eLearning On iPads - 10 Bright Ideas

2. Establish the real benefit you will achieve by delivering eLearning on iPads or other tablets. It could be as simple as solving a problem of access, extending availability - “anytime, anywhere” or a more specific benefit targeted at a mobile workforce. If you get this right, the rest of it will fall in place more easily.

3. Apple and the iPad created the tablet market and continue to dominate it, but, with a projected decline in its sales, will it remain the dominant device? Look at the other devices from strong global players, like Microsoft, Samsung, Asus and a host of other well known manufacturers. All have competitive and economically priced products and all offer the Android and Windows operating systems which, we know, are more open and flexible than Apple’s iOS. An attractive alternative and one that can get you up and running extremely quickly is BYOD, as this allows you to focus on content and leaves the choice of device to your users.

4. Learning on tablets is fundamentally not the same as mLearning on mobile phones or even eLearning on PCs and laptops. iPads or tablets are like 'mobile computers' – they combine the best features of mobile phones and computers and provide an opportunity to make the best use of these features to deliver an unique learning experience. Considering eLearning and tablet learning as separate entities will help you to identify the difference in purpose and benefits each device offers. You can make the best use of the capability of a tablet to provide an eLearning experience in the much sought after mobile learning environment.

5. Walk, don't run. Adapting your eLearning for a tablet could be your first step towards going 'Mobile' with learning. Converting legacy content to a tablet-compatible format is a quick and cost effective way to mEnable your learning content. The tablet’s screen size and display area of 7 - 10 inches, compares favorably with that of PCs and laptops and therefore content repurposing is quite straight forward and often minimal. Though this might not be construed as true mLearning, this exercise prepares the ground for getting started with the wider adoption and use of this new breed of mobile devices.

6. Walk, don't run - Part 2 (all good things have sequels!) While mEnabling your existing eLearning content is a great first step, the euphoria of mEnabling everything in sight might do more damage than good. It's important to evaluate and choose which of your legacy courseware needs to be converted; one that meets the user need, business context and delivers a valuable learning experience.

7. User-friendly –Think of situations where users will rely on the tablet and its contents to prepare themselves for a task, perform an activity or simply grab some key information. Needless to say, your learning content should be concise, easy to search and consume, and critically and contextually relevant. Touch-friendly – Exploit the tactile nature of tablet interactivity and make your navigation controls, links, buttons et al, clear, distinct, wisely spaced and large enough for the user to tap, swipe and manhandle with the least possibility of error.

8. Native apps are expensive! Why? Because you need one for (almost) every kind of OS and device out there! So unless you have a very good reason - like a processing intensive task, a need to use a specific capability like the camera, or if you want to store data locally for offline accessibility - it's advisable to invest in a web-based approach. Not only is it economical, it also works across a wide range of devices and platforms. While apps deliver great user experience, the increasing use and capability of HTML5 will deliver a similar experience and will even better it in the near future.

9. In our multi device world, where users often access at least 3 types of devices in a day, responsive design seems like a 'no-brainer' for delivering eLearning across platforms. Responsive design provides device/display specific structuring of the content, enabling the content layout to change to the device, size and viewing mode (landscape or portrait). But, you have to ensure the relevance, type and context of the content, and more importantly the 'point of use' and access is not compromised.

10. Research suggests that 79% of tablet usage (in the US) occurs at home as a second screen and mostly for entertainment and browsing. As these devices are increasingly used for email, web browsing, social networking, surfing and watching video, they offer us a unique opportunity to design programmes that use tablet applications and functionality to enable and encourage learners to collaborate and learn from each other. Build opportunities for sharing, comparison and collaboration into your eLearning to encourage and leverage the best practices and capture knowledge.

11. Devising and communicating a clearly outlined mobile security policy for your staff goes a long way in defining the boundaries of good mobile practice and usage. Login protected web-based access to materials are a well established security protocol and are not a great concern, but apps that allow the download of material onto the learners' devices can be. So look for additional measures like screen locks, auto-timeouts, password-protected access to the content inside the apps, data encryption, and solutions such as Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Mobile Application Management (MAM).

12. Upside Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd www.upsidelearning.com info@upsidelearning.com