Learn-on-the-Go—Podcasts,Videocasts, and Mobile Learning by e-Learning Event

Chapter 5: Learn-on-the-Go—Podcasts, Videocasts, and Mobile Learning The following cases are featured in this chapter: ❑ Tufts University: Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine ❑ Microsoft ❑ Duke University ❑ Black & Decker

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Case: Tufts University: Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine Company Facts and Figures ❑ Industry: Higher Education ❑ Scope of Services and Products: School of Arts and Sciences; Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; School of Engineering; School of Medicine; School of Dental Medicine; Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine; Fletcher School Law and Diplomacy; Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Science; and Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service ❑ Offices and Locations: Four campuses located at Boston, MA; Medford, MA; and Grafton, MA, U.S.; and Talloires, France ❑ University Website: http://www.tufts.edu ❑ Mobile Learning Website: http://tusk.tufts.edu

Introduction Founded in 1852, Why Technology-based Learning? Tufts University is recognized among the ☞ Recent advancements in mobile technology premier universities ☞ Availability of mobile devices versus computers in the in the United States. developing world Tufts enjoys a global ☞ Increased access to curricular material reputation for aca☞ Leveraging existing technology and open source infrastructure demic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. Recognized for its breadth of research, Tufts has extensive and highly regarded liberal arts, sciences, and engineering programs that draw outstanding students from around the world with the highest academic achievement and standing. Tufts employs over 4,000 people, with 9,530 students from across the U.S. and more than 100 countries attending classes on the University’s three campuses in Massachusetts (Boston, Medford/Somerville, and Grafton) and in Talloires, France. In addition, the University is affiliated with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and with the New England Conservatory of Music. Tufts University’s mission embraces teaching, research, and public service in the United States and around the world. Every year Tufts graduates physicians, diplomats, dentists, veterinarians, entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers, researchers, scientists, and liberal arts

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professionals who will be leaders in their chosen fields and who believe it is their responsibility to contribute to the advancement of humanity and improvement of today’s global community and environment. The Tufts University Sciences Knowledgebase (TUSK) was developed at Tufts University using open source standards and software to meet the needs of the Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine. TUSK is a complete system of education software combining a powerful content, knowledge, and course management system under a highly flexible and extensible system. TUSK knowledge management features include a powerful indexing and retrieval methodology using the National Library of Medicine’s UMLS (Unified Medical Language System) Metathesaurus. The system was built to meet the business processes of a health sciences school ranging from the provision of lecture and image content to tracking clinical competencies and procedures. This approach gives students the ability to annotate and create collections of personally relevant material and collaborate and share learning materials. The architecture was constructed to facilitate content integration, student interaction with content, and knowledge management while also serving a school’s administrative needs. Unlike traditional course management systems, which often have a course silo approach, the TUSK philosophy fosters content integration across courses and years for students and faculty, and its tools support this. Because of its unique features, other schools asked to use the TUSK infrastructure and were granted license to use it. These schools use the same architecture that is at Tufts, and upgrades are provided on a timely basis. Tufts faculty who work with faculty in schools in the developing world (Africa and India) sought to give the TUSK infrastructure to these schools to support their curricula. It became clear, however, that in the developing world hard wired computers were scarce. By comparison, cell phone technology was spreading with great speed. According to a 2009 UN report, there are an estimated 4.1 billion mobile subscriptions in the world now representing 60% of the world’s population (2009 report from the International Telecommunications Union). A Gartner group report in June 2008 reported there are 1 billion computers in use throughout the world. As mobile technology continues to merge with computer functionality, the TUSK group recognized growing possibilities to transmit curricular information in the developing world, perhaps leapfrogging wired technology. At the same time, students at Tufts want access to “just-in-time” content. They want to enter clinical experience logs immediately rather than waiting to do so at night when they could access their computer. They want the convenience of reviewing lectures at the laundromat or on public transportation—again at a place and time where the computer is not accessible. Preceptors want students to review videos on physical examination techniques in their offices just before meeting with patients. Mobile computing on cell phones seemed the answer to all of these use cases. This technology could support students on campus or for distance learning. Mobile access could also support clinical decision making for faculty in remote sites. “M learning” is a rapidly growing field for research. After studying how mobile learning is growing as a mechanism to support education throughout the world, Tufts was able to obtain grant funding from a foundation to fund the development and deployment of mobile content in India.

How was the Initiative Aligned with the Business? The mobile initiative that is making TUSK e-learning course content and applications accessible via mobile phone, a ubiquitous appliance in the developing world, aligned closely with two aspects of the Tufts University mission: citizenship and global orientation. The work to develop a mobile application fits with the mission of fostering an attitude of “giving back,” an

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understanding that active citizen participation is essential to freedom and democracy, and a desire to make the world a better place. Tufts’ Global Orientation mission states that “we will strive to contribute to global intellectual capital, harmony and well-being.” In recognition of these missions, the Associate Provost for the University and faculty members working with faculty partners in Africa and India wanted to pursue making electronic content more accessible to the students in the developing world. Mobile development has been a two-pronged process: one focused on Tufts students and one focused on their Indian partner—Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, India. Faculty at CMC defined how mobile technology would support their educational needs, both on the campus and at rural sites. Specifically, graduates posted to rural hospitals spend a postgraduate year in a distance learning program. Mobile discussions available via cell phone would provide support for these students. The Tufts activities in this process were to: 1. Survey current handheld usage by existing users 2. Decide which of the TUSK content would make most sense to deliver via a handheld device 3. Conduct usability tests on proposed designs, and, finally 4. Create and implement a small screen design for these TUSK features.

Figure 5-1: TUSK Mobile Home

Based on student feedback at Tufts (see summary of survey results below in Figure 5-2), the TUSK group decided to start by rendering mobile class schedules, announcements, content (documents, slides, etc.), and clinical experience logs. For the partner in India, the TUSK

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Figure 5-2: TUSK Mobile Data Table

group needed to make mobile discussions aimed at students in rural hospitals. The results of these two activities dictated the progression for the project. The Fellowship in Secondary Hospital Medicine (FSHM) at CMC is an educational program for graduates from Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore working in secondary hospitals. Many of these hospitals may be located in remote areas and the doctors may not have access to the Internet and academic resources. The components of this one-year course are 15 paperbased distance-learning modules, 3 contact sessions, project work, and networking with peers and faculty. The aim of the course is to provide these doctors working in smaller hospitals with the ability Key Business Drivers to practice at secondary hospitals, ☞ Scarcity of computers in the developing remove academic isolation, and proworld while mobile phones are ubiquitous vide academic support. Mobile learning provides an essential means to reach learners in educational and clinical settings where justin-time information and feedback can maximize learners’ experiences.

☞ Need for faculty/student support on clinical decision making while in an isolated rural hospital ☞ Access to “just-in-time learning” in locations incompatible with computers ☞ Access to content for distance learning

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Mobile phones with wireless phone networks are important accessible means for delivering educational content and educational support. The mobile development was supported through a grant from a foundation. This two-year US$250,000 grant supported the survey, design, and technical work to make TUSK content accessible, create mobile discussions, and other mobile applications including mobile data entry for clinical case logs and a mobile flash card utility for self-assessment.

