June 24, 2008

Mobility is the Word for L&D

By Monta Monaco Hernon

Combine the near ubiquity of mobile devices with a generation of workers more apt to text than talk, and what arises is a need to leverage this desired mobility for training. Hence the focus of this year's Conference on Broadband Learning and Development, and a panel discussion Tuesday by some of the larger MSOs, "Defining the Next Steps for mLearning."

"Don't lose sight of the learner .... It's important to provide (the X and Y generations) with the technology they are used to .... If we try to change them, we will lose them," said Phil Hoffman, manager, technical training and consulting, Cox Communications. He later was presented with the 2008 SCTE Learning and Development Award.

Part of a whole

Co-presenters Pat Crull, vice president, CLO Time Warner Cable, and Martha Soehren, senior vice president and CLO, Comcast Cable Communications, both spoke of a "blended solution" that makes mLearning just one of many approaches to training.

mLearning should be like an item on a menu that can be selected depending on the best scenario from a business and learning perspective, Crull said.

She harkened back to a time when computer-based floppy disk technology first appeared. Some leaders chose to limit its use for training, while others moved solely to that modality. "Neither (approach) was right .... We are keeping that in mind," Crull said.

Soehren spoke of becoming a "learning organization" with mLearning providing the end user with more control. "We see the learner getting into the driver's seat and truly managing their learning," she said.

Handheld devices by their nature demand a different type and format for content. Less is sometimes more. "Experts need to find a way to learn how to tell employees what it is they need to know .... We need to learn how to chunk it," Soehren said.

"(It becomes) what they need to know vs. what would be nice to know," Hoffman added.

Training and beyond

Mobile devices can be leveraged for uses other than training. Comcast, for example, will broadcast "lunch and learn" sessions and is in the process of redesigning its intranet so that employees can access self-service options from a laptop or handheld device.

Time Warner is looking at ways to use mobile devices to facilitate informal as well as formal learning. The company will pilot an online mentoring program, for example, and Crull spoke of the need for operators to provide easy access to all types of information that sales reps might need, especially now that they are branching into commercial services.

"The millennials will push us right off our stools," Crull said, reiterating the younger generation's "I want what I need when I want it" mentality. The relevant question, she said, is: "Where are all the opportunities (where we) need to push information out quickly?"

Half of the federal government's civilian workforce is eligible for retirement in the next two years, and the private sector is facing a similar situation, Crull added. "What can we do to capture and disseminate (their knowledge) before they walk out the door?" she asked.

- Monta Monaco Hernon