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Executive Briefings

Published July 2005

MP3s and iPods Aren’t Just for Music These Days

  

  Kellye Whitney

Formal education had simple beginnings-chalk and a blackboard. Then came books, computers, e-learning and now, the Apple iPod. With the introduction of MP3 players, audio channels and learning so short and sweet it can solve your business problems in five minutes or less, one wonders, what's next?

"People are looking to make knowledge a lot more transportable," said Jon Peters, CEO, AthenaOnline. "They're on the road a lot more now, using a lot of different digital devices, and we've also got to be concerned about individuals' learning styles. How do people want to receive the information and when?"

AthenaOnline's use of digital audio or MP3 files is an easily transportable way to deliver learning that runs on a number of different devices, including your computer, iPod or even cell phone-allowing learning to take place anywhere, at any time. "Nokia made an announcement that said 50 percent of their new phones are going to be MP3-compatible. That equates into two things. One is digital media files that people take with them. The other is ring tones, but I don't anticipate they're going to do that with our videos," Peters said. "The issue is that there are about 400 operating systems for mobile devices. As we began to look at that, we said, 'What's the most common denominator? What's one thing that everyone can get access to when they're carrying a mobile device?' That was MP3s. That's what we decided to use going forward with this initially. The second phase of this, we're going to be doing some podcasts, which will be streams that are sent out to folks through RSS feeds so that they can subscribe to channels and receive some of our MP3 files on a number of different areas, including Sarbanes-Oxley and creativity."

Capital One is using the Apple iPod in a program to bring learning to its associates. Forty or so employees in the U.S. Card College New Hire Program were the first to receive iPods as a tool to enjoy learning via mobile audio. "We've worked with our business units to look at learning agendas and ensure that we find relevant ways to augment existing programs or create some new programs that can integrate the audio learning channel," said Michael Walker, group manager of learning services administration, Capital One University and program manager for the company's audio learning program. "In our new hire program, we were actually able to provide pre-work before they came to their program on an iPod. They're required to read a book called 'Nickel and Dimed,' look at that and as part of their course really evaluate the customer experience and understand how customers come from different backgrounds and cultures."

The goal, said Walker, is to use audio learning as a means to enhance the learning experience and ensure that the content is relevant to the business need. Results have been positive. "I met with some of those new hires, and one of them said, 'I got the material. I would not have able to read this in the time frame that I got the material in, but I was able to listen to the book on my eight-hour car drive to Richmond.' We wanted to do something innovative in our approach because we heard from our associates that it's hard to get into a class, not from the fact that they're always full, but because they don't always have the time. We're so busy and we're moving at such a fast pace that two to three days out of the schedule just doesn't seem right."