Assignment 2: In 500-750 words, describe three significant challenges that you might face in bringing mobile learning to your learning or work place and post or provide a link to your paper in the Angel forum.
“Frequent use of mobile devices does not mean that students or instructors are ready for mobile learning and teaching”(Joseph Rene Corbeil and Maria Elena Valdes-Corbeil). This statement is a grim reminder to a willing learning and development consultant that readiness and acceptance go hand in hand.
The requirements of my portfolio and my status as a government employee diverge frequently. As a learning consultant it is important to think out of the box, stay current with technology and make recommendations that meet the needs of learners. My obligation as a government employee requires me to ensure that governance is never compromised in terms of security, accessibility of information and confidentiality. I am also accountable to the Minister and goals that have been set even though they may no longer be relevant today as a result of rapid technological changes. The issue with many colossal types of machinery is that they habitually consider learning solutions that meet yesterday’s learning needs, which is frustrating for professionals in the learning domain who wish to stay ahead in the game to suggest appropriate learning interventions. Understandably there are costs and subsequent policies to take into account but investing in yesteryear’s computer three to five years later guarantees the lack of or no technical support because of the equipment’s’ or software’s obsoleteness.
The three significant challenges are intertwined. They are the readiness of students and instructors, commitment from the leadership committee and organizational culture. If mobile learning is an acknowledged phenomenon in my organization, why is it taking such a long time to come up with a stratagem to execute it? Figure 1.0 captures some of the issues.
Figure 1.0
Readiness of learners and instructors
We have a demographically diverse group of employees ranging from the baby boomer to the millennial generation. It is not the generational gap that is posing a problem in the adaptation of mobile learning but the attitude of the learner towards it and the assortment of portfolios that aggravates this problem. Many employees who require learning do not necessarily use computers of any kind in their jobs. Hence to deliver learning material for such employees who are on the go is not going to be a favored approach. They would rather hear the information in a classroom and move on with their daily tasks. The same goes for instructors who are not very computer literate. They might be subject matter experts but delivering their knowledge via a mobile device would probably bring on angst.
Commitment from Leadership
Given that it is a government oriented leadership structure, one can expect to go through the hoops before being able to convince the leader that mobile learning can actually meet some of our learning needs. It is time consuming and involves several people who will add their spin on the decision note. New ventures are always seen as risks first before any value can be noticed. Questions pertaining to the government’s intranet firewall and safeguarding of government-classified information that could be at threat are all valid issues to be considered carefully. A process like this could take a year from inception (identifying a mobile learning solution) to the approval stage. Then we have the ‘live run’ phase which could drag the project into another six months assuming that all the people who need to be in the project are present and involved and that the technology has not morphed into a new and improved version.
Organizational Culture
Unfortunately most organization cultures do not evolve in sync with technology. If mobile learning were to be an accepted form of instruction and learning, this would imply that employees are able to receive information from any place at any time, which is certainly a good thing in the eyes of the educator. However how will this be perceived by an organization whose thinking in general is engrained in old school? When flexibility is not permitted and an employee is expected to ‘show up’ for work so that the employer can ‘see the whites of his eyes’, it is virtually an arduous move to shift from this paradigm. It goes against the tenets of mobile learning, which promotes mobility
Conclusion
The positive side to the conspicuous difficulties I would need to confront is that I am aware of the challenges and have an opportunity to advocate change. Mobility is a desired thing and it is a given that this preferred philosophy will necessitate the need for a major overhauling of business strategies and therefore it is crucial for me to influence the system simultaneously and be ready to seize the moment when the situation looks favorable, for a fruitful outcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment