Easier, faster, more accessible: mobile learning, or M-learning, has revolutionized the world of training and is becoming increasingly more popular with companies. But what exactly is it? What are its advantages and disadvantages? Let’s take a deep dive and find the answers.
Defining mobile learning
Mobilelearning is a professional training tool based on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It allows learners to access their training content any time and from any location.
What are the modalities of mobile learning?
An M-learning course is distinguished by its accessibility, but also by its interactive, fun and personalised content.
It offers numerous techniques that can be used to help employees achieve their goals and acquire new skills, such as:
Microlearning: this learning method consists of very short modules (usually less than 5 minutes). Available at any time, they are focused on a specific concept in order to maximize the memorization of information.
Peer learning: it aims to encourage exchanges between learners, who become real actors in their training. Also known as social learning, it allows employees to share their experiences and knowledge via a forum, a chat or a corporate social network.
Adaptive learning: this is mobile learning adapted to the needs, desires and preferences of each learner, for total personalization.
Virtual reality and augmented reality: they allow learners to be immersed in a virtual world and to create very realistic situations.
Blended learning: this combines digital learning and face-to-face training to get the best out of both methods.
What are the benefits of mobile learning?
As evidenced by its growing popularity, M-learning has many advantages for companies.
A remote learning solution
With a mobile learning solution, learners can follow their training path anywhere, at any time and from any device: phone, tablet, laptop… Moreover, learning can be done online or offline.
It is therefore an ideal tool for professionals on the go, who travel frequently and whose schedule does not allow them to attend face-to-face training.
Moreover, M-learning makes it possible to make good use of travel time, which can be devoted to learning.
Flexible digital training
The secret of successful training is to meet the expectations of each learner.
The flexibility of mobile learning allows employees to learn at their own pace and to focus on certain concepts. Thus, each person advances in their own way and on their own time, whereas a face-to-face course requires several employees to be brought together in a set time slot.
A motivating learning method
Mobile learning has another important advantage: it keeps learners motivated in the long term.
Indeed, it is based on an intuitive and easy-to-use learning platform (called a Learning Management System), which makes all training content available.
In addition, mobile learning is conducive to storytelling, with the use of immersive situations and scenarios. This is the way to keep employees interested with effective and addictive training, while optimizing the assimilation of skills.
Finally, gamification is an integral part of m-learning. The company can offer training in the form of games, but also integrate a points and ranking system. In this way, the most assiduous learners are rewarded and a positive competitive spirit emerges among the employees, who become even more involved in their training.
What are the disadvantages of mobile learning?
Despite its many advantages, mobile learning has limitations that are important to be aware of before embarking on it.
Mobile learning can be distracting
Mobile devices are great learning tools, but they can also be a major distraction. Employees who train independently must, therefore, be self-disciplined to really focus on their training.
The introduction of a points system, whereby employees are ranked according to their attendance, is a good way to address this problem. Indeed, this positive competition encourages learners to invest fully in their training.
Training is more difficult to control
The greater freedom offered to learners raises another problem: it is difficult for the employer to monitor the progress of their training.
One way of dealing with this is to take stock on a regular basis, through group meetings or individual interviews. However, this approach is quite time-consuming..
Another possibility is to set up questionnaires or evaluation tests at the end of the training modules. In this way, the employer can ensure that employees have assimilated the key knowledge and skills.
M-learning can infringe on employees’ privacy
Finally, mobile learning raises questions about the distinction between private and professional life.
In the case of traditional face-to-face training, the lessons are given during the employees’ working hours. On the other hand, a mobile learning tool can be used at any time, including during rest periods.
The company must therefore ensure that it sets aside time for training, to avoid any encroachment on employees’ personal lives.
International e-learning: we’re here!
Popular in France, mobile training applications are also popular internationally. Whether it is a webinar for which presentations need to be translated or a multilingual sales training module, the translation must be adapted to both the target audience and the chosen training medium.
To ensure that no aspect of this project is overlooked, the wisest solution is to entrust the translation of training materials to a translation agency specializing in e-Learning. Tradonline’s expert translators are able to adapt to the different formats and specifications of e-learning platforms.
Flexible and customizable, mobile learning is a learning method adapted to the needs and constraints of today’s companies. But it is also an excellent tool to motivate employees towards continuous learning and developing their skills in the long term.
When thinking about translating your website, the first questions which usually spring to mind are: Does everything need to be translated? Who is the target audience? Where is the target geographical area?
But these questions, although important, are not the only ones which must be addressed when launching the translation of a website.
Some of the others are listed below.
What type of website are you looking to get translated?
TradOnline categorizes websites into 3 different types:
Corporate or presentation websites: the content is rarely very technical, how it’s delivered is just as important as what’s said, and the site’sstatic content is made to stand the test of time.
By static content we mean the foundations of the website, including menus, categories, FAQs and sometimes even T&Cs and legal information.
Promotional offers, blog posts, links to press articles which mention your product, etc. are not considered to be static content.
For these types of project, we always recommend a translationservice offered by a senior translator, with verification by a second translator. Why this double-checking, you ask? Because our translators are human and nobody is immune to human error. This proofreading also allows the wording of certain sentences to be improved, so that your corporate website is equally as impactful in a foreign language as in its native one.
E-commerce websites: this category is pretty vast and therefore difficult to generalize. One thing we can say is that an e-commerce site contains a database of products as well as the classic elements that can be found on a corporate website. An important factor when translating an e-commerce website is the key terminology, which can have a huge impact on the number of visitors who become clients. The translation is therefore of significant importance.
What do we mean by “key terminology”? It refers to all clickable links on the website, including the calls to action, which invite visitors to browse key products on your website.
For example: which is more attractive, a button which tells you to “click here” or another which says “come and have a look at our new products”? In this case, it’s more of a marketing technique to appeal to visitors.
Software-as-a-service or cloud websites: in general, these are types of software found online. In this case, we invite our clients to send us the content of this software in a format of their choice (html, xml, json, etc.). We then return the translated documents in the same format, so that they can be directly inputted in the same way as the originals.
4 ways to guarantee the desired quality of translation
1 – No matter the nature of the website you would like us to translate, we absolutely advise that you create a style guide and send it to us at the start of the project.
In terms of creating this style guide, one of the first questions to ask yourself is if you would like to use the formal or informal ‘you’ when addressing your users. Although this notion no longer exists in English, it is found in many other languages. (Although, if thou hast never taken the time, thou wouldst be well advised to read up on “thou”! It’s often used as a facetious mockery of formality nowadays, but you may be surprised to learn that “thou” was actually the informal way to refer to close friends or family – the equivalent of “tu” in French or “du” in German – whereas “you” was more formal – vous or Sie, respectively.)
2 – The question of target country is equally very important, as there can be a number of differences between a language as spoken in two different countries.
3 – Have you thought ahead about the impact of the translation on the design of your multilingual website? It should be noted that, depending on the language, your texts might take up more or less space on your webpage. Therefore, it might be necessary to rethink the page layout in some languages. However, if you would like the page layout to be absolutely identical, we can restrict our translators to a specific character limit.
4 – What about variables? In certain texts we will find this type of phrase: “%d songs”, in which “%d” represents a whole number. It should be noted that plural rules vary according to the language: for most, there is only one singular and one plural form, but certain languages contain many different plurals (such as Russian, with 4). Therefore, it is very important to identify these variables at the beginning of the project in order to avoid dealing with them like ordinary sections.
4 questions that count for our quote
1 – The central issue is the amount of text to be translated, the frequency of updates, the lifespan of the content and, ultimately, the total budget allocated to the translation. These questions are inextricably linked, and your project manager will be able to recommend the best solution using the answers you provide.
2 – Should we translate your newsletter, blog, transactional emails, URL, images, metadata, etc.?
3 – What about /search engine optimisation? Is this something that interests you? Do you have a partner agency? Do you have certain constraints to adhere to? Would you like TradOnline to help you with this?
4 – Furthermore, if we were asked to work on your content management system, the price would not be the same as if we were to translate blocks of text or isolated segments. This is because an isolated segment, by definition, lacks context. And it is this context which helps translators work out how to translate a particular term. So the shorter the segments to translate are, the longer the translator will need to take to translate them, and therefore the more expensive the translation will be.
In general, if you are thinking about internationalizing your website, whatever type it is, we suggest that you consider the process of changing your site internally and nominate someone to be in charge of communication with your translation agency. Good organisation is often the key to an efficient website with up-to-date information.
When a customer first contacts a translation service provider, they generally ask two questions: how much is the translation going to cost and how long until its ready? The answer: it depends! Unfortunately, there aren’t any ready-made answers for these questions. However, there are certain decisive factors that strongly influence the amount of time it takes to complete a translation project.
A translation project, what is it exactly?
Contrary to what some may think, a translation project is not only limited to the pure translation of a document. There are certain preliminary steps that must be taken in order for the project to be properly handled. So, before starting the translation of a document, it’s best to first communicate with the client and attempt to better understand their expectations as well as to understand the purpose of the final document, the target audience, any possible specific items, etc. Once the translation is completed, the project moves into the stages of post-production, like proofreading and revision.
Now you can see why the best translation service providers don’t just content themselves to translating your documents from the moment they are received. Rather, they will oversee and manage your project from A to Z, from the moment of its reception to its delivery.
What kind of factors will have an impact on a project’s timetable?
Resource availability
With the ongoing expansion within the translation market, the demands within the domain are constantly on the rise. Thus, the needed human and material resources may not be immediately available; in which case searching for those resources requires more time.
Furthermore, in cases of extreme urgency, multiple translators may be utilised for the same project in an effort to shorten the overall duration.
Volume of the translation
It may seem obvious, but translators aren’t machines. Consequently, the more words there are in a document, the longer the translation will take. Just as an indication, a translator translates on average 2000 words per day.
Difficulty of the project
Some documents require more research intospecific terminology than others. Therefore, a document based on a general theme will require less time to translate than, for example, the user’s manual of an air plane.
The combination of the languages also plays an important role. Translating a document to a less common language, like Vietnamese, would most likely take longer than translating to English or French given that there are less resources available than for the more common language combinations.
Reference documents
You may not have thought about it, but reference documents (glossaries, translation memories, previous versions, etc.) can help save an enormous amount of time for the translator handling your project. So if you have any such documents, be sure to send them along with the project.
Supplementary services
Often, customers request extra, supplementary services: proof reading, SEO, page formatting, etc. These steps may seem trivial; however each task increases the overall workload, and consequently, the duration of the project.
You may have realised by now that we are simply unable to give a clear and precise answer when it comes to the length of time required for a translation project in this article. But don’t worry, the project managers handling your requests will be able to evaluate the amount of time necessary for your project by taking into consideration all of the aforementioned elements. And one thing is certain, we’ll try to make every second count.
Hello and welcome Jérémy Grandjean, co-founder and CEO of Cherry Checkout. Along with 2 partners, you contributed in creating this company, whose purpose is to promote voluntary donations every time a purchase is made on a website.
To start, could you tell us a bit about yourself and how this project was conceived?
Jérémy Grandjean: I have a French/Swiss dual citizenship and studied engineering in nanotechnology.
As you can tell, Cherry Checkout is in no way connected to my formal education. But, I used to make numerous purchases online. This is most probably where I got this idea from.
The idea first came up in a “start-up weekend” (a start-up competition), in which we had 54 hours to come up with a functional business model. Out of 120 participants, only 54 came up with an idea, and only 20 projects actually went through. While there were several impressive ideas, ours still won the first prize. The panel, made up of major Swiss businessmen, were highly impressed with our idea. Inspired by their praise, we decided to launch our business. That was 4 years ago.
During the first year, we entered and won other competitions in order to build up funds. With the money secure, we were able to set up a prototype and start canvassing for customers. The actual activity began 2 years after our first competition.
A prototype was developed on smood.ch, which was our pilot customer.
The customers of the website responded quite positively to our product, and we therefore decided to raise funds in order to expand. We collected €200,000 during this investor round table.
So, can you describe this innovative functionality that you can offer to e-commerce websites?
Jérémy Grandjean: We created a module for e-commerce websites that allows any customer to make a donation of one Euro every time they make an online purchase.
For example, let’s say that there is a customer who wants to buy a ball on an e-commerce website. The module checks the price of the customer’s shopping cart and gives him the option of donating to an association (in this case, for example, for fighting against child labour).
The cherry on the top is that by making this donation, the customer automatically participates in a lucky draw that gives him a one-in-300 chance to have his cart fully reimbursed. We can thus encourage customers to make donations and buy online from the websites that offer our solution.
The website may also choose to host more lucky draws if it can fund them. Our service is highly customisable.
How many customers do you currently have?
Jérémy Grandjean: today, there are 7 websites that offer our module.
Why not more? It’s because I began the canvassing less than 6 months ago, after investing 2 years of development in the system and its IT components. It was only this month that I recruited one person to help me in developing our customer portfolio.
What pushed you into starting your own business?
Jérémy Grandjean: I always wished to start my own business. As an employee, you are forced to restrict yourself to the rhythm of the company. I, on the other hand, wished to express my ideas without being curbed, and bring them to fruition.
Also, I cannot work simply to generate wealth. My satisfaction comes from knowing that I participate in a more global cause, by appealing for donations.
For this, we did not simply create yet another association. No! Our module allows us to support existing associations in raising funds.
What concerns did you have when you started the project?
Jérémy Grandjean: We needed the e-commerce websites to adhere to our process for us to grow. Our main fear was that the e-commerce websites would simply have no interest in our module! This concern vanished later, once we launched the first website and saw the rate of commitment and positive feedbacks from their customers.
