We recently presented our perspective on mobile learning at mLearnCon in San Diego.  The main theme communicated was that  mLearning should NOT be the act of transporting e-learning from a desktop to a smart phone.  The golden rule we follow at CERTPOINT, is to leverage new technologies, such as the smart phone, for what they are good at. As we look ahead at M-Learning, the approach to content must change.

What is mLearning good for?  A recent IBM study published in Training and Development Magazine gives us a clue.  In 2009,  IBM conducted a study to examine how its employees used their smart phones for their jobs and for skills growth. What they were surprised to find out was that mobile users rejected “e-Learning” delivered via their mobile phones and instead used their devices for job related support and access to late breaking information.  As a result of the study, IBM shifted its focus for mobile learning from delivering formal learning modules to just-in-time performance support systems.

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How can you get your voice heard and raise support for innovative learning approaches? With budgets tighter than ever, it’s a question facing everyone in L&D right now.

Laura Overton of Towards Maturity thinks she may have the answer.

At a recent CERTPOINT Virtual User Forum, Laura outlined her top tips for increasing the effectiveness of elearning. Her crucial point: you need to get managers on board.

Why is management support so important? Simple. In Laura’s extensive research over several years and across hundreds of organizations, one statistic stands out: 55% of learners say their line manager’s opinion influences their take up of elearning.

In other words, if you don’t have the managers on board, no matter how good everything else is, your learning program is likely to fail.

So just how do you get managers’ attention?

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While the world waits for the football world cup to begin in South Africa on June 11^th, learning professionals will gather in London on June 8^th for an event that is just as significant  (well, we think so anyway).  The Learning and Skills Group Members’ Conference will be the meeting point for over 400 L&D professionals and once again CERTPOINT is proud to be a sponsor.

Times are hard – and that makes it a good time for L&D professionals to meet. They are under increasing pressure to do more with less. At times like these, contemplating our next step is often best done together.

As well as sharing their professional experience with each other, delegates will have the chance to listen to great names from the learning industry such as Jay Cross, Patrick Dunn, Jane Hart, Charles Jennings, Laura Overton, Nigel Paine, Donald H Taylor, Julie Wedgwood, and many others.

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What do you use your Learning Management System for?

If your LMS is just a vehicle for delivering e-learning courses, you may be missing a trick. That was Catherine Farrar’s message on yesterday’s CERTPOINT User Forum.

Catherine is Black & Decker’s National Learning Technologies Manager, and over a one-hour online session, she explained how the power tools manufacturer gets the most from its Learning Management System. It has been using the same LMS – CERTPOINTVLS – for 10 years, to deliver true blended learning.

How does their model work?

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How do you make the most of the learning tools you have in-house?

It’s a question on the minds of many Learning and Development professionals right now, as tough economic conditions are focusing minds on results.VQT3VRG9UCTZ

There are no easy answers, but one approach is definitely to make the most of what you already have. That’s what Black & Decker is doing. The power tools manufacturer is still finding new ways to deliver value from its Learning Management System (LMS) after 10 years.

We’ll be hosting Black & Decker’s National Learning Technologies Manager Catherine Farrar at our next webinar on March 11^th, as she discusses how Black & Decker’s L&D team are expanding their range of activities even in these tough times.

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