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Everyone seems to be voicing their opinion about mLearning — about the impact it will have on work, productivity, education ... and how it could, in fact, solve world hunger. The truth is that very few people or organizations have actually developed any mLearning, and their opinions are often more philosophical than pragmatic. My intention in this article is to focus on the pragmatic — to help you get your hands dirty so you can speak about mLearning from the perspective of having actually developed some.

It is a mistake to try to implement a full "course" as an mLearning application, or to think of mLearning as classic asynchronous eLearning but on a smaller screen. In order to avoid this, designers must think through their instructional strategy (how to effectively combine the various modalities and platforms) and their implementation strategy (it may be better to start with performance support via mobile than to start with delivery of instruction). You can get a lot of help in this effort from the Mobile Learning: Landscape and Trends report itself. It will give you unbiased information about the issues, the tools, and the experience of many organizations as they implement mLearning. In the next two weeks, Learning Solutions Magazine will offer features on implementing mLearning. On June 14, The Guild’s Thought Leader Seminar will feature Gary Woodill, speaking on “The Mobile Learning Edge: How Learning on the Move Can Be A Competitive Advantage.”

For mLearning, tags have huge possibilities. They add depth and vitality to content in ways that significantly enhance just-in-time access to information, and improve understanding and performance.

Two major tag formats are getting the most attention right now, and you can use both for mLearning: the QR tag format, and the Microsoft tag format.

I've seen some evidence that learners are more likely to complete mobile learning courses (like the ones created with mLearning Studio) than traditional online courses. I assume this is because it is more convenient and thereby more enjoyable, removing the tedious barrier of having to sit in one place to get it done. Also, learners can do smaller chunks when they have time: waiting in line at the grocery store, at a restaurant, and on and on (think of all of the places we now compulsively pull out our mobile device while we wait).

Mobile devices have some unique affordances: They offer location-sensors (e.g., GPS, RFID, WLAN) and they can deliver multimedia content that is time- and place-relevant. Opportunities for embedded assessment can also be used to assess and fine-tune mlearning design.