Why Learning is the Winner With Every Apple Announcement

Tomorrow, Apple turns 40-years-old.

Since Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded the company on April 1, 1976, Apple has progressively changed the face of the tech industry if not the world. Most notably, Apple has influenced the way we use mobile devices in our daily lives.

To celebrate the big 4-0, the technology company made a series of product introductions at an Apple special event on March 21. Following in a similar fashion to previous Apple announcements, this month’s product releases created ripples throughout the world.

The Apple effect

Since the release of the iPhone in 2007, Apple has continued to supply the world with a steady progression of improvements and new products. Their innovation and product developments have fuelled the advancement of the modern smartphone.

Of course other manufactures also continually roll out new or improved products. However, Apple remains the most watched and talked about of all the mobile technology manufactures. Whenever they make an announcement, or release a new product, it is not only industry news but also mainstream news.

What effect do these announcements have on iPhone learning?

Apple isn’t directly involved in the microlearning industry, but with every announcement – like those this month – microlearning is bolstered.

This is because mobile devices are the fuel behind the drive toward microlearning. Microlearning can be implemented without a smartphone, but when microlearning is delivered on mobile devices learning can really be realised anywhere anytime to great results and record engagement rates.

Read more on why mobile is the perfect delivery method for micro learning.

Here are three ways Apple influences microlearning:

1. Apple attract a wide audience with large demographic spread

In 2014, The Independent reported, “For the first time ever there are more gadgets in the world than there are people.” Today in 2016, there are 7.7 billion connected mobile devices to the global population of 7.3 billion people. Furthermore, of the 7.74 billion mobile devices reported by GSMA Intelligence, 1 billion are ‘currently in use’ Apple devices.

As Apple continues to innovate and develop products, new users are reached and enticed with new features. As a result, with every new Apple announcement their user base is further increased.

But what does this mean for you?

Modern smartphones and mobile devices provide better opportunities to education, learning and development. The more abundant phones are across the globe, the further the reach of mobile and microlearning and the further it drives into the workplace. This allows us at Ed to deliver education on a device that is both loved and feels natural to the user. When it comes to microlearning on mobile devices, the availability of modern phones provides better opportunities for your learners that produce high engagement rates. Also,  users typically respond to push notifications within 15 minutes.

2. Apple and Education

In classrooms around the world, teachers are now in fact encouraging students to bring smartphones and tablets to class. With the development of Apple resources like iTunes U – a platform providing 350,000 free educational audio and video files from top universities, museums and public media organizations around the world – mobile education will continue to infiltrate classrooms.

Research shows mobile use improves education results. A study funded by the US Department of Education showed use of the iPhone app “Martha Speaks” boosted 3-to-7-year-olds vocabularies by as much as 31% over the course of just two weeks.

With such significant results in young students, it is no surprise mobile learning is also seeing such a rapid uptake in the workplace. With every new Apple announcement comes further opportunities to better educate our learners.

3. New Apple products deliver new features and opportunities

The features that are built into modern iPhones, many of which were pioneered by Apple, enable course creators to enrich the learning experience. For every new Apple product, a series of new exciting features are also released. Each new Apple announcement is like a silver platter of opportunity for learning. Mobile features that have influenced micro learning include:

• Push notifications: Push notification response rates outperform email open rates by a significant factor. With Ed, our lessons are delivered simply and easily using push notifications direct to learners’ smartphones. Participation and completion rates have been seen to be 4 times that of lessons delivered using email. In most cases on Ed, users typically respond to a push notification within 15 minutes to complete a lesson or fulfil an action request.
• Larger Screen Formats: With exception of the recent iPhone SE, iPhone screens are progressively growing. The various screen sizes now available cater to a wide demographic of users. The larger screen is also more conducive to a clean intuitive interface design such as that used on Ed, to better facilitate learning and engagement rates.
• Speed: he speed at which a mobile device can run impacts the experience of your learners. When content takes no more than a few seconds to display the more the convenience and speed of microlearning is highlighted.
  The varied types of content that modern smartphones can seamlessly and quickly display, also makes the learning experience more enjoyable and easy to progress through.
• Gamification Tools: With these new devices complete with faster speeds, come more features and possibilities all of which our engineering teams evaluate for use in Ed. Our authoring tool for example provides a library of challenges with gamification at their core, and these constsntly improve and enrich as new features rolled in.

Without these advances in technology and the increasing use of the smartphone, microlearning would not have enjoyed its recent growth rates. Further developments in the mobile industry open up opportunities for the future which will not only improve access to microlearning, but give learners more capable and efficient tools to complete their courses. It has been an exciting journey so far, and further excitement lies ahead.

Happy Birthday Apple!

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