(Psssst: This is an awesome blog to read of course, but if you’re in a hurry and just want the mLearning bit – skip to the bold A LOT obsessed bit).
In her recent article, Melissa Hodgson quotes a Mobile Mind-set study which revealed that 58% of American smartphone users don’t go one hour without checking their phones. 73% say that the thought of losing their phone induces feelings of panic.
Worldwide, a staggering 1.5 billion cell phones are constantly sending their invisible frequencies through the airwaves.
Mobile devices have become an extension of our own lives, connecting us at a minute’s notice to everything we need and want. There’s even a name for this behaviour in Urban Dictionary, it’s called Phone Dorking: exploring one’s phone extensively without purpose. (Another definition you might find in there too is ‘BRB’, if you missed the joke above.)As an aside, I’ll share a vision I have at times. It’s all these people around the world who once sat in bed with the lamp on, reading a book. Now they’re sitting in a very dark house, in a very dark room, with their faces lit up by a little phone glow, which their RSI poised hand and index finger patiently flicks over, perusing whatever is catching their interest – the 7% battery life makes a beep, which is a five minute warning to go to sleep – the opposite of ‘snooze’. Why I think that, I have no idea!
A recent ABC news article references a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 67% of mobile phone owners find themselves checking their phone for messages, calls, tweets, etc., totally unprompted by a beep, ringing, or vibration. Of that 67%, 18% say they do that ‘frequently’.
The millennial generation, who have not known the world without mobile phones and instant access to the internet, are so attached to their phones, they have been known to answer them in job interviews.
Do you fit into the group who never turns their device off, sleeps with it beside their bed, and checks email and news apps before getting out of bed every morning? OK – so most of us are just a little obsessed.
‘Mobile to overtake fixed Internet access by 2014’ was the bold prediction from 2008 by Mary Meeker, an analyst at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (see latest KPCBtechnology trends).
Companies who are smart about their marketing are harnessing this obsession to sell products and services – QR codes are a good example of this. Apparently as much as 70% of retail searches made on a mobile device result in action within one hour (compared to 70% of searches on a desktop that result in action within one month).
And did you know that 75% of emails that are opened, 60% of Facebook posts and 90% of tweets are all conducted from a mobile device (@BillBoorman, ATC2012)
Ok, no more stats, we don’t need to convince you – It’s official – we’re A LOT obsessed!
Now, what if you could really tap into that obsession, using mobile to communicate with your entire workforce in a way that entices them to read, inquire, internalise and requires them to engage?
Knowing how much more likely they are to check their phone than computer, and the intrinsic entertainment value that is now becoming associated with mobile, we need to tap into this as change makers, and as a part of our learning campaigns – mLearning is finally here in 2013, and will be mainstream over the next few years.
Here are a few reasons why mobile learning makes sense:
