Amit Garg Talks About The Increasing Use Of Mobile Devices In The Workplace

The increasing ubiquity of the mobile phone begs for it to be used as a learning tool. It’s no surprise then that organisation across the globe are beginning to incorporate mLearning in their L&D initiatives. Amit Garg, Director of Custom Learning Solutions at Upside Learning, recently shared all these insights in a Q&A session with a leading Indian daily called Sakal Times.

Amit, an avid learner of mobile technology and a mLearning evangelist, spoke of the growing penetration of mobile devices, the various learning opportunities offered by mobile technology, possible ways of leveraging mLearning in the workplace and how mobiles will gradually become the platform of choice for workplace learning delivery (or learning/knowledge management system access).

Below are some excerpts from the Q&A:

Mobiles will become the platform of choice for workplace learning delivery (or learning/knowledge management system access). Learners would be able to access content nuggets (videos, documents, or mini courses) from corporate information systems just when they need them. They will collaborate with colleagues and even contribute their own content using mobiles devices. Performance Support will increase many–fold and we will see a lot of training take the shape of performance support. Mobile devices will again be the driver for this change as learners start accessing learning content just when they need it.

Mobile learning as such can be used for activating knowledge before a classroom (or virtual classroom or even an eLearning session), summarizing (after one of those sessions – delivered soon after the session), recall and just–in–time search support by letting employees search in company’s knowledge databases (wikis, blogs, forums) using their mobiles. Mobile learning platforms, like Upside2Go, can help L&D departments to deliver priority communication, just–in–time and performance support solutions to their learners anywhere, anytime.

The Q&A was published on December 10 in Sakal Times.

Upside Learning’s Presentation At CIPD HRD 2012, On mLearning Implementation, Out For Public Viewing

Under the ‘Technology for Learning’ area, as a part of CIPD HRD 2012’s learning and networking, Upside Learning delivered a session on Mobile Learning, titled ‘Implementing Mobile Learning In Workplace – Benefits, Strategy & Success Factors’, on 26^th April. The slide deck of this 41 slider presentation is now available for public viewing on SlideShare (www.slideshare.net).

Delivered by the Director of Custom eLearning Solutions at Upside Learning, Mr. Amit Garg, this presentation covers the key elements to be considered, and how to best utilise the available tools to maximise the impact while implementing a mLearning solution. Viewers can look forward to learning about the following topics:

Understanding Mobile Devices
Why Consider Mobile Learning?
Mobile Learning Myths
6 Key Strategic Decision Areas
Success Factors

Upside Learning Postulates The Future Of Mobile Learning In A Presentation At MobiMOOC 2012

The Corporate Mobile Learning Week at the recently concluded MobiMOOC 2012, saw some insightful presentations from the Director of Custom Learning Solutions at Upside Learning – Amit Garg. Amit, who was the course coordinator for this week, shared his expertise on mobile learning, and its role and necessity in the corporate world today. As a part of this week, Amit, together with Abhijit Kadle, Sr. Manager – Instructional Design at Upside Learning, postulated the future of mobile learning through a presentation.

Encapsulating technologies that will impact/affect the future of mobile learning and learning in general, the presentation identifies four key technology areas that will impact learning in the future. Further, it is structured to show technological impacts in the distant future, the near future and those making impacts starting now and extending into the immediate future.

The four key technology areas are:

Big data, huge quantities of user generated content and sophisticated curation
Ubiquitous and pervasive computing
Social (human) and Machine networks
The Semantic Web and Intelligent Agents

PMI Creates It First eBook For Kindle In Association With Upside Learning

A leader in business improvement consultancy and training, Process Management International (PMI) has been publishing books and other resources on various topics. Keeping in line with the increasing global trend of eBooks and eReaders, it has recently released its first eBook for Kindle. This eBook has been designed and developed by Upside Learning.

Called ‘The Project Leader’s Handbook’, this eBook is an online version of PMI’s handbook on work management and improvement. An invaluable reference for anyone involved in improving and managing their work, the book helps senior managers to understand the approach being taken by their people, whilst participants in teams like to refer to it for the details of what is going on.

While Upside Learning has been developing a range of mobile learning solutions for some years now, it was PMI’s first tryst with mobile learning. And the advantages that PMI derived from this are apparent. Converting the handbook in Kindle compatible format ensured that PMI could target not just the hard-bound book reading segment but also the growing segment of eBook readers. Also, having an eBook meant that any update in content could be easily and quickly sent to the readers. For the readers, this eliminated the need to buy a revised version.

Speaking about PMI’s decision to enter the eBook market, Amit Garg, Director of Custom eLearning Solutions at Upside Learning, said, “In today’s day and age where on the move has become a norm and new technologies have brought in a wide variety of devices, it is imperative for an organization to cater to its audiences through a format and a delivery mode that is the most acceptable. PMI has been leading the way in business process improvement for almost 3 decades now and as such understands the need to continually evolve.” Further, he added, “Our developers are well experienced in developing mobile apps and other new-age solutions in the mobile learning domain. By developing an eBook compatible with Kindle 2, we are happy that we could help PMI open new business avenues.”

Dennis Crommentuijn-Marsh, Consultant & Product Development Manager at PMI, commented, “This has been our first development of an eBook, but definitely not our last! The team at Upside Learning did a fantastic job, given the complexities in the material they had to convert into an easy to use eBook. It is now on Amazon and selling well!”.

Upside Learning To Bust Mobile Learning Myths Through A Webinar

Continuing with it endeavour to help organisation understand and implement mLearning better, Upside Learning will be conducting a webinar on mobile learning later this month. Titled, ‘Busting Mobile Learning Myths’, the webinar will identify and bust the common myths surrounding mLearning that hold back its adoption at the workplace.

Earlier, the company has presented a webinar on mLearning, titled ‘No Escaping Mobile Learning’. Exploring various reasons that make escaping mobile learning impossible for organisation, the webinar had identified the key drivers accelerating mobile learning adoption. ‘Busting Mobile Learning Myths’ is a logical extension to this webinar. It will uncover the most common mobile learning myths related to content delivery, security issues, SCORM compliancy, device specification and much more. This is a must–attend session for organisation thinking of leveraging mobile learning in their workplace as it will help them in understanding the realities behind these myths and making better decisions when adopting it.

The webinar will be presented by Amit Garg, Founder & Director of Upside Learning, along with Abhijit Kadle, Sr. Manager – Instructional Design at Upside Learning.

‘Busting Mobile Learning Myths’ will be held on 22^nd October, 2012 at 11 AM EDT. The free 45 minute webinar will be followed by a 15 minute Q&A session with the webinar hosts.

Upside Learning’s Newsletter – Upside Learning Buzz – Completes One Year. Subscriber Base Reaches 3000

One year back in May 2011, Upside Learning launched Upside Learning Buzz – its corporate newsletter targeted at learning professionals and other stakeholders. A year later, this newsletter has grown by leaps and bounds and is read by over 3000 readers from around the world.

Seeped in news and findings from the learning industry, Upside Learning Buzz includes major activities and events in the learning industry and those within the organisation. Over the past 11 months, Upside Learning has tried to share its understanding and knowledge in the learning domain, specifically Custom eLearning Development, Mobile Learning and Learning Management System with its readers via UL Buzz.

The 1^st anniversary issue of UL Buzz is a compilation of the best articles, the biggest developments at Upside Learning that created news and some of the finest free resources the company had dished out over the past 11 issues. It is available for public viewing at https://upsidelearning.com/elearning-newsletter/May-2012.html

The previous 11 issues of the newsletter are available in newsletters archive section on the website and can be viewed at the path below.

2011 – https://upsidelearning.com/elearning-newsletters-2011.asp

2012 – https://upsidelearning.com/elearning-newsletters-2012.asp

Amit Garg, Director of Custom Learning Solutions at Upside Learning, commented, “A year back we launched UL Buzz with a promise to keep you updated with the latest in the learning industry. And today, one year on, we can proudly say that we have delivered on our promise. On behalf of the Upside Learning family, I’d like to thank all our readers for their continued support.”

To subscribe to Upside Learning Buzz, please log on to – https://upsidelearning.com/elearning-newsletters

Upside Learning To Participate In CLO Summit, India; To Be A Part Of A Power Session On Mobile Learning

In continuance with its past participations, Upside Learning is all geared up for this year’s CLO Summit, India, one of the largest gatherings of L&D professionals in India. Apart from showcasing its award–winning Learning Management System, UpsideLMS, the company’s Director of Custom Learning Solutions, Amit Garg, will be participating in a power session on Mobile Learning.

Based on the theme ‘organizational Learning: Impacting Business. Changing the Game’, the CLO Summit, India focuses on the role of L&D in improving organizational functions. Eminent industry experts are invited to deliver sessions on different topics related to learning and development in organization. One such power session will see Amit Garg discuss the future trends and tools in Learning and Development under the track ‘Mobile Social and E–Learning’ along with other speakers in the panel. The session is slated for 1^st November at 1.30 PM.

Amit commented, “Mobile Learning is an emerging learning trend in India. Training departments are now trying to find the best possible options and strategies in implementing it in their organization. Our discussions emerging out of the power session will help organization get acquainted with the future trends in mobile learning and help them get started with it quickly.”

Visitors can drop by booth # B4 to get a first–hand experience of Upside Learning’s award’winning Learning Management System, UpsideLMS and interact with the team. Interested individuals can drop a line at info@upsidelearning.com and set a meeting with the team member.