How was the Initiative Designed? The initial decision was made to allow access to the comprehensive TUSK e-learning content and applications on all phones, rather than for any particular phone, by extending the web-based application to phone browsers. The TUSK group contracted with the Senior Seminar of the Human Factors Major at the Tufts School of Engineering. A group of undergraduate students were hired to consult on design as their final senior project. These students developed a survey instrument to gather usage data and design and test the user experience. The survey was completed by 400 faculty and students. Survey questions included: • • • • • • •

Which brand of phone do you use? Do you have a data plan? How often do you use your phone to access the Internet? What sites do you regularly access and why? If TUSK were available on your phone, what services would you use? Describe any features of TUSK that are missing that you would like to access on your phone. Would you be willing to participate in usability testing on a mobile TUSK?

Results regarding ranking or importance of TUSK services: In India at CMC, a written questionnaire was administered to the 14 participants of the FSHM course during the first contact session. The purpose of this questionnaire was to find out about the types of mobile phones and data cards being used by them. A market search was done to find out about the existing mobile phone technology and its cost in India. Once the decision was made on which services within TUSK to “mobilize,” design considerations and requirements were the next step. Usability testing included the development of three mobile interface designs that were tested on groups of five students with various scenarios. Student volunteers were presented three designs and three use cases. The use case scenarios are listed below: Part 1: You are chatting with your friend Frank and decide to get together sometime. Frank suggests tomorrow at 1 p.m. Check your TUSK schedule to ensure that you’re free at that time. If you’re available, add the meeting to your schedule. You may begin. Part 2: While you’re checking your schedule, you remember that your biochemistry professor posted an announcement about the upcoming exam, but you didn’t get a chance to read it. Find it and read it now. Part 3: The professor’s announcement says that the exam is going to cover, among other things, the molecular structure of polysaccharides. Look up the molecular diagram of chitin that the professor posted. As students completed the tasks, they were asked to narrate their decisions out loud, and their comments and difficulties with the interface were recorded. Users were timed on each task and the number of errors was also recorded with a description of why each error occurred.

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The three scenario tests resulted in a final design tested on Opera Mini (an open source browser available for many phones). This reflected the initial decision to make mobile TUSK web-based and therefore not require programming for any specific phone. The TUSK programming staff implemented the recommended design, which simplified the presentation HTML pages for the small screen. One of the design challenges was that mobile provides a different context for information access. Screen size is a constraint as is the load time of complicated pages. The fact that there are many phone types with various screen sizes also challenged staff decisions. Among the technical issues that were dealt with was the ability to detect that the user was coming to the TUSK website with a phone and not a computer while still permitting the user to choose to view classic TUSK instead of mobile TUSK if their phone could handle the larger version of screen display. The goal of the TUSK programmers was to minimize the number of places where the code would branch for mobile versus classic. This presented two decision points: 1) what data would be accessed for display and 2) how to display the data to mobile versus large screen. For example, at the moment Adobe Flash does not work on many phones so this would need to be filtered out from the list of available content in a course. In addition, to reduce clutter on the small screen, the code needed to filter out elements of the large screen display. It is important to note that the same content would be accessible to both the large and small screens. Content is not reformatted for the phone. This was straightforward as TUSK always creates five sizes of

Figure 5-3: TUSK Mobile Content

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every image when an image is uploaded. The size created with a width of 360 pixels became the default size for mobile phone viewing. If the phone allows zooming, the image can be zoomed for more detail or a larger size can be selected. Supporting mobile TUSK has not added a strain on user support time. TUSK staff in Boston receives support questions via an email link. Questions are answered daily while in-person support is provided during normal working hours. In the U.S., there have been no support issues after eight months. In India, support staff has had to deal with phones that are too old to access the Internet. They also needed to disseminate the knowledge that users can download and use the Opera Mini browser for older phones. Support in India is provided by CMC e-learning staff during normal working hours. The Indian partners at CMC, as well as TUSK staff, performed quality assurance testing on over a dozen varieties of handheld devices including cellular phones, smart phones, and PDAs. The TUSK developer developed a test plan that incorporated all the elements of cell phone access of TUSK to be tested on all possible accessible phones and browsers. The test plan parceled out all of the tasks (i.e., log in, view announcements, select a date on the schedule to view) across multiple phones. It included the view of what TUSK should look like on the mobile screen for comparison to the tester’s view.

How was the Initiative Deployed? The news about TUSK mobile was first announced in a TUSK electronic newsletter distributed to the Tufts community (5,000 faculty, students, and staff) as well as to staff at all partner schools. Announcements to student groups were delayed by an interesting problem. As students were both designers and testers, the faculty needs were overlooked. Course material was made mobile based on course or group enrollment and as faculty are not enrolled in courses, there was almost nothing for them to see. After this correction was made, TUSK announcements were sent out to every class. Finally, to catch more student attention, the TUSK group created Facebook and Twitter pages where new features, such as TUSK mobile, are announced. TUSK staff encourages students to become “fans” of TUSK to learn more about the features accessible via TUSK mobile. The first mobile release in early 2009 included access to content, schedule, and announcements. This was followed in late spring 2009 with the release of mobile discussions. TUSK will work on most phones, even older ones, as long as the Opera Mini browser is available for that phone. Older phones tend to have the smallest screens, which makes viewing content more difficult and therefore less useful.

Marketing Approach

☞ Announcement of TUSK mobile through University newsletter ☞ Creation of Facebook and Twitter pages with updates on TUSK mobile development ☞ Indian partner surveyed all graduates for access to mobile technology and enlisted them to participate in the user study ☞ Making TUSK mobile part of TUSK orientation for new students as well as posting posters on the campus

What was the Business Impact of the Initiative? This is a new initiative for Tufts and the business impact is not yet discernable. Mobile was released in March and the school year ends in early May. Returning students were able to access all course content on their handheld devices. Students in preceptor offices will be able

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to use just-in-time learning to view videos of physical examinations. In the spring semester, students in clinical rotations or clerkships or at externships will be able to log their experiences on the handheld device. In India, students in rural hospitals will be able to carry on mentored discussions on clinical problems with each other and with faculty at the home base hospital. Students who use discussions for other reasons outside of curricular activities (such as announcing items for sale or posting social events on discussion boards) will find it easier to keep in touch with each other. The TUSK mobile deployment has begun to attract attention from other parts of the University, particularly those engaged in distance learning projects in developing countries. Schools not currently served by TUSK are wondering if TUSK mobile will help them in delivering distance learning programs. An early look at use statistics shows that in the first 8 months after release there were 1,409 unique visitors to the mobile site. This represents 44,463 page views with an average of four pages per visit. Realizing that the release came at the end of the school year, it is felt that much of these visits were just visits to see what was available. Higher use is anticipated and some students have already reported that they only rely on mobile TUSK. CMC partners installed the mobile version of TUSK in their production environment in summer 2009 and will begin using it for distance learning in winter 2010. TUSK receives feedback from users constantly. Thus far all feedback has been positive. The clear mobile screen display has been noted as an important feature. This design decision with regard to mobile discussions has attracted positive feedback. Although discussions are threaded, they are viewable by phone as the replies to postings come in chronologically. There is not enough screen real estate to indent the threads. However, the threads or the same discussions are visible on the large screen version. A user noted early on that the mobile postings were chronological with the latest posting at the bottom of the list, which meant scrolling to the bottom of all the postings to check for new replies. This was reversed immediately to the user’s satisfaction. Immediate plans for future development include transformation for the TUSK clinical case logs from the large screen to the small screen followed by a flash card utility so that students can create their own quizzes from TUSK content and then test themselves on the go.

