7 Tips To Repurpose eLearning Content for Mobile Learning

7 Tips To Repurpose eLearning Content for Mobile Learning
Summary: In this article, I'll share 7 top tips that will help you to successfully repurpose you eLearning course’s content for your mobile learning course, so that you can develop a mobile learning strategy that requires minimal resources and offers maximum benefit to your learners.

How To Repurpose eLearning Content for Mobile Learning

The world of eLearning is constantly evolving and changing. As eLearning professionals, it's important to stay up to date with current eLearning trends, so that we can provide our learners with the most memorable and meaningful eLearning experience. Learners tend to be on-the-go more often than not. Therefore, in order to reach them and offer them the chance to develop skill sets or broaden their knowledge base, the learning must go with them via their mobile devices. So, the big question is: how do I convert my existing eLearning course to a mobile learning course? More importantly, how can I repurpose my eLearning course content, so that I won't have to spend time and money to create an entirely new mobile learning course?

  1. Create a mobile learning course outline before diving into the repurposing process.
    Before you begin converting your content, you'll probably want to develop an outline that maps out the entire mobile learning course. Consider any existing learning materials that you want to integrate, as well as new ones that you feel that should be added to your new mobile learning course. This outline should also feature your core learning objectives and goals, as these will serve as a guide moving forward. An added benefit of creating this outline is that it will give you the opportunity to gather all of the content you currently have and critically review it. Then, you will determine if certain parts still have a place in your mobile learning course or they should be left out. Also, if you are working with a team, make sure that you are all on the same page and that the project's goals are well defined and communicated to all of you. This can be achieved by holding regular meetings (virtual or otherwise). Get their input on which eLearning elements can easily be integrated into the mobile learning course, as well as how much time they require to complete their respective tasks.
  2. Only include what is absolutely necessary.
    An essential step in the mobile learning conversion process is to audit your current eLearning course. You'll want to avoid any irrelevant content or images, as these will be more likely to take up valuable screen space than actually add any real value to the eLearning experience. Remember that the display screen on mobile devices, even tablets, is much smaller than a laptop or PC screen. As such, there should be a reason behind incorporating each image, graphic, and piece of content into your mobile learning course. For example, if there was an image that you included in your eLearning course design, primarily because it added aesthetic appeal, then you'll want to omit it now. The same goes for content blocks that may be too verbose or unnecessary graphics and charts.
  3. Keep interactivity simple and straightforward.
    Keep in mind that not all of your learners are going to be accessing your mobile learning course via touch screens. Therefore, you'll want to keep interactive elements simple and straightforward. That's not to say that you can't include them, but they should be more practical and easy to navigate. For instance, rather than incorporating interactive scenarios that require a great deal of choices or steps, you may want to minimize the number of interactions that the learner will have to carry out. Bear in mind that they'll probably be on-the-go, as well, which means that they won't have a great deal of time to complete a lengthy simulation or game.
  4. Break the mobile learning course content down into easily digestible chunks.
    Your mobile learners need to acquire information quickly and conveniently. Therefore, you should break the content down into bite sized chunks that they can rapidly absorb. This is yet another reason why you have to audit your current eLearning course thoroughly, as it will enable you to whittle your text down to the bare essentials. You can then use bullet points and small blocks of text to deliver those essential bits of information to your audience.
  5. Consider the learning environment when integrating audio elements.
    Your learners are going to be accessing your mobile learning course in a variety of different settings, and you'll want to take this into consideration when you're including video and audio elements. You'll need to give them the ability to adjust the volume and pause the presentation, if you do decide to integrate multimedia elements. A good idea is to add subtitles in your videos; otherwise, learners will have to wait until they get home or have access to headphones before they can participate in the mobile learning course.
  6. Keep technical limitations in mind.
    To ensure that your mobile learning course can be accessed on all platforms and devices, you'll need to adjust the settings so that multimedia elements and graphics are automatically re-sized to fit the page. It's often wise to access your mobile learning course on a variety of different mobile devices, in order to verify that it still has its aesthetic appeal, and that all of the text can be easily viewed.
  7. Mobile learning course content should be your number one priority.
    Above all else, the content in your mobile learning course should be your top priority. The learners who will be accessing your mobile learning course need to be engaged from page one. As such, the content not only needs to be concise, but of high quality as well. Your mobile learning course content must be engaging and attention grabbing, so that they are immediately hooked and want to learn more. If you feel as though your current eLearning course is a bit lacking in terms of content, then you may want revise and rework the text when developing your Mobile Learning strategy.

Converting your existing eLearning course into a successful mobile learning course one doesn't have to cost a small fortune or require a sizable investment of time. By using these tips you can repurpose your eLearning course content for your mobile learning course quickly and cost effectively, so that learners can learn anywhere, anytime as soon as possible.

Highly Recommended Mobile Learning Articles

Would you be interested to know how to create and develop a successful Mobile Training Strategy? You are more than welcome to check the article 8 Steps To Create and Develop an Effective Mobile Training Strategy.

Also, the article mLearning: The Way of Learning Tomorrow introduces to you the unique features of mLearning, what it can be used for and the difference between Mobile Learning and traditional eLearning.

Moreover, if you are exploring the potential of Mobile Learning the article The Who, What, When and Why of Mobile Learning features 4 questions that you will need to consider prior moving forward.

Last but not least, I highly encourage you to read the article The Benefits of BYOD for m-Learning for more information about Mobile Learning and how it could benefit your organization.