Creating courses for “work from anywhere” learners

In a short two years, remote and hybrid work has become the norm, not an exception—with 84% of employers significantly expanding remote work, according to the World Economic Forum. 

At the same time, as businesses hire people across national and international time zones, work has become increasingly asynchronous. The once fixed 9-to-5 workday has become more fluid, changing nearly everything about how we work, including employee expectations of workplace learning. Today, workplace learners want—and need—to learn wherever they are, whenever they want, and on their device of choice. 

As companies adapt, they’re finding that offering online learning for mobile devices improves uptake. Smartphone users completed courses an average of 45% faster than learners who took courses on desktop computers, according to Lynda.com. 

Fortunately, course creators don’t need software engineer skills to ensure content designed on a desktop will play seamlessly on mobile or tablet devices. Rise content automatically reflows on any device, ensuring learners have the most engaging experience no matter what device they’re using. 
Here are some ideas to explore as you begin creating courses that learners everywhere, on any device, will love.

Make it big and beautiful

Take advantage of the screen quality of modern smartphones, tablets, and laptops—add beautiful, clear images to draw learners in and tell your story. Rise includes a library of 6+ million photos and illustrations. For courses that learners are likely to access on mobile devices, choose images with fewer details to reduce the need to zoom in. Insert bold tables, graphs, and pie charts to impart information at a glance. Timelines work well on a horizontal phone screen. And accordion blocks can help you reveal information and processes one step at a time in a manner friendly to smaller screens.

Break up content and insert interactivity

Short bursts of copy made of brief sentences in highly readable fonts are easier to read than large paragraphs of lengthy sentences—and they’re easier on the mobile learner’s eyes. Rise has a large array of features to help you create and customize copy as you want. 
Break up course content into more-navigable pieces. Create lists with drop-down menus so learners can read a short section of content at a time. Increase interactivity with flashcard blocks and sorting activities.

Boost content retention with self-testing

Knowledge checks help learners retain what you’ve shared in the course. But make any quizzes you incorporate easy to take on mobile devices. Rise’s multiple-choice quizzes have large, bold buttons for maximum clickability and large fingertips. Drag-and-drop matching question quizzes are also a great fit for testing knowledge on the go. Whatever you choose, remember to keep your questions and answers short.

Draw them in with video—and audio

Video and audio clips have the power to enhance storytelling in your courses. Audio could include company podcast episodes, yearly addresses from management, or text block narration that gives your learners’ eyes a break.

Software solution training, new product features, and manufacturing processes are all excellent subjects for videos. As with images, be sure the video content is not overly crowded or busy. And keep it brief. Videos should be under two minutes—the shorter the better.

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