Business and Learner Perspectives “The discussion tool works remarkably well. Our test connecting us from Belize to Tanzania shows that cell phone network coverage should not be a barrier to making this work.” “Please make the discussion posts so that the newest posts are at the top of the screen.” “It is amazing how clear the mobile site is - it is so easy to find TUSK content.” “Now that you have made content available, please make the interactive authoring tools available too.”

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Summary Purpose: To enable access to a comprehensive e-learning system on handheld devices including mobile phones. In the developing world, where there is insufficient access to computers and slow wired networks, cell phone networks provide an opportunity to access web-based resources for e-learning, communication, and support. In the developed world, mobile phones provide access to just-in-time mobile learning and immediacy to communication not provided by computer access. Initiative Structure: The Tufts staff of the office of Technology for Learning in the Health Sciences who develop the TUSK infrastructure worked with faculty and students in both the Partner School in Vellore, India as well as at Tufts University to develop the functional specifications. Seniors at the undergraduate campus assisted in surveying, designing the interface, and user testing. TUSK staff wrote the code to implement these designs. Number of Learning Hours per Student: 25 minutes/week measured at start of semester Number of Learners: 800 medical, 400 veterinary, and 600 dental students at Tufts University and 200 students at Christian Medical College in India. Partner schools in Africa will soon make the initiative available to these students. Completion Requirements: There are no mobile requirements at this time. Average Length of the Initiative: Transforming the complete TUSK infrastructure is ongoing. The first phase, now complete, took 8 months. The second phase, including new mobile services, took 6 months. Deployment Mechanisms: Announcements to the community; outreach to the student community via email, Facebook, and Twitter; as well as an article in the TUSK newsletter. For returning students TUSK mobile was featured as part of the TUSK orientation and posters were placed across the campuses.

Lessons Learned â?&#x2018; Can support almost all multimedia file types except Adobe Flash, which is not yet supported on all mobile devices. â?&#x2018; Communicating with partners in India was difficult, but became easier with the use of Skype to regularly communicate. â?&#x2018; Getting information out to a student community focused primarily on studying and taking tests is difficult. Facebook may be a better way to provide information on this feature.

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Case: Microsoft Company Facts and Figures ❑ Industry: Operating Systems and Application Software ❑ Scope of Services and Products: Develops and markets software, services, and solutions ❑ Offices and Locations: Home office in Redmond, WA, U.S. ❑ Website: www.microsoft.com

Introduction Microsoft is the world’s leading softWhy Technology-based Learning? ware manufacturer. It operates in five major ☞ Enable Microsoft’s globally dispersed field employees and business segments: mobileCOMM009A to spend more time with customers Client, Business, Server ☞ Provide current and up-to-date product and service information as it and Tools, Entertainrelates to customers ment and Devices, ☞ Ensure that the field remains ready with the latest innovations and Online. The Sales, ☞ Lower cost of production than with other approaches Marketing, and Ser☞ Deliver course material exactly as and when needed vice Group (SMSG) ☞ Provide training that meets employee’s schedule and location optimally is Microsoft’s sales, marketing, consulting, technical support, and customer service division. The division helps salespersons, customers, and partners discover and implement Microsoft solutions that generate rapid, meaningful, and measurable results. With its global partner network and support infrastructure, SMSG enables the successful adoption, deployment, and use of Microsoft solutions and technologies for all types of customers—from individual consumers to global enterprises. SMSG is designed to provide the right scope of sales, services, and support at the right time, including localized support solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. SMSG Readiness (SMSGR) is an organization that serves Microsoft’s field readiness needs including product and discipline-related training. In keeping with its commitment to delivering the right training—when and how its field employees need it—SMSG Readiness undertook a Mobile Learning Pilot in February 2008. The purpose of the Mobile Learning Pilot was to test the boundaries of Microsoft’s mobile infrastructure and learning technologies. Microsoft also wanted to better understand the expectations and preferences of end users across its sales, marketing, and technical support organizations. Equally important, Microsoft hoped to increase the time employees were engaged selling to customers and partners. The hope was to transform “downtime” into

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productive time by enabling employees to engage in mobile learning activities. To achieve this, it was critical to remove all barriers between employees and the readiness content that they needed to perform efficiently. Microsoft thereby sought to leverage its leading-edge technologies and platforms.

How was the Initiative Aligned with the Business? Microsoft has a vast array of products and services that evolve at a breakneck pace. Providing timely and relevant knowledge and training to its 40,000 field employees on an ongoing basis is a substantial and continuing challenge. Microsoft has been using e-learning (technologybased training) as well as instructor-led training for decades. In 2005, Microsoft outsourced e-learning content development to over 100 different vendors, each responsible for creating the design, content, and technology associated with course curriculum and training experiences. This resulted in many different user experiences and insufficient attention was given to technology compatibility. An obvious opportunity existed for SMSG Readiness (SMSGR) to standardize the technologies employed in its e-learning development and delivery—the aim being to bring continuity to the e-learning experience for Microsoft employees. It also presented Microsoft with an opportunity to use and promote its world-class server, desktop, and mobile client software technologies. This standardization effort was targeted at field employees within SMSG. Field employees are allocated an average of 12 to 14 days of training per year. Recognizing that time spent in training and traveling between training facilities decreases the time spent with customers and partners, SMSGR focused on solutions that improved the impact of training while maximizing the amount of time employees spend with customers and partners. One such innovation was the development of a course player, which brought a consistent user experience to all e-learning and also provided considerable standardization to the underlying conKey Business Drivers tent development effort. The course player allowed learners to download ☞ Enhance impact and increase engaged and engage in training online and selling time by providing field employees offline. In offline mode, the results with access to readiness training whenever and would then synchronize to Microwherever needed soft’s learning management system ☞ Save Microsoft substantial expense in training time (LMS) the next time the employee ☞ Understand mobile users connected to the corporate network. ☞ Leverage leading-edge technologies While each of these innovations allowed SMSGR to make great strides, in both cases employees were still dependent on their PCs for training. Mobile Learning, on the other hand, brought the promise of continuous and seamless access to readiness assets wherever it is needed, whenever it is convenient, and however employees may prefer to access training. What had been idle or unproductive time now could be used to gain knowledge and training critical to the selling, services, and support processes, at the same time improving performance and saving time and money. Microsoft estimated that a global rollout of the Mobile Learning Initiative could save the organization almost US$22 million. The savings would come from the 112,000 hours field staff normally spent in traveling to training that required on-site attendance or being at their PC. This time could now be spent engaged in actively supporting customers and partners. The initiative, if successful, would also promote quicker response times from sales and support employees since it compressed the time between the release of new content and the existing content being consumed by field personnel.

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How was the Initiative Designed? Microsoft focused on delivering the following major pieces of content via the Mobile Learning Pilot: • Two (2) existing Microsoft e-learning courses were chosen: SQL Server 2008 and Microsoft’s Virtualization Strategy. These courses had already been developed for PC-based learners using SMSGR’s standardized course player technology. • Microsoft’s Sales and Technical Sales monthly podcasts, a long-standing sales readiness series, would be distributed via MP3 and CD-ROM. • Microsoft’s Sales Toolkit, an all-in-one resource for Microsoft’s sales professionals, which details Microsoft’s vast array of products and services, would be made accessible via Tellme® Networks Inc., a voice service from a Microsoft subsidiary. About Tellme—a subsidiary of Microsoft, Tellme improves how people and businesses use the phone. Through the combination of Internet data and a voice interface, Tellme’s goal is to let anyone say what they want and get it from any phone. Tellme powers billions of calls made by more than 40 million people every month. Tellme powers hundreds of phone services, including major 411 services and trade-by-phone systems for well-known investment firms. For the e-learning courses, SMSGR chose two different development vendors to create a mobile course player and assigned each a course to re-engineer and deliver via the player. In this “technology shootout” type approach, each vendor was encouraged to undertake different development strategies, pushing the capabilities of the Windows Phone platform. The effort was expected to take six months. The podcasts and Tellme solutions, on the other hand, would be made available on-demand, using the innovative interactive voice response (IVR) technology available through Microsoft’s 2007 acquisition of Tellme Networks Inc. With this solution, employees could dial a toll-free number, enter a personal identification number (PIN), and access this sales readiness content by voice-navigating menus. Relevant parts of a podcast would be played, or the details of a specific product/service would be read to the user. Additionally, users could bookmark a podcast so that, in the event they had to hang up, upon dialing back in they would be returned to the point at which the podcast had been interrupted. Users could also request that they be sent, via a text message, a link to the details of a product/service from the Sales Toolkit. Clicking on the link would display the product/service details page in the mobile browser—a quick and easy way for the user to prepare for a sales meeting. The pilot was structured around five major task areas: 1. Assembling the team included hiring a program manager with expertise in learning standards and the development of Windows Phone solutions. It also included hiring partners with expertise in Mobile Learning. These partners would create the mCourses and design the voice menus and search algorithms for the Tellme component. 2. Research included synthesizing relevant industry data related to producing and delivering training assets to mobile devices. User feedback and surveys were used to understand the behaviors, impressions, and preferences of learners. 3. Building and converting content included planning, developing, and delivering the SQL Server 2008 and Microsoft’s Virtualization Strategy mCourses. The courses were launched from learning management systems inside Microsoft’s firewall. Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager (MDM) 2008 was employed to enable Windows Phone devices access to the LMS and mCourses, as well as ancillary intranet resources referenced from the mCourses. The sales podcast files would be sent to the Tellme team for conversion and staging on Tellme’s IVR platform.

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4. Pilot distribution involved distributing 80 pre-configured Windows Phones loaded with Windows Mobile 6.1 to individuals identified as “early adopters” in sales, services, and marketing. 5. Pilot monitoring and review included issuing an end-of-pilot survey and compiling the feedback. The integration of many technologies, both internal and external to Microsoft, demanded that development be dynamic, iterative, and continuous. Other elements of the design included: • mCourses and sales podcasts provided in US English • Experimenting with interactivity in the mCourses • Enabling users to seamlessly switch between PC and Windows Phone delivery modes for the mCourses • mCourse tracking back to Microsoft’s LMS via the Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), an industry standard that enables content to transfer user progress information and performance back to an LMS

Learning Standards • Learn more about SCORM, learning standards, and e-learning interoperability at www.adlnet.gov

• • • •

The mobile devices ran Windows Mobile 6.1 Off-the-shelf and proprietary Microsoft server and network tools were incorporated The mCourses were designed for Pocket IE and Pocket Internet Explorer 6 beta Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager (MDM) 2008

Figure 5-4 shows the actual user experiences with the features included in the initiative.

Figure 5-4: Screenshot of User Experience Enhancements in Microsoft’s Standardized Course Player

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In-Depth: Partnering for a Successful Mobile Learning Solution Essential to the success of Microsoft’s Mobile Learning Pilot was the involvement and cooperation of Microsoft’s IT and Windows Phone product groups. Ensuring a “no hassle” mobile learning experience for users meant ensuring multiple technology infrastructure assets were aligned to deliver a comprehensive solution. Every mobile device had to be configured and deployed to ensure a secure and effective learning experience. This required the help of the Windows Phone product group to load all Windows Phones with Windows Mobile 6.1. The next task was to get each mCourse on the devices without requiring a user to tether to a PC, initiate a download via the cellular network, or load the content via a memory card. Each mCourse was 30–50 megabytes, containing graphics, video, and audio content. To meet this requirement, Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager (MDM) 2008 was used to “push” each mCourse to the mobile devices over the cellular network, without user intervention and without interrupting the users’ ability to use other functions on the device. Each device had a 1GB SD memory card installed to ensure that there was adequate storage capacity to hold the mCourses. Although the bulk of the mCourse content was delivered to devices via MDM, each mCourse contained links to supplemental documents available on Microsoft’s corporate network. Secure firewall traversal was therefore necessary. To achieve this, Microsoft enabled each device with Windows Mobile VPN and, since the mobile devices were provisioned and joined to the Microsoft corporate domain, users could access material housed on the LAN via a cellular connection. At the same time, Microsoft IT security policies were enforced: In the event that a device was lost, Microsoft IT could disable the device and, using MDM, remotely wipe from it all the data. Building internal partnerships between SMSGR, IT, and the Windows Phone product group was a critical success factor.

How was the Initiative Deployed? This pilot was rolled out to employees based in North America. There were three user groups within the pilot: • Alliance managers and salespersons in the Windows Phone product organization • Other consumers of SMSGR training content • IT experts All groups were enthusiastic about the pilot. To generate user interest, Microsoft provided pilot users with a Windows Phone, which was theirs to keep at the conclusion of their participation. As a general design tenant, SMSGR wanted to ensure that the user pool reflected a representative sample of sales, services, and technical personnel. There were numerous champions of this vision within Microsoft including executives in SMSGR, Microsoft Operations, and the Windows Phone product group. These executives were excited by the prospect of training salespersons on Windows mobile devices and the potential to share the pilot’s leading practices and lessons learned with Microsoft customers and partners. The highly mobile field employees also enthusiastically supported the pilot; they appreciated the innovative approaches to accessing readiness materials on-the-go. A Mobile Learning Pilot resource site was provided consisting of an intranet site that contained helpful information and a participant guide that would help users move through the various features of the pilot and obtain their feedback. In keeping with the focus on mobile accessibility, even mobile technical support was enabled; users were encouraged to text their questions and feedback directly to the Pilot Program Manager from their Windows Phone.

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Completion of the mCourses was tracked via the Microsoft LMS. At the end of each mCourse, participants were asked to complete a survey.

What was the Business Impact of the Initiative? Offering training via a mobile device was a feature that pilot users Marketing Approach received enthusiastically. While this pilot experimented with only two ☞ Communicated and evangelized the courses and a limited cross-section of capabilities and benefits of Mobile readiness content, it provided valuLearning able information on the substantial ☞ Enlisted executive champions including Frank benefits to be derived from freeHolland, Senior Vice President of Microsoft ing employees to discover and take Operations training on their terms—when, how, ☞ Used the “carrot approach”—gave away 80 mobile and where they want. The benefits devices in return for pilot participation extend beyond time and money savings: Giving employees the freedom to take training from a mobile device can change attitudes about learning, foster a greater desire to learn, strengthen skills that improve performance, and drive better compliance with mandatory training. Awareness of users’ preferences and expectations through pre-participation surveys was a critical success factor, which SMSGR is incorporating into future technology decisions. The promises of the initiative were real—substantial training cost savings and more effective selling time with customer and partners.

In-Depth: Efficiencies in Mobile Learning Development Although the scope and duration of Microsoft’s Mobile Learning Pilot was limited, Microsoft sought to design the pilot with long-term cost savings and efficiencies in mind. Development of the mCourses was expected to be time-consuming and costly and, after the hardware investment, the design team focused on building a scalable infrastructure. Annually, Microsoft provides thousands of custom e-learning courses to its workforce. Therefore, the development vendors involved with the pilot had to design the mobile course player with efficiency in mind. It was likely that one of the two players developed during the pilot would be used for a larger enterprise deployment. Fortunately, efficiencies gained as part of SMSGR’s earlier standards effort with the standardized course player lent a considerable head-start to the mCourse development process. For example, because content previously developed was abstracted to XML it could be re-factored for use in mCourses. Organizations that have already adopted good content development practices (e.g., separating content from formatting via an LCMS or other methods) can likewise benefit from this approach. An additional efficiency available in mobile course development comes from the fact that user interaction on a mobile device is somewhat limited compared to the same experience on a PC. In turn, many fewer on-screen features have to be built resulting in less programming.

What’s Next in Mobile Learning? It is clear that the next generation’s workforce will expect training and personal development activities to be available on their mobile devices. The emergence of rich Internet application (RIA)

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development solutions for mobile devices, such as Microsoft Silverlight for Mobile, represent a bright future for mobile learning, just as the same ushered in a new era in PC-based learning. Equally important will be the continued growth of mobile device use within the enterprise. The distribution and management of thousands of mobile devices is now considerably easier with leading-edge infrastructure solutions such as the Windows System Center Mobile Device Manager. Another e-learning innovation and growth area is the inclusion of user-generated content to the e-learning equation. In fact, that is already underway, blurring the line between traditional e-learning (or mLearning) and knowledge transfer. Microsoft is pioneering on this front with its Open Source Podcasting Kit for SharePoint (PKS). Within Microsoft, employees have mobile access to over 10,000 on-demand video/audio podcasts, available via a Windows Phone application and on an array of mobile media players, such as Zune HD. This solution has enjoyed significant success within Microsoft and has generated over 500,000 podcast views per year. In the nottoo-distant future, employees will be able to shoot video from their mobile devices and upload it directly to SharePoint, where it will be immediately available to Microsoft’s worldwide workforce.

Business and Learner Perspectives • It was important to learn about user preferences and usage patterns of mobile devices up-front. • Course-takers benefited and appreciated the flexibility of consuming training on their PCs and mobile devices. • Having a consistent experience both on PCs and mobile devices was important. • Connectivity and synching were important so that users would not lose their place when taking training on mobile devices.

Summary Purpose: To enable just-in-time training to field employees on a mobile device in addition to a PC Initiative Structure: • • • •

Assembling the team Research, building, and converting content Pilot distribution Monitoring and review

Number of Learning Hours per Professional: Minimal Number of Learners: 80 Completion Requirements: To complete the courses and surveys Average Length of the Initiative: Six months Mobile Devices (Motorola Q9h and Q9c and Samsung Blackjack II) • Loaded with Windows Mobile 6.1 • Server components and architecture • Delivered using Internet Explorer Deployment Mechanisms: • All electronic—email and browser-based • Central website portal for all courses

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Lessons Learned â?&#x2018; A mobile device is an optimum device for the delivery of anytime, anywhere training. â?&#x2018; Additional ways must be found to ensure that the training experience is not interrupted when connectivity is interrupted. â?&#x2018; Mobile learning will save substantial training dollars and will increase the productivity and preparedness of the workforce.

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Case: Duke University Company Facts and Figures ❑ Industry: Research University ❑ Scope of Services and Products: Two undergraduate and eight graduate schools, covering Arts and Sciences, Law, Divinity, Medicine, Nursing, Environmental and Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Business ❑ Offices and Locations: Durham, NC, U.S. ❑ Website: http://www.duke.edu

Introduction Duke University consistently ranks high among U.S. research universities, and its graduate and professional schools are leaders in their fields. Duke’s mission is to provide a superior education to its students, to nurture their intellectual growth, and contribute to their development as leaders in their communities. At Duke, learning is viewed as something that occurs not only in the classroom but also in the daily informal interactions among people between classes. To support this informal activity, Duke invested in an advanced wireless Why Technology-based Learning? network and improved its IT infrastructure, ☞ To facilitate and support the informal education experience giving students options at Duke for working with ☞ To promote innovative and effective teaching methods media and provid☞ To support curriculum enhancement ing advanced meeting ☞ To further develop Duke’s technology infrastructure spaces. ☞ To share knowledge about effective instructional technology strategies Becoming a university that is internationally integrated is a significant priority for Duke. As such, the University strives to leverage technology that facilitates and supports the virtual communities that drive the informal education that comprises a large part of the student experience at Duke.

Technology-based learning is used at Duke in a variety of ways. Approximately 80% of the faculty use Blackboard to provide basic course information and to facilitate communication and collaboration outside the classroom. The ability to capture lectures is important, as is the ability to share and review them. Leveraging Web 2.0 technologies like wikis and blogs has enabled many faculty members to use the classroom more effectively, as the ability to pose a question or problem for discussion prior to a class session makes class time more productive. In addition, the nursing, medicine, and business schools offer distance learning and blended programs.

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In support of the University’s mission, the Duke Digital Initiative (DDI) began as a way to experiment with, develop, and implement new and emerging technologies to explore their effective use in teaching and learning. A multi-year program, its goals are to: • • • •

Promote innovative and effective teaching Use technology to support curriculum enhancement Further develop Duke’s technology infrastructure Share knowledge about effective instructional technology strategies

DDI evolved from Duke’s earlier iPod program, which began in 2004. iPods were provided to 1,600 incoming freshman students and a small group of faculty to use in teaching and learning situations. From the experience, the University learned much about the possibilities of mobile learning inside and outside the classroom. The program proved that there was interest and value in further exploring the use of mobile learning beyond simply recording audio and playing it back on an iPod.

