Here’s a fact none of us can ignore in the RTO world; students are more mobile than ever before. As per a 2016 Google study, on an average day users are twice as likely to only use their smartphone than just their desktop computer. Here’s why it’s so important that your learning content is responsive, bite-sized and easily accessible on the go.
Millennials are joined to their phones at the hip
Almost 90% of US Millennials aged 18 to 34 are believed to always have their mobile phone with them and around 80% reach straight for their phone when they wake up. Chances are, this age group in Australia makes up a significant part of your RTO’s target student demographic. Make it easy for them to study on the device that they always have with them, and you’ll make it easy for them to succeed.
People move between different devices on a daily basis
According to that same Google report, 57% of people use multiple devices on a daily basis. They might study for a few hours on their computer and then hop on the train to get to work and use their tablet or smartphone to kill time. If you can provide content that is accessible via tablet or phone on that train journey or while they’re eating lunch, your student completion rates could well see an improvement.
Mobile learning evens out the playing field for students
It’s a consistent finding within ABS reports that the lower the household income, the less likely residents are to have internet access at home, but most people have some sort of smartphone by now. That makes mobile learning a more democratic and accessible method that gives students a fighting chance to access the education and training they’re seeking.
What is needed for effective mobile learning content?
There are several requirements for mobile accessible learning content. The first is a mobile platform. At Learning Vault we use the Canvas LMS platform which has a dedicated mobile app for students that can be used on iOS and Android tablets and phones. This platform lays out navigation and content clearly, and interactive elements such as quizzes will scale automatically to the device so buttons and forms are easy to use.
The other important feature is having content that is broken up into easily accessible sections so students don’t get lost in one long section. We work to roughly ten or fifteen minute increments for videos, quizzes and case studies so those train journeys and lunch breaks can be spent productively. As always we’d love to show you our engaging content, so simply contact the team to check it out.
