The Latest Revolution in Training is Just One Message Away
Advances in technology have always driven changes in the way people are trained. From CD-ROMs and DVDs to online courses, microlearning to the virtual classroom augmented reality and text messaging—Wait. Training through text messages? Yes, you read that right. Training is now being delivered by text messages, and the results have been very encouraging.
First things first: how does training by text message work? Successful courses generally involve sending learners a text once a day for anywhere from 5 to 30 days. Messages average around 1200 characters. Several universities and Fortune 500 companies are using text message-based learning, and many more will likely join the bandwagon soon, as the benefits are too numerous to pass up.
10 Reasons Training by Text is So Promising
It’s accessible. According to Arist, a pioneer in the text message learning industry, over 90 per cent of the world has access to SMS texts, while less than 40 per cent has the necessary bandwidth to watch a video-based course. If you have employees in rural areas, developing countries or just in places where the internet can be spotty, text message learning could bridge the gap.
It’s scalable. Text-based training can reach dozens, hundreds or thousands of learners without much more effort than reaching one.
It’s efficient. The number one challenge to completing training for many employees is finding the time. Text message-based training takes five minutes or less per day—a manageable time commitment for even the busiest person. Arist has experienced over 90 per cent course completion rates, showing that learning by text is not only efficient, it’s also effective.
It’s frictionless. Learning by text message is easy because it meets people on a platform they’re already using day in, day out. Learners don’t have to log in and navigate through screens—the learning comes to them. And it comes to them quickly: Arist statistics show that 95 per cent of people open their text messages within 3 minutes.
It’s easy to digest. Text messages are short by nature, so course writers are forced to include only the most important and relevant content. The brevity makes content easy to take in and process.
It’s engaging. When texts are made friendly and conversational, user satisfaction climbs. Arist notes that nine out of ten users enjoyed their text message learning experience. By including quizzes and asking for responses to instructional cues, learners are further engaged than just reading alone.
It improves content retention. Daily text messages remind learners of the previous day’s content. These constant refreshers help learners retain information for longer periods of time than “binge learning.” A-text-a-day also embeds learning into your employees’ daily routine.
It’s quicker to create and deploy. Text message courses take a lot less time to create than traditional forms of training. It can be up to 10 times faster to build text-based courses than video training.
It’s responsive and targeted. Because text courses can be short and created quickly, you can respond to compliance or safety issues in practically real-time. Have a near-miss in the warehouse with a forklift and pedestrian? Seeing signs of the flu in the office? Send out a short 5-day course on forklift safety basics or preventive health to target the issue quickly and directly.
It’s easily updated. Changing content in traditional training courses can be resource intensive. Updating content in a text message course is relatively easy, providing you with the flexibility and nimbleness to keep information timely and relevant.
What’s not to love about text message-based training? Well, there is one limitation. Texts won’t work well for complex information. If your training concepts can’t be whittled down to sound bites, you’ll probably need to stick with traditional eLearning formats.
Proponents of the text message learning platform have found many uses for the medium. Courses have been used for onboarding employees, compliance training, sales skills improvement, health and wellness programs and refresher training.
Text message-based training is an ideal supplement to your current online learning initiatives, and it’s also an enticing, cost-effective way to reach more people in less time using less of your budget for a specific learning need.