How was the Initiative Aligned with the Business? Duke had witnessed the transformation of personal computing into media devices with cameras and audio. Most people no longer used computers only for text-based communication but to participate in social networks and to create and consume large quantities of media. The University CIO and those working with her saw that there was untapped value in using time-based media and that there was a need to validate its strategic value in teaching and learning. They wanted to further explore the use of media in learning and to also find ways for students, faculty, and others in the community to more easily share media that they created for teaching and learning. At the same time, a new generation of students was entering the University who had grown up with the Internet and new technology. Their comfort level with technology and strong expectations for using it in the classroom drove the need to incorporate and use more technology in the learning process. Tapping into the social dynamics of student perception around technology drove the integration of mobile technology into the teaching and learning environment at Duke. Many faculty members were initially skeptical about the value of digital technology in learning. However, after observing how their students used it for learning, some became convinced of its value and embraced it. With students driving its demand, and peers demonstrating how it could add value to the learning and teaching experience, more and more faculty began to explore digital technology and incorporate it into their courses. Many began to discover that the technology could solve specific teaching challenges, such as how to Key Business Drivers perform lab experiments. By creating this groundswell of interest, Duke ☞ To validate the strategic value of mobile was able to achieve greater accepttechnology in teaching and learning ance of the technology more quickly ☞ To leverage the social dynamics of student perception around technology than if they had approached the ☞ To promote innovation in teaching and learning initiative incrementally.

How was the Initiative Designed? In 2004, Duke provided iPods to 1,600 incoming freshmen and a handful of faculty volunteers. In 2005, the Duke Digital Initiative was launched, focusing on innovation and the use of media and collaboration tools. After DDI’s first year, iPods were given only to students who enrolled

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in courses that required them. Today, so many students arrive on campus with iPods or similar devices that Duke no longer actively distributes them. They do, however, maintain a small loaner pool for the few students who do not own a mobile device. Donations from a leading technology company enabled Duke to offer microphone attachments with the iPods, evolving DDI beyond just the consumption of media to the creation of it. Duke also began to provide students with access to digital video cameras so they could record video. A multi-media project studio offers faculty and students access to development software and tools, such as Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Final Cut Pro Studio for video editing and Adobe CS3 Master Suite (which includes Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Flash, Dreamweaver, and AfterEffects) and teaches them how to use the tools. The ability to consume and generate media spurred a need to share it as well. In response, Duke formed a collaborative partnership with Apple to build the prototype for iTunes U. Many products available on iTunes U today are the outcome of that partnership. Duke has two iTunes U portals. An internal portal resides behind the campus authentication system to provide access to course materials and student-created media. A public-facing portal facilitates external knowledge sharing through recordings of guest speakers and lectures by world-known faculty. There is growing interest among students to increase availability of student-produced media on the public iTunes U portal. Duke continues to work with its students and faculty to explore internally created media, assess its value for a broader audience, and find ways to make more student work available publicly.

Figure 5-5: Duke iTunes U Portal

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Many courses at Duke have been redesigned to incorporate media content as pre- or postwork. Students may view a video or listen to a podcast prior to a class discussion, or use the media in a homework assignment. While approximately half of all incoming freshman will have opportunities to create media, nearly everyone on campus consumes it. Students can access media from previous semesters or download instructor-recommended content from iTunes U. Reviewing previously recorded lectures is one of the most popular uses of media. Media that students create for course assignments is evaluated in accordance with guidelines faculty set to ensure a connection to course objectives; this may also include a peer review element in which students themselves assess how effectively the media has met the stated guidelines. To help faculty and students learn how to design effective learning for iPods, a partnership was formed with the library system and the Center for Instructional Technology (CIT), a library unit that assists faculty in identifying and implementing the most effective uses of technology to address curricular goals. Through this partnership, instructors receive assistance in redesigning their courses to effectively leverage technology, such as including a video end-of-term capstone project. A senior-level course in biomedical engineering has used such a capstone project to great effect, allowing students to record demonstrations of devices they have designed and built to assist clients with disabilities. The recording project taught students how to effectively organize a multimedia presentation and gave them a clearer understanding of how professional engineers present their prototypes to potential sponsors.

How was the Initiative Deployed? DDI is unique in that while it was launched with cooperation from the Provost (the institution’s senior academic officer), the CIO, and a partnership with Apple, there was no official pilot of the mobile technology or any specific programs to formally Marketing Approach integrate it into teaching and learning. Instead, Duke simply Marketing messages focus on how mobile made the devices available to 1,600 technology can enhance the value of the incoming freshman and a handful teaching and learning experience. Methods of faculty; because of their ubiquiare multi-pronged and include: tous nature, interest in use of the ☞ Success stories and case studies of faculty and devices for teaching and learnstudents using mobile technology are featured in ing emerged. With no mandate communications to administrators, students, and for using the technology, Duke faculty depended on faculty volunteers to ☞ Posts on Twitter highlight how DDI helps to support participate in the initiative. Those the University’s goals of innovation who did participate experienced ☞ Blog posts containing faculty project examples are increases in course enrollments re-used in multiple places such as Twitter and in the and waiting lists for students wishDuke Today section of the University website; the ing to enroll in “iPod” sections. blogs also help to facilitate interaction and discussion Faculty incorporated media into their courses using a blended framework. All media content is anchored by a syllabus in a curriculum delivered by the faculty member, usually in a classroombased setting, with regular class

with peer institutions about the use of mobile technology in learning ☞ Presentations about DDI are conducted at national conferences and in Back-to-School kickoff information sessions ☞ Duke’s public website provides access to reports about DDI

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meetings. However, the use of technology has changed studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and facultyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perception of what learning means and how it takes place. It is no longer perceived as something that occurs in a set place at a set time each week, but rather as an ongoing experience with access to fellow students and faculty anytime and the ability to consume and create content anytime as well. Very recently, Duke began working with Apple to deploy a new set of iPhone applications, including a mobile devices application called Duke Mobile. With Duke Mobile, students can access the campus student information system to view course objectives and pre-work requirements. Duke Mobile currently runs on an iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch, or Blackberry, and there are plans to support additional platforms. At the same time, Dukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s library system recently released an iPhone application that enables mobile access to their digital collections. Designed for the mobile environment, individuals can browse thousands of images by category or through standard search functions. Duke expects that this will help to increase use and ease of access to this type of information, which is used in the classroom in addition to the other forms of media.

What was the Business Impact of the Initiative? Mobile technology and the ability to dynamically create and consume media have helped to transform the learning process at Duke. They have enabled faculty and students to easily incorporate media whenever and wherever it makes sense, enhancing content relevance and leveraging just-in-time learning opportunities. Student engagement in the learning process has increased significantly. While students were initially motivated by the novelty of using iPods in class, the mobile learning strategies have ultimately proved to be a key contributor in increased engagement and retention. Students now perceive their coursework as more relevant and as a result, tend to devote more time and energy to class projects. Through the use of audio and video, the technology allows foreign language students, one of the first disciplines to embrace mobile technology, to be immersed in the culture and language of other countries. In other areas, it has motivated students to create such projects as field documentaries and radio plays. For example, engineering students in Louisiana shortly after Hurricane Katrina returned with audio documentaries of their work in rebuilding efforts. The initiative has generated numerous discussions about the effectiveness of technology in learning, resulting in greater insights among students and faculty members about its value and effective use. Students and faculty alike now look beyond the media itself to focus instead on what can be done with it, thereby evolving the culture of the University to further embrace innovation. The use of mobile technology in the classroom has also impacted course registrations, as students tend to register for courses that include it. There is a growing perception among the student population that faculty who incorporate technology into their courses will offer a more engaging learning experience than those who do not. This perception has led many faculty members to more seriously consider incorporating technology in their courses. As new mobile capabilities emerge, Duke continues to explore the types of learning activities they might support. For example, the iPhone 3G offers the ability to quickly capture video, edit it immediately, and distribute it. This type of functionality closes the cycle of capture, edit, and publication for Duke in a way they have been incapable of doing until now.

