by downloading at no cost and offer your students the experience in mobile learning they're looking for and want!