The modern world is mobile, and your learning management system (LMS) is no exception.
Nearly 60% of web traffic happens on mobile devices, which means companies are on the lookout for the best mobile learning platform. When learners can’t access courses remotely—or experience slow, frustrating menus when doing so—their learning experience plummets in quality.
So in this guide, you’ll learn how to choose the best mobile learning platform for your firm. We teach why mobile learning is important, how to identify your company's needs, and what features to look for.
Understand why mobile-friendliness is crucial
There’s a world of difference between a mobile-friendly LMS and one that isn't. Employees use their phones for everything, including continuing their career development.
Here’s what your company loses without a mobile-friendly LMS:
Accessibility
With a mobile-friendly LMS, your employees can always access their coursework. But without it, they’re stuck waiting until they can get to their desktop to resume learning.
When workers learn from anywhere—the subway, the doctor’s, or wherever else—they can always make progress. That’s why 83% of top employers optimize their learning portals for mobile devices.
Greater retention
Mobile learning allows users to load and study material whenever they want. This easy access lets them review what they've learned more often, leading to better retention.
Reduced expenses
Mobile training lets companies skip expensive in-person training by outsourcing it to workers’ devices. That flexibility also improves worker productivity by eliminating travel disruptions.
Remote-readiness
Making mobile-friendliness a priority prepares your firm for remote work settings.
Even if you only operate on-site, letting employees finish training at home prevents late nights in the office spent finishing certifications. This leads to higher employee satisfaction and reduces turnover.
Identify your company’s needs
Understanding your company's unique needs is the next step in choosing a mobile LMS. Mobile solutions don't all serve the same audience, so understanding your situation is critical to filtering out solutions that don't fit.
Consider factors like:
- Setup. Will you install and upgrade your LMS or use a SaaS provider?
- Number of learners. How many seats do you need for your LMS? Not all systems can serve a large audience easily.
- White labeling. Do you want the LMS on your domain, with your branding?
- Budget. Pricing can vary widely across different platforms.
Look for key mobile features
While most learning platforms claim to be mobile-friendly, few offer the features needed to claim that title. If you want your LMS to provide rich mobile experiences to learners, make sure it has these features:
Virtual classrooms
Virtual classrooms are video meeting spaces where students can see instructors face-to-face from anywhere in the world.
When learners can engage with instructors on mobile, their success isn't limited by their ability to travel. Instead of traveling to a classroom, they just tune in from their LMS and absorb the content.
Employee feedback
A ratings and feedback system lets learners share their opinions about your courses. This gives you the power to know which courses are most effective and which learners don’t rate well and need adjustment.
Learners should be able to rate courses quickly through an easy-to-understand system, like a five-star scale.
Simple user interface
An easy-to-navigate interface is the cornerstone of good mobile design. The time and energy learners spend on figuring out a clunky UI is time not spent learning.
GoSkills leads the way in mobile-friendliness by optimizing its dashboard for users on all devices. Smooth navigation, sleek dashboards, and a minimalist layout make GoSkill’s interface the industry standard in responsive design.
Gamification
Even the most exciting content won't keep learners engaged all the time. But, rather than just threatening employees with hard requirements, encourage them to learn by making it fun.
Enter gamification: using game mechanics (points, rankings, etc.) to enhance learning and make it more enjoyable. GoSkills LMS supports full course gamification, including features like:
- Time tracking goals
- Sign-in streaks
- Progress bars
- Status tiers
- In-game credit rewards
…all mobile-friendly, ready to enrich learning from anywhere.
Reporting
Using an LMS with reporting abilities to crucial to monitoring and enhancing your training process. Reporting lets you:
- Monitor progress. Understand how fast learners are completing your courses and if they’re meeting deadlines.
- Analyze content effectiveness. Analyze interactions, session duration, and test results to determine your content's effectiveness.
These perks enable you to optimize your training material continuously, learning to an L&D experience that improves over time rather than stagnates.
SCORM compliance
Standard Content Object Reference Module (SCORM) lets courses and learning management systems exchange information. One SCORM-compatible platform is universally compatible with any other.
Besides making sure your content looks great on all devices, SCORM makes it:
- Secure. Users can’t manipulate SCORM data, which guarantees the integrity of assessments they take.
- Reusable. With SCORM, course developers can create content once and reuse it everywhere.
- Durable. SCORM isn’t going anywhere, so content created on its standard will be usable for years to come.
Security
A mobile LMS will store company secrets and employee information. Knowing people often lose mobile devices and use them on unsecured networks, it's crucial to ensure your LMS doesn’t leave itself vulnerable to prying eyes.
Look for security features like:
- Multi-factor authentication
- Routine security updates
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Complex password requirements
- Data backups
- SSL encryption
- Direct security integrations (FaceID, passwords, etc.)
Whatever resources you invest in security will pale in comparison to the costs of a breach. The best mobile learning platforms are SCORM and TinCan compliant, like GoSkills LMS.
Push notifications
Even with strict deadlines, keeping employees consistent can be a challenge. One big benefit of mobile platforms is the ability to set reminders for employees through push notifications.
Since your learners likely always have their phones on them, they’ll receive regular reminders to stay consistent in their training and keep working towards their goals.
Asynchronous learning features
Most mobile learning doesn’t happen in a live classroom but in the learner’s own time. That's why it's vital your LMS offers features enhancing asynchronous learning rather than frustrating it.
Videos, discussion boards, and other asynchronous-friendly features encourage learners to work at their own pace, often faster than a standard schedule would allow.
Fast loading times
Mobile devices have weaker processors than their desktop counterparts, leading to slower loading times. So if your LMS is bloated and runs slowly, mobile users will be stuck with low, unresponsive menus.
Especially if you choose a SaaS LMS, you'll have little control over loading times. So to keep your speeds fast, you'll need to compare platforms and see which performs the best.
Cloud-based infrastructure
Cloud-based systems have several advantages over traditional ones, thanks to their inherent scalability.
Firstly, a cloud-based LMS is always part of a SaaS plan and competes with countless other learning platforms. This competition constantly drives SaaS-based solutions to upgrade their software, leading to better client experiences.
In terms of mobile-friendliness, this means faster loading times, better security, extensive integrations, and more essential features. The usability difference between cloud systems and locally hosted is so vast that we only recommend using a SaaS mobile learning management system.
Third-party integrations
Third-party software can supercharge your LMS with valuable features. CRM, SSO, analytics, and other integrations let you expand your system far beyond its native functionality.
Responsive web design
A mobile-friendly LMS needs a responsive web design to appear correctly on all screens and resolutions. This allows for a quality user experience, no matter how small or large the user display is.
Choose your mobile-friendly LMS
Finding a mobile learning management system can be tricky. While most platforms advertise mobile compatibility, far fewer live up to it.
First, understand why mobile-friendliness is crucial to an engaging LMS. If your learners can’t complete lessons remotely, they’ll face severe limitations on how efficiently they can complete their coursework.
Next, understand your firm’s basic needs. Whether an LMS is mobile-friendly or not, it won’t matter if it doesn’t meet your unique demands. A closer look at some platforms reveals they lack many crucial features.
Then, look for the key features that define a mobile-friendly LMS. Features like gamification, SCORM compliance, push notifications, and fast loading times are indispensable for a quality mobile experience.
Thankfully, you don’t need to look far to find an LMS that meets these standards—GoSkills LMS passes mobile-usability standards with flying colors. Sign up for a free plan and see how we set the standard of mobile-friendliness and make mobile learning as engaging as possible.
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