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Business and Learner Perspectives •

Ease of use and the ability to immediately apply the technology is a significant benefit to faculty and students • Introducing new technology can uncover previously untapped needs, such as the desire to share created content with others • Skills learned in producing mobile content are valuable and applicable in other areas; for instance, one student’s ability to create podcasts helped to land her a job • The use of mobile technology has created needs for other Web 2.0 technologies, such as vehicles for sharing content Comments from Duke faculty on use of mobile technology in teaching: “…Students who had never used a camcorder felt comfortable shooting video with the Flip [camera]. They had an option of responding to each feature film for the class by writing a critique in words or by submitting video responses on the Flip or a miniDV camcorder. It’s a clue to the easy learning curve for the Flip that by now all students are responding to class films on video.” “I record presentations and review them when grading … and have students analyze their work and come up with strategies for improving their speaking skills … The combination of the camera and Blackboard are sufficient for my purposes. The solution has been effective and has given my students the opportunity to reflect on their speaking/presentation skills in German.” Comments from Duke students: “Really good idea! [The use of video] helps us integrate technology for presentations and make them more interesting!”—Junior, Humanities “The use of video was interesting and created a fun assignment that I looked forward to completing.” —Freshman, Sciences “Video opens up paths for expression and interpretation of class assignments that are unique and add to the depth and understanding of the material.”—Junior, Social Sciences “I think more classes should incorporate video and video projects at Duke. This multimedia project was engaging and helped keep me interested in the class.”—Freshman, Sciences

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Summary Purpose: Duke Digital Initiative (DDI) began as a way to experiment with, develop, and implement new and emerging technologies to explore their effective use in teaching and learning. Its goals are to: • • • •

Initiative Structure: Use of mobile tools, technology, and portals to facilitate creation, consumption, and sharing of media. Creation and consumption of media are used in a blended strategy in the classroom, and also in ongoing informal learning opportunities outside the classroom. Number of Learning Hours per Professional: Ongoing, varies widely Number of Learners: While roughly half of all incoming freshman will have opportunities to create media, nearly everyone on campus consumes it (13,457 students, Fall 2008) Completion Requirements: Varies by course Average Length of the Initiative: 5 years since inception in 2004 Deployment Mechanisms: Asynchronous creation and consumption of media, use of iTunes U to store and share media internally and externally

Lessons Learned ❑ By leveraging the ubiquitous availability of mobile devices for learning, Duke was able to forgo a formal pilot of the technology, resulting in significant time and cost savings and greater overall impact. ❑ Strive for models of technology use that can be applied across multiple disciplines, such as fieldwork and peer reviews. ❑ Look for patterns of use and share lessons learned; make those connections for faculty and students. ❑ Plan for how you will keep pace with and deploy new technology releases. ❑ Don’t judge too quickly what the long-term impact will be of new technology. Be open to new ways of teaching and learning because what might initially seem irrelevant may become quite relevant later when more is learned about the technology and its uses. ❑ Training is a critical component, regardless of audience. While training on mobile devices was planned for faculty, it was not for students since the University initially assumed that its student audience was more technically savvy than they actually were. ❑ Consider and plan for technical support needs. When many new technologies are available, it is important that support staff is given adequate time to become familiar with them.

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Case: Black & Decker Company Facts and Figures ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑

Industry: Manufacturing Scope of Services and Products: Worldwide Offices and Locations: Worldwide Website: www.stanleyblackanddecker.com

Disclaimer: The content of this case study refers to Black & Decker before the completion of its merger with The Stanley Works on March 12, 2010 and should not be assumed to be applicable to the combined company, now called Stanley Black & Decker. To find out more about Stanley Black & Decker, please visit: www.stanleyblackanddecker.com.

Introduction Black and Decker is the world’s largest producer of power tools and accessories. Its power tools business is the U.S. leader and among global competitors in the Consumer and Professional power tool industry. Part of Stanley Black & Decker since 2010, the company continues to deliver the tools and solutions that industrial companies, professionals, and consumers count on. When it already has a good learning program in place, why would a multinational company’s Learning and Development (L&D) team want to change it? In particular, why do something that could be seen as potentially very risky—like moving several hundred learners to learning on smart mobile devices? At Black & Decker the answer was simple, according to Rob Sharpe, Director of Sales Training. “We wanted to keep up with our learners and with the needs of the job.” The US$6 billion company, based in Baltimore, Maryland, has always taken training seriously. Each new sales hire goes through an intensive week of face-to-face training at a dedicated 35,000 square foot training facility with a training staff of 12. “Around half of this space is the ‘shop floor,’ where new hires get a good general grounding in the sales process and construction as well as introductory training on a range of professional power tools,” explains Rob Sharpe. The power tools manufacturer is no stranger to e-learning, either, having used the CERTPOINTVLS Learning Management System for 10 years. This means that e-learning is already well received in the business. Its use is seen as part of a general commitment to training by Black & Decker—true blended learning that begins with hands-on learning and continues with online support. A vital part of Black & Decker’s workforce is its field sales team, numbering some 250 in the U.S., with colleagues throughout Black & Decker’s global markets. Each field sales manager is responsible for keeping in touch with retailers in their territory. It is their job to represent the company and its products to everyone in the retail force, from area managers to individual sales people on the shop floor.

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As a result, it is vital that Black & Decker’s field sales team is well-versed in product knowledge, and up to date not only with their latest product releases but also with the competitions’. To ensure its employees had the very latest information to enable them to do their jobs, in 2009 Black & Decker introduced mobile learning for the field sales force, supplying them with a Microsoft Windows mobile smart phone that not only delivered e-learning materials but was also an essential job Why Technology-based Learning? aid. Employees can use the phone for a variety ☞ Need to keep a mobile sales force informed of tasks, including sales ☞ Speed of delivery versus classroom training reporting and pulling ☞ Breadth of delivery options (text, video) down vital operational ☞ Offers immediate performance support ☞ Need to keep pace with new hires’ learning methods information from store locations to stock levels.

How was the Initiative Aligned with the Business? In Black & Decker, Sales Training reports into the sales function, not to Learning & Development or Human Resources. Any initiative it designs and approves has to be closely aligned to the business from the start. The mobile learning initiative was no exception. For Black & Decker, mobile learning looked like the best way of answering some tough business questions, in particular the way to keep the sales force on the road selling while still ensuring that it was fully up to date with the information it needed. The alternative: pulling staff back to headquarters for face-to-face training and away from essential sales work. The mobile learning option, though, is not an isolated initiative. It is part of Black and Decker’s general approach to a true blended learning model delivered via BDU, the Black & Decker University. Delivery mechanisms include: • Computer-based online training • Instructor-led training • On-the-job training and performance support • Self-study from books and BDU’s extensive video library Mobile learning was seen as an effective addition to BDU, allowing cost-effective support of the sales team in the field.

