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March 29, 2007
Expanding the Mobile Learning Conversation to Include Collaboration
Mark Oehlert recently posted a bunch of resources worth taking a look at that really got me thinking (as usual!). I read the article by Ellen Wagner on mobile learning in CLO Magazine he referred to and while I agree that it helps move the conversation beyond devices to start to talk about experiences , it is a very learning content centric view and misses what I think is an important component - mobile enabled collaboration.
Mark also highlighted this study 'According to recent Ambient Insight market research, the 2006 U.S. market for real-time collaboration-based learning products and services is now over $2.6 billion and growing at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.5 percent.' This study suggests that the tools are getting easier to use and implement and this is leading to adoption beyond just large corporations.
The value of collaborative learning has been talked about for some time but I don't hear it mentioned much when people are discussing how to better support mobile workers. I think the 'learning' bit in the topic of 'mobile learning' should be expanded to 'performance' anyway. Learning is valuable, and there is certainly a role for it on mobiles but what people often really need is to be able to easily interact with colleagues to support decision making in real time, ask for input to solve problems and address opportunities, and to share intelligence on developments. Peer to peer networking products using Instant Messaging, SMS, and RSS seem to be growing and generating buzz. The financial industry is increasingly using Parlano's MindAlign which requires integration with enterrpise messaging and SwarmTeams which works without having to add software or integration.. Robin Good has a good overview of 'swarming' applications here.
Twitter is really hot right now 'its microblogging at lighting speed via SMS, IM and the web' for a variety of reasons including the ability to use the new API to get instant content in addition to being connected live to colleagues using SMS, IM and the web.
Connecting people is what mobiles are for besides the rich location and multimedia goodness they now offer. I will add mobile social networking and collaboration as a key topic at our Seriously Mobile Summit on 20 April. This week I've asked thought leaders Ajit Jaokar, Euan Semple, Ewan McIntosh and Robin Good to join us to share what they know and predict but they aren't able to make it ;-(
I think between Jay Cross and myself we'll be able to articulate why and how but it would be great to have more voices in the chorus.
Posted by Ron Edwards at March 29, 2007 08:49 AM
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