Go and Learn

This fascinating article about the potential of mobile learning—Go and Learn—sums up the potential and the short-term struggle for adoption of new learning delivery systems. but this piece, near the end of the article made me stop and think.

Why use these mobile devices to learn when we are already using (some could say overusing) them already? Independent studies show dramatic improvements in knowledge retention when it’s relevant, in context, and on time. Just-in-time learning always trumps what’s just-in-case. [emphasis added by me]

It was the last sentence that made me sit up and take notice. This is where training organizations have to change. Most internal training organization react rather than act. Training is normally not prescribed until a problem occurs. These problems can usually be traced to out-of-date training or documentation, or nonexistent training and/or documentation.

The new training organization cannot stay on the defensive and wait for orders. It needs to be active, working within the organization to evaluate process flows and planning for change not just reacting to it.