Key Business Drivers ☞ To provide accurate information to technicians and operators in a format they like and in the terminology they use ☞ Recognized the need to keep a mobile sales force informed ☞ Mobile learning was not only cheaper than classroom training, it was also more effective—faster and more immediate ☞ Immediacy and inclusiveness—people share mobile delivery with colleagues and customers ☞ Mobile learning allowed rapid dissemination of information on new products, both Black and Decker’s and the competitors’ ☞ The devices were used not only for learning but also as a general operational support tool

How was the Initiative Designed? Because this deployment was meeting a keenly felt business need—to keep a mobile sales force informed—rapid deployment was important. Rob Sharpe, Director of Sales Training, used Black & Decker’s existing LMS, CERTPOINTVLS, which includes both Content Creator

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(a tool for developing course materials) and a mechanism for delivering course materials to smart phones. This meant that the deployment was considerably less complex and faster than it would have been if Black & Decker had first been obliged to integrate a range of separate tools to achieve the task. Also, importantly, this deployment was not a one-off project involving the production and delivery of a large collection of training content in a short period. It was the establishment of systems and processes to allow the rapid production of training materials in several ways. Rob Sharpe surmises it took three months to set up the mobile learning system, working closely with platform provider CERTPOINT Systems. After that, the production of training materials took place fairly quickly. “First we were able to adapt existing materials rapidly for mobile delivery,” he says. “We have a great course on a generator, complete with 3D graphics, that lasts 45 minutes. In reality, though, that is reference material. What a sales person on the road needs to know can be summed up in a series of short five-minute summary courses combining video and slides, and finishing with a quiz or evaluation to check understanding.” Initially the courses produced for mobile distribution were all in the English language. Black & Decker, however, is an international company, a fact reflected in its central library of LMS courses, which includes courses in a range of languages for the company’s Latin American, South American, and European operations. “Producing mobile courses in many languages is on the agenda,” says Sharpe, “and will probably start through adaption of current courses.” As well as adapting existing materials, Sharpe’s team is now producing short courses using one or all of slides, videos, assessment, and graphics. “We can put these together in a day. Previously we spent up to three months designing great courses for computer-based delivery. A mobile course will be much shorter, but really just as effective. Why does it work? Because it gets the information across and because, importantly, field sales want to use it. It gives them what they need for their job.” Sharpe adds that this approach has enabled his team to get more vital information out to his sales force than ever before. “Our productivity has soared,” he says. And some courses are being produced at no cost to the training team at all by the field sales team members themselves. Black & Decker has given all field sales personnel a Flip video camera and training on how to use it. Team members put together video and mail them to Sharpe’s team for upload and distribution. “These videos come straight from the sales team; they cost us zip and they are totally relevant,” he says. “They enable us to get good practice across the organization faster than ever before.”

How was the Initiative Deployed? The deployment of Black & Decker’s mobile learning was successful for two reasons. First, it was a business-driven initiative with a clear justification—the rapid transfer of key information to field sales staff—which brought an immediate, clear benefit to the learner. Second, participation in the project was not mandatory. These two factors together meant that the main driver for the adoption of mobile learning by the field force was by enthusiastic recommendation.

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Centrally, Black & Decker’s National Learning Technologies Manager Catherine Farrar coordinated the initial rollout and subsequent up-keep of the system. Within each division, the operations team ensured that field sales team personnel had their smart devices and were ready to use them, while executive sponsorship for the entire project came from the VP of the sales division. Black & Decker’s approach to learning is to keep “in perpetual beta”—in other words, always to be aiming to improve on the present. As a result, the use of the mobile platform has been constantly monitored and anecdotal feedback from learners has led to a number of changes both in detail and in the overall approach. One concrete result of this: the Black & Decker learning team has shifted its approach to the materials it creates. It no longer regards them as

Marketing Approach ☞ Most importantly, users were already familiar with mobile platforms and receptive to the idea of using them for tasks other than telephoning ☞ The immediacy of mobile learning made the audience keen to adopt it ☞ A non-mandatory approach encouraged positive word-of-mouth

Figure 5-6: The Mobile Application Covers More Than Training Alone

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“mini-courses” with a need for a strong “teaching” design. Instead, the team now produces “learning materials”—works that the users reference when they need information to help them in their work. The sheer usefulness of this delivery mechanism, combined with Black & Decker’s traditional focus on learning and development and the ease of deployment, has made this a swift rollout, well received by the sales force. How well received? In the words of Rob Sharpe “They absolutely love it!”

What is the Business Impact of the Initiative? Like all learning initiatives at Black & Decker, the implementation of mobile learning was entirely business-driven. While it is impossible to isolate and measure the direct impact of mobile learning on behavior, anecdotal evidence suggests that the use of smart phones has been extremely effective in relaying product information to the sales force in a way that delivery via laptops would not have been. For example: • Sales people will check their phones for the latest news and product information immediately before a store visit, often in the store parking lot. This is just-in-time delivery at its most effective. • Learners have used their smart phones to share learning information with store sales staff, individually or by hooking the phone up to a TV and showing a video. This has provided unexpected reach into Black & Decker’s extended enterprise. While not a driver for the project, the use of mobile learning has driven down the costs of course production, freeing up L&D budget to be spent elsewhere. The key impact though, has been the ability of Rob Sharpe’s L&D team to reach a distributed sales force almost immediately with the key knowledge it needs to do its job, whether that is information on a new product, competitor product information, or the latest tips from a fellow field sales force member on how to discuss the benefits of a Black & Decker product.

Figure 5-7: Promoting Product Awareness on the Move

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Business and Learner Perspectives Why did you decide to use mobile learning? “Why not? We have the technology and are already paying for the service on our mobile phones. Besides, what does it cost us to print, ship, and maintain hardcopies of the information we can load to this app?” —George Kambanis, Regional Manager What did users think of this project? “I did not have any hesitation for our employees to move to a mobile application. I believe that having that resource at their disposal during the workday, as opposed to only having access at the home office, increases the odds that they will get the course work done. No one likes to take work back to his or her home in the evening. The greatest benefit of mobile applications is the increase in efficiency that it provides. Sales forces are most effective when they are at the account. Product knowledge for a particular tool is more valuable to a sales person who is in the process of closing a sale rather than someone sitting in their home office.” —Starrett Esworthy, Field Sales Analyst What is the greatest benefit of using mobile learning? “Instant information! On a daily basis our reps are asked to locate service centers, find key information, or value sell to key decision makers. Rather than having to break away to go into your work bag, the Home Depot computer, or even worse not knowing the answer, our reps will be able to simply push a button on their phone and produce.” —Dave Pruitt, Vice President, Sales Operations

Summary Purpose: Rapid delivery of information to sales force via mobile delivery Initiative Structure: Developed and deployed by the L&D team integral to the sales function Number of Learning Hours per Professional: Impossible to estimate because the courses use downtime Completion Requirements: As an ongoing performance support initiative, there is no completion possible. Average Length of the Initiative: Materials are no more than 10 minutes long, typically far shorter. Deployment of the Mechanisms: Materials deployed to smart phones already in use by field sales force.

Lessons Learned ❑ When introducing a new platform, be prepared to change (Black & Decker changed its chosen mobile devices twice). ❑ Ensure that your mobile devices can work with different systems to prevent being tied to any particular applications provider. ❑ Encourage feedback; learners provide great insight to usability and engagement makes them feel part of the project. ❑ Shorter is better; when it comes to mobile learning, people do not want to wait. Ensure your learning matches that need.