CLO Summit, India is slated for November 1 & 2 in Mumbai, India.

Upside Learning Sponsors ASTD Research Report – ‘Mobile Learning: Delivering Learning In A Connected World’

ASTD’s recently released research report on mLearning, titled ‘Mobile Learning – Delivering Learning in a Connected World’ is sponsored by Upside Learning. This report will provide organisation a view of the current status of mobile learning in the world, any roadblocks, and strategies to implement mobile learning in the workplace.In today’s day and age where the expectation of connectivity has become ubiquitous in nearly every aspect of our daily lives, Mobile Learning provides an important means of learning possibilities that continue to evolve. Learning, priority communications and performance support using mobile devices is beginning to change the way L&D departments in organisation are evolving and will continue to evolve over the next 5 to 10 years. Through this report, organisation can get a view of the current landscape of Mobile Learning in a world in which the ubiquity of mobile devices seems to have created a perfect environment for delivering learning solutions to the mobile workforce, where or when they need it. More importantly, they can gain insights from the survey responses on implementing mobile learning in the workplace, gathered from interviews conducted with representatives of several organisation.Speaking about the sponsorship, Amit Garg, Director of Custom Learning Solutions at Upside Learning, said, “The future of mobile learning and performance support is certainly very promising. As a company that has constantly strived to address the multifarious platforms in the technology space, Mobile Learning being one of the most important ones, this report resonates well with Upside Learning’s focus on this emerging learning methodology.

About ASTD Research

Connecting Research to Performance, ASTD Research tracks trends, informs decisions, and connects research to practice and performance. By providing comprehensive data and insightful analysis, ASTD Research Reports help business leaders and workplace learning and performance professionals understand and more effectively respond to today’s fast-paced workplace learning and development industry. Its research reports offer an empirical foundation for today’s data-driven decision-makers, containing both quantitative and qualitative analysis about organisational learning, human capital management, training, and performance.

Upside Learning To Showcase Innovative Custom eLearning And mLearning Projects At DevLearn 2012 DemoFest

Visitors at DevLearn 2012 have an opportunity to can get a firsthand experience of Upside Learning’s innovative learning solutions as the company showcases its custom eLearning project and mLearning project. These projects will be showcased at the eLearning DemoFest during the three–day expo.

The two unique and innovative projects, called DC Walkthrough Game for Vocollect (custom eLearning) and Jangro – Upside2Go System (mLearning), will be showcased at table no. 56 and 32, respectively. Winner of a Bronze award for Best Extended Enterprise Learning Program under the 2012 Brandon Hall Excellence Awards in Learning, the custom eLearning project for VoCollect University was developed to offer VCT, WBT and ILT, and ranges from technical to sales training. Whereas, Jangro – Upside2Go System is a unique solution that allows administrators to deliver training on desktops and mobile devices via a unified learning management system. This is brought about by the seamless integration of UpsideLMS, Upside Learning–s multi award–winning Learning Management System, and Upside2Go, the company’s revolutionary mobile learning platform.

Visitors can interact with the company representatives at the expo at table No. 56 and 32 and learn more about its solutions and services. They can also discuss their learning requirements and get answers to some of their major learning problems.

The eLearning DemoFest is slated for November 1 from 4–7 PDT and will be conducted during the three day DevLearn 2012 Conference and Expo which runs from October 31–November 2, 2012.

Upside Learning To Revisit mLearncon; Promises A Wide Range Of mLearning Solutions

After a successful participation at mLearnCon 2011, Upside Learning will be revisiting the event’s 2012 edition. Slated to be held in San Jose, USA, from 19^th to 21^st June 2012, the event promises to answer some of the most pressing questions that organisation might have related to mLearning. Upside Learning too will be actively sharing its knowledge and experience in this evolving domain at its booth (#216).

In the past one year, Upside Learning has developed a number of mobile learning solutions using the latest technologies, including HTML5-based solutions, some of which will be available for viewing at the booth. Besides this, visitors can also get a taste of some of the company’s wide range of custom mobile learning offerings that include micro courses, quizzes and games, mbooks, mobile videos, augmented reality apps and custom mobile apps for different smartphones and tablets.

Also on display will be Upside2Go, Upside Learning’s revolutionary platform for Mobile Learning. Now available on all the major mobile platforms, namely iOS, BlackBerry and Android, Upside2Go brings formal, informal, social and collaborative learning, and performance support to one central platform – mobile. The Upside Learning staff will be able to demonstrate various ways in which existing clients are using Upside2Go, along with different use case scenarios for this mobile learning platform.

Upside learning’s representatives will be present at booth number 216 throughout the event. To pre-arrange a meeting with a member of the Upside Learning team, send an email specifying the preferred time and date to sales@upsidelearning.com.