One small step for (a) learner, one giant leap for your organization!

[MargitBauer]

* Just 50 years ago Neil Armstrong landed on the moon (July 1969)

Mobile learning features within SAP SuccessFactors Learning

Technology brought us to the moon and back in 1969, and ever since, there have been no boundaries when it comes to the fast pace of evolving technology. We benefit from one technical achievement every day. Imagine what a day would be like without a smartphone! We quickly adopted this technology and now, would find it hard to live without. According to Statista Research Department, the number of mobile phone users in the world is expected to pass the five billion mark in 2019. And not surprisingly that users spend, on average, 69% of their media time on a  smartphone. According to Comscore Global Digital Future in Focus 2018 report, millennials’ mobile consumption has now surpassed their live TV consumption. This makes sense when you think of how many how many shows or videos are accessed on Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, or Youtube. The use of mobile devices has not just become standard for personal use, they have become a necessity in businesses today and a critical part of many business processes. A 2018 survey of 500 senior IT and business leaders conducted by Oxford Economics showed that 80% of the respondents believe their employees can't do their jobs effectively without a smartphone. In fact, 75% said that mobile devices are essential to their company's business workflows. The successful modern enterprise workforce is a mobile workforce.

The learning area has been one of the first business sections in organizations that started to use web technologies. Many years ago, learning departments began leveraging digital classrooms, global online collaborations, and personalized learning as part of their learning strategy. The pace of technology is amazing in the learning space and this is significant, given the need to upskill and reskill the workforce in times of digital transformation. Even though learning organizations are investing in new technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality, to revolutionize the learning experience, mobile access remains equally relevant and pertinent. There are many good reasons why organizations should enable mobile learning:

• shorter, on-the-go consumable learning items, are ideal for microlearning


• more customized and personalized learning experiences


• available anytime and anywhere, which means more flexibility for the learner to complete when it’s convenient for them


• training does not need to stop when employees are offline


• people are comfortable using their mobile devices for multiple reasons – as mentioned above


• most of the learning content e.g. gamification is now mobile enabled or even designed for mobile first use

But what do organizations need to keep in mind so that learners are engaged, and encouraged to consume learning content on their mobile device? And, how does SAP SuccessFactors Learning mobile capabilities support the learner in an optimized way? (not all described features are available on any device)

Everything ends and starts with good search function. According to Google consumer behavior data research, 96% of people are used to geting answers by using a smartphone. And, searching is the most used resource that 87% of people turn to first.

That is why we offer with SAP SuccessFactors Learning a sophisticated search function prominently positioned in the learner view. So, if learners are looking for suitable learning content, they are able to use a search function with all different kinds of filtering options like e.g. prerequisites, assignments or mandatory courses to find online, instructor-led, or other courses shown on the catalog screen in a convenient way. They can even filter in the search for mobile enabled courses. Once employees find a course, they can assign it to themselves. Even more effective are recommendations and ratings of other peer members to get guidance on what might be important and useful for their role and job in an organization. We are in the process of rolling out advanced learning recommendations powered by SAP Leonardo (Personalized Learning Recommendations are only available currently to employees at companies that are part of the early adopter program). With this new capability, users can select or edit personalized topics and view, assign and complete personalized learning recommendations, generated by the machine learning algorithm. Just think about buying recommendations given for other similar products as we are used to getting from Amazon and other Internet vendors, for example.

When the learner has found the right content, the content can be launched and completed online or downloaded for a later offline consumption. Pass and fail settings are also supported as well as bookmark progress for interrupted consumption.

While creating engaging content is an important part of this process, it’s also important to permission additional mobile functionality so that the learner doesn’t have to lose time with other business processes. That is why the information about learning history, to view and download certificates of completion, run through a survey or to submit e-signatures after the completion of a course is easy to find and to accomplish also on a mobile device.

Learning also gets most efficient when it is not just the isolated buildup of knowledge for a certain job or task but embedded in a more holistic talent strategy, with learning as an integral part of onboarding, development, succession or performance processes. Therefore, SAP SuccessFactors Learning offers many touchpoints with other solutions from the SAP SuccessFactors Suite to support seamless talent processes. Additional functionality, such as incorporating learning activities into continuous performance management, supports this holistic talent management approach. In Q3 2019 it is now also possible to create achievements for successfully completed learning items as a mobile based feature.



Create CPM activities and achievements from the item details screen of learning items added to My Assignments (as of May 2019)

We are continuously working on improving and expanding our already comprehensive features and portfolio (if you want more details here then have a look at our public  SAP solution and roadmap).

In addition, we have so many great apps from partners like Gameffective,  Axonify Microlearning, Skillsoft and access to numerous open network content partners. We will continue to grow our network and innovate with our learning product so that new features and functionality are consumable and designed to support the evolving needs in the learning area….but this is another story.

Do you want to get an impression of some of our current mobile learner capabilities



Then check out this demo recording

Want to know more about our SAP SuccessFactors Learning solution? Then visit our website to explore more how our solution does not just offer great mobile learning capabilities but also allows you to develop leaders, assure compliance, and train external audiences.

And stay tuned for part 2 when we will have a closer look at some best practices and give more insight into technology aspects of mobile Learning.