Mobile computing is here. What does it mean for learning professionals? How will it affect instructional design? What influence, if any, will device manufacturers, platform providers, and software developers have on mobile learning's future?

ASTD and i4cp partnered to investigate the topic and the resulting report, Mobile Learning: Learning in the Palm of Your Hand, addresses these questions and many others by examining the existing literature, and speaking with practitioners and thought leaders who are proponents and early adopters of mobile learning. The time is ripe for organizations to "get smart" on the current state and future of mobile learning.

APPs vs. Mobile Web

Mobile learning proponents say that right now we have two types of learning technology that are coexisting: traditional web and mobile; but we may soon see convergence, and ultimately the extinction of one as the other takes hold. John Polascheck, manager of learning technology at Qualcomm, says his organization is currently focused on the mobile web: "If we found the right use case, we would definitely design apps."

Mike Sharples, professor of educational technology at the University of Birmingham, U.K., says designers haven't figured out the best approach just yet. "There are going to be some interesting and useful mobile apps for learning, provided we can get away from simply taking a desktop app and squeezing it onto a small screen." He continues, "There hasn't been a killer app for mobile learning."

One of the drawbacks to mobile learning via the web is a lack of Flash support. Many designers use Flash as a way to build in feature-rich, interactive content. Currently, only the newest versions of Android support Flash, and the iPhone does not. According to Clark Quinn, for mobile learning to truly reach its potential, there will need to be either a more widespread adoption of Flash, or HTML5 will have to be solidified as the new web standard. HTML is the standard upon which the web is designed, and the latest evolution, HTML5, is still being developed. It promises much more interactivity and the ability to embed multimedia content without the use of separate software.

Stanford University's Tim Flood likens the competition between web and mobile learning delivery in terms of two species. One was here before the other, and in fact, the second species emerged from the first, a prime example of evolution in motion.

Flood posits, "We will create 'native apps,' i.e., apps that are written in code compiled specifically for a mobile platform and downloaded either from an app store, or a website that will be used to download the app to your device where it is kept for you to run whenever you like. With mobile apps, we will enhance existing web pages to detect when a mobile device is requesting access to the page. Upon detection, the website will invoke a style sheet that formats the page for the device's smaller, often unique, 'real estate,' or screen size."

So we are, at present, in a state of what Flood refers to as "coexistence" - in that at the moment, business units don't commonly have access to technologists who have the skills to build mobile apps. But that will change, and probably sooner rather than later. In ASTD's Web 3.0 study, 55 percent of respondents predicted that their organizations would have this internal expertise within three years (see Figure 5).

Most IT professionals are not yet experienced or adept at writing software for mobile devices, but they do know how to create style sheets for their corporate websites. These represent two different skill sets. And even if an organization employs IT staff who are knowledgeable about creating mobile apps, they are the same staff saturated by other demands for IT support and services. Furthermore, Flood points out, business leaders often don't fully understand the distinctions between mobile web and traditional web technologies; and their erroneous inclination may be that in order to make learning mobile, all they need to do is replicate what already exists on the website on a mobile device.

This convergence may occur over time, Flood says, as mobile device hardware and software will continue to evolve, and expand their range and capabilities. And increasingly, consumers will demand it. "As the mobile explosion approaches its peak, web development technology will catch up, increasing its capability to close the divide," says Flood.

Phones vs. Tablets

With the advent of the iPad and other tabletstyle devices, there is uncertainty as to whether or not these will become the dominant devices of the future. In the Web 3.0 study, more than 85 percent of respondents indicated their company provides mobile devices to at least some of the workforce, but less than 30 percent did so with tablet computers.

Certainly more portable than most laptops, tablets still lack the ubiquitous mobility of a phone. And, as with laptops, a user must make the conscious decision to carry a tablet with them, whether in their hand, a case, a backpack, and so forth. Mobile phone usage is less deliberate - most people are rarely without their mobile phones and carry them almost subconsciously, as they fit into a pocket or purse unobtrusively. This gets to the heart of just-in-time learning - a person often needs information when they least expect it.

The comparison between phones and tablets becomes even less important when we look back at the conversation about native applications versus mobile web applications. Both devices are capable of rendering and interacting with the same content. The only difference becomes screen size, which ends up being a personal preference. If the content is available and usable on any device, then designing anything device-specific becomes pointless or obsolete.

Many experts agree on the need to be deviceagnostic at this point in time. According to Sharples, "If you want to make any sort of business out of mobile learning, you can't make it available only on a single device, at least for the foreseeable future."

Virginia Crockett looks at Qualcomm's experiences with mobile learning and says, "We are going more and more device-agnostic as time progresses." In the beginning, Qualcomm used devices dedicated to the learning platform and connected to a dedicated server used solely for the learning program. Now the mobile learning portal at Qualcomm is accessible from basically any mobile device equipped with a browser.

Mobile Support vs. Mobile Learning

As it stands today, mobile devices would most likely be considered a performance support tool rather than a learning tool. Bob Mosher of LearningGuide Solutions says that the contextual nature and immediacy of the mobile device makes the true intent really to support rather than to teach.

This is evident in some work Mosher did with chair manufacturer Herman Miller. The company previously spent a lot of time teaching sales people volumes of information about sizes, specifications, pricing, and inventories. It was also a challenge to keep this information, which was stored in binders, current. Finally, the information was moved out of the classroom and onto handheld devices, making it readily available, current, searchable, and presentable, enabling representatives to use these devices with their customers.

According to Mosher, "It offloaded for the learners and the trainers the complexity and criticality of training, and reduced the amount of stuff that was required to be memorized. It also increased performance, because all of the information became immediate and at the sales peoples' fingertips."

In that context, mobile learning may always be considered performance-supporting. The ultimate goal is to deliver necessary information to someone who needs it in the time, place, and context they require. This is essentially what performance support is.

This article is excerpted from Mobile Learning: Learning in the Palm of Your Hand (ASTD Research, Vol. 3, No. 1).

This study represents a synthesis of interviews with thought leaders in the field of mobile learning, as well as practitioners from global organizations that are in varying phases of adoption of mobile learning applications. These interviews, along with a comprehensive review of available literature, form the foundation from which the ideas and recommendations in this study were derived.

To purchase the full report, go to the ASTD Store.