How mLearning is Changing the Way we Learn

Mobile Phone Usage

Source: The Connected Consumer Survey 2016 by Google 

Some say revolution is coming – I say it’s already here! If anything, current trends can only paint a partial picture of how our daily lives will strongly depend on connectivity and communication via a smart portable device. Handheld smart devices have a significant influence on growth within the retail, entertainment, leisure and now learning industries. 

 Source: eLearning Market Trends and Forecast 2017-2021 – Docebo, 2016

So what is mLearning?

Simply put, mobile learning, otherwise referred to as mobile education, is a type of learning available anywhere, anytime through a handheld, smart device! What we previously referred to as a classroom course, which was then transferred to the online field, is now fully customized and available through your portable smart device.

Handheld smart devices dominate the global market, penetrate new industries, and change how we live our daily lives. So why should the learning industry be any different?
It is in our nature as human beings to be filled with curiosity, to learn new skills, pick up new trades and develop ourselves both personally and professionally.

More so, the global mobile learning market should reach $20 billion by the end of this year, growing to the staggering amount of $38 billion by 2020. These figures by themselves should be a good enough answer as to why learning is going mobile.

But that’s not all! According to research conducted by McKinsey & Co., additional socio-cultural factors will play a part in the growth of mobile learning. Children growing up will adapt much quicker to mobile technologies than 10 years ago. Even governments and educational bodies have begun to recognize the power and attention-grabbing ability of mobile learning and are now encouraging further future investments.

Where is the trend most evident? Broadly speaking, the overall eLearning trend can be traced back to North America. This directly translates into the mobile learning environment as North America will lead by example, estimating around $15 billion by 2020.

However, bigger growth rates will be seen elsewhere, for example:

• Asia-Pacific is projected to grow up to 54% through 2011-2020.
• China and India, both countries experiencing great economic growth for the last decade or so, are at the top of the group and are predicted to steadily increase spending on mobile learning in the years to come.
• The emerging Brazilian market is likely to have a significantly higher spend on mLearning compared to other Latin American countries.

Although the forecast seems to be bright for mobile learning, it will not be without obstacles! The lack of fully localized content, available in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil is one of the main issues mLearning publishers will be facing to sustain steady growth. Compared to eLearning, mobile learning has a significantly higher dependency on content.

Access to education is still one of the main issues developing/emerging markets face. Lack of school coverage with the combination of low-quality, locally available material constraints millions of people from primary or continued education in their life, and mobile learning is definitely playing its part in solving this!

Three takeaways

1- mLearning is increasingly growing and will do so for the foreseeable future, with the help of current global reach and constant tech development

2- Locally available content is one of the main issues currently facing developing/emerging markets

3- Translated and localized content will play a big part in the continued success of mobile learning growth in non-English-speaking countries

If you have an App and are thinking about going global, the first step is to ensure that your app is localization ready. Get in touch with us now to check it out - it's free! Just click below.