Difference Between Mobile Learning And eLearning

The Length

First and foremost, the key thing that defines eLearning-of-old and mobile learning content is the length of time it takes the learner to complete a part of it.

Generally speaking, the purpose of traditional eLearning units is to package a concept up in a single file, comprised of a number of screens or slides. These might contain text, video, or interactive elements like multiple choice questions. Overall, an eLearning unit might take the learner anything between 15 minutes and an hour to complete.

If the learner is out and about and manages to find a spare 5 minutes, taking a full-length eLearning unit on a mobile device isn’t very practical. Because of the way mobile devices are used, mobile learning has to deliver the content in a more bite-sized way.

Mobile Is More Interactive

Since the learners will access mobile learning on a more frequent basis, learning managers can run regular reports and fine-tune their approach. This regular feedback means that while the learners are learning about how to do their jobs, the entire L&D team is learning about what works and what doesn’t.

The innate interactivity of mobile also presents a challenge. Mobile users have grown to expect a certain standard when it comes to user experience, and it’s essential that mobile learning content can compete with other mobile apps and hold the learners’ attention. If you consider how most people use their mobile devices – they’ll seldom use the same app for any length of time before a notification pops up prompting them to switch to something else.

Also, if we look at the statistics for the most popular categories on Apple’s app store, games surge ahead of the competition with 23.35% of the total. With mobile gaming seeing such popularity, we can conclude that people prefer the interactivity that games provide.