Now, don’t think I didn’t notice the eye-rolling when you read the words “mobile training”. I get it, and it may seem like just another learning and development fad, but it’s not just us who think that this is the future of learning. Mobile learning has a consistent annual growth of 7%, it’s estimated that by 2020 mobile learning will have become a $70 billion industry, and was rated one of the six trends to change the workplace forever.
These are pretty bold statements, and you may be wondering; how does this apply to me?
In many industries safety training is a requirement. You have no choice – in some form or other, you have to do it. But, in its current form there are some problems.
Here’s a rundown of some of the issues with safety training:
- It’s boring - let’s be honest, very few people enjoy safety training. Most shudder at the thought, and battle through it because they’re told to. Which is a double whammy because boredom results in disengaged learners.
- It’s delivered in large blocks, which are quickly forgotten - Most safety training is delivered at the start of a project or engagement. And then never followed up. Studies have shown that learners forget up to 70% of what they’re taught within just two days.
- It doesn’t address the needs of individual workers - Instead it takes an all-in approach
- It’s rarely accessible on mobile - Although learners want mobile learning, 78% of training is still instructor led.
Safety training is often delivered face-to-face on-site with the odd flyer tossed in, which is then promptly tossed out. This form of training has been used for years and so must be, by and large, effective. Right? Well, maybe it follows protocol and maybe on paper it gives workers the information they need, but that alone doesn’t equate to effectiveness.
So what makes mobile training different?
Here are 5 things:
1. Anywhere. Anytime.
Workers are busy. Whether stuck on site or driving a truck, they’re not sitting behind a desk where they can access online training easily. They want something quick, easy and accessible (if your only free time is during your break, you don’t want to have to spend 90% of it doing safety training).
With mobile training, learning is exceptionally flexible. It’s available on any device at anytime. It allows workers to stop and pick it back up when they want and complete it when they can — all in all, it’s a time saver for everyone.
2. Digestable content
When training is delivered in long, irregular segments, learners struggle to retain the information they’ve been given. Mobile learning reinvents the way safety training is delivered and received, requiring content to be succinct. This improves digestibility and makes it easier for learners to actually put what they’ve learnt into practice.
However, there are more perks than just digestibility. When content isn’t locked away in isolated training sessions, content updates can be made quickly and easily. Where safety’s concerned, if new and improved systems can be implemented immediately, risk could be reduced. The work landscape is constantly changing, so it makes sense that training has to change with it. With the potential benefits of using learning technology, why not use it?
3. Better performance
Training is often used as a quick-fix to any performance or safety problems that may arise, yet it's often not helpful. This quick-fix training mindset is often the product of just scraping to meet safety training requirements and hoping it does something beneficial. For workers, this largely makes training boring and disruptive to their daily routine — the breeding ground of resentment.
Mobile learning completely reinvents the way safety training is delivered and received, combining succinct content with spaced repetition, (something you don’t often see with face to face) it helps promote learning habits amongst employees. Creating habits increases engagement and in turn increases the likelihood of learners remembering what they’ve learnt and putting it into practice. I don’t know about you, but smells like improved performance to me!
4. Individual learning experience
Every learner is different, and as such every learning experience should be different. Mobile training can meet compliance standards and regulations while simultaneously be tailored to fulfil the needs and address the concerns of every worker — who said you can’t make everyone happy!
And sometimes, there’s a lack of incentive for voicing concerns. It can be intimidating when you’re reporting directly to your supervisor, but mobile training provides both an easy platform on which to give feedback and discretion to allow for honesty. This feedback helps create a more personalised experience which can increase participation and active responses.
5. Fun... Is that even possible?
A big claim, I know, but mobile training could actually make learning about safety enjoyable. That feeling of ugh you get the morning of your safety training and development day - this may be shocking - doesn’t lead to productive learning. It can actually lead to poor retention.Mobile learning addresses this problem and is designed to build engagement, making learning a game instead of a chore.
If you lasted this long, maybe you believed me in when I said this isn’t just a fad, but maybe you’re still not sold on replacing all your training programs with the mobile alternative. So, here’s a bonus positive for mobile learning:
6. It can be used in tandem with other learning methods and systems.
Mobile training doesn’t have to be a replacement for your face-to-face programs or your safety courses, but is an extremely useful, and maybe even essential, supplement to them. For example, employees could be sent a quick microlearning burst of questions to check their current knowledge before a face-to-face session. This would help the facilitator focus on the right content, and pick up areas that need working on. And in a similar vein, mobile training apps can be used to easily refresh information after it’s delivered face-to-face.
I think I’ve made my case with these six reasons as to why mobile is great for safety training. To recap, it’s easy, time saving, performance enhancing, customisable, seamlessly employable and fun. But all in all, mobile learning seems to be sticking round and if it can help employees learn to be safer in the workplace why not utilise it?
For a better understanding on how you can practically use mobile training for safety in your workplace, check out how Ron Finemore Transport used Yarno here!
