New Book: The Mobile Learning Edge by Gary Woodill, Ed.D

There are a couple of books due out this Fall that we have been eagerly anticipating here at Float. The first is a book by Dr. Gary Woodill, and the second is a book on instructional design for mobile learning by Clark Quinn.  Dr. Woodill’s book, “The Mobile Learning Edge” was recently released; our initial reaction indicates that this book is both timely and relevant to the current state of the mobile learning landscape.  We will be doing an in-depth review of the book in the upcoming weeks, but it now seems like the mobile learning field has a succinct amalgamation of mobile learning, what it’s about and how mobile learning can benefit organizations.

Our knowledge suggests that Woodill’s book is the first of its kind to look at mobile learning from a business perspective, written for managers and executives looking to discover how mobile learning might fit into their overall business goals and objectives.  So far, the book is an easy read that covers the topic of mobile learning in an engaging manner. We are already recommending it to clients and to people who are thinking about dipping their toe (or perhaps a whole foot or leg) into the water of mobile learning. Many of the conversations we have with our clients center on the basics of mobile learning including what it is and what it is not. We believe this type of book can help prepare our clients to have deeper, more substantive conversations regarding mobile learning and its potential for their organization. Time that we normally spend with clients defining terms, understanding the landscape and key drivers for their environment can now be bypassed, allowing us to get right to the specifics of how to leverage mobile learning to best accomplish their business strategies and goals.

Here are a few interesting tidbits that we have discovered so far about this book.

1. There are many definitions of mobile learning contained in the book from various sources. One of our favorites is “mobile learning when properly designed, can be described as ‘just in time, just enough, and just for me.’”
2. Dr. Woodill has an accompanying website: www.mobilelearningedge.com that he plans to keep updated with the latest information about mobile learning.
3. While there is a Kindle version of this book available, it is surprising that there are not more mobile formats available for this book.  We would have liked to see .MOBI, ePub and PDF versions of a book which is specifically about mobile learning.

As we at Float continue to read further, we will post, tweet or link to valuable insights provided by this book. Enjoy the book.