Full research reports sometimes stop me from really reading it in full, so I was very happy when the Epic newsletter dropped this summary research report on mLearning for NHS (UK's National Health Service, but also accessible for other countries health services) in my mailbox.
The report is relevant for everyone working in the health field or interested in setting up mobile learning for their companies as many of the recommendations can easily be translated to a different corporate field.
The report starts of with a nice overview on the benefits of mLearning (just-in-time, any place, context...) and moves on to show which type of mobiles are already in use at a specific NHS region (both looking at practitioners and managers). After having analyzed the possibilities of mLearning (both as a stand-alone, or for blended training use) the report delivers a great set of 29 recommendations to increase mLearning at NHS level, while taking into account the context and the contemporary mobile devices.
I gladly share 5 recommendations here:
- Always undertake small-scale pilot studies that entail opportunities for users to give feedback on prototypes and engage in co-design;
- Design all mobile learning and assessment with an offline capability;
- Host a bi-annual m-Health symposium with key people working at the forefront of research and delivery of mobile health, and who attend mobile learning conferences across the world, to
- ensure the NHS is able to exploit mobile learning to benefit staff professional development, both in current times and into the future.
- A communications campaign is put in place to raise awareness among NHS staff and key stakeholders of the multitude of benefits to mobile learning.