Before starting, I was also concerned about the time that I would be pouring into this project, since creating a business from scratch requires personal sacrifices. In fact, I still have a full-time salaried job.
How is your offer communicated and marketed to others?
Jérémy Grandjean: Until now, I was the only one in charge of communication of the Cherry Checkout module, which is why it was limited to a few posts on social networks and our presence in certain trade fairs, just to make ourselves visible.
Our team now has 2 developers, one person in charge of the marketing-communication development and me.
What is your personal contribution to the business’ daily progress?
Jérémy Grandjean: Well, I would eventually like to dedicate myself full-time to this activity, which is why I have invested so much of myself to develop Cherry Checkout.
I have put in, and will continue to put in a lot of work to this effect, and my reward comes from the gratitude of the associations for which we are able to raise funds.
What about competition?
Jérémy Grandjean: all of our competitors are micro-donation companies. That said, they don’t work on the Internet much, but rather in physical shops. Also, they don’t offer the cherry on the top – their customers don’t get a shot at having their purchases reimbursed.
Play-to-win (promo-gaming) solutions can also be considered to be our indirect competitors, as they also offer a competition. The concept of donation is not necessarily included, however.
What are your goals for 2017?
Jérémy Grandjean: We would like to raise €100,000 in donations in 2017. We are optimistic of winning over a major customer shortly, which will allow us to meet this goal.
What is your financial model?
Jérémy Grandjean: our pay comes from the participation in our customers’ competitions.
However, until now, we have offered our module to our customers for free, as our main goal is to be present on as many e-commerce websites as possible.
We are also thinking of organising another fundraising session.
Are there any plans of expanding on an international scale?
Jérémy Grandjean: For now, we are targeting only the Swiss and French markets.
Since Switzerland is a tri-lingual country, our module was translated into English and German from its inception. This is something specific to Switzerland.
That said, we aim to shortly begin our conquest of the British and German markets.
Are there any other projects in the works?
Jérémy Grandjean: Of course there are, but it’s still too early to say anything about them. We will be trying to help customers shift from retail to e-commerce. I won’t say any more right now!
Thank you very much, Jérémy Grandjean, for allowing us to interview you.
At TradOnline, we have several online traders as customers, who might be interested in your product. That’s the reason I wanted to speak with you.
Also, do not hesitate to call us for any of your globalisation projects that require translation!
How does one become a specialist translator and in what way are these specialisations veritable value additions?
In today’s world, business from all sectors may someday need to call on the services of professional translators. In light of this, a translator could, over the course of his/her career, translate documents related to extremely varied domains: legal, medical, environmental, marketing, social, cultural, etc. Although there are huge benefits in being a “generalist” translator, he/she is still human. At the end of the day, he/she cannot accumulate sufficient knowledge to claim that he/she can provide documents of identical quality in every single domain. This is why he/she should, on the contrary, choose one path and specialise.
Specialisation takes time
A translator cannot become a specialist overnight. Often, it is his/her experience in translating, personal interests or even the increasing needs of a regular client, for example after its company undergoes development, which may lead to him/her focusing on one sector in particular. A novice translator is therefore considered to be a generalist until he/she decides to specialise in one, two or three sectors in particular. Moreover, there are some people who decide to foray into the business of translation after having worked in a specialised sector (medical, automobile, technical, etc.). This professional experience is an undeniable and major benefit to the translator’s work and to his/her expertise in a specific domain.
An expert translator in your sector
If your translator is able to understand your business, your sector of activity and its different facets, it’s a fair bet that you are working with a specialist translator. How did he/she do it? In addition to in-depth research while translating, he/she must have certainly gained more knowledge by visiting various trade shows to collect documentation (bilingual, if possible) and by meeting professionals working in that sector. Then, he/she would likely have subscribed to your preferred trade publication and identified all unknown terms and concepts. Finally, over time, he/she would have meticulously compiled bilingual glossaries containing specific terminology. In such cases, when you begin your translation project, don’t be too surprised if your translator asks you questions about any terminology-related or stylistic preferences that you may have. Your answers will be noted and suitable terms will be used, which can be appropriately reused for future translations.
An added value to your documents
Specialising in a domain helps a translator earn the trust of his/her clients: it’s reassuring to know for certain that he/she knows what he/she is speaking about and that your documents will be coherent and consistent from start to finish. Irrespective of your domain, the style will be appropriate, as your translator has already worked on more or less similar documents, understands the jargon and certain expressions, and will use suitable turns of phrase. As a result, your readers will not even realise that the text is a translated document, as it will flow in manner that only a native speaker could achieve. Specialisation therefore guarantees a service of impeccable quality.
Everyone saves time
Specialising also allows a translator to be more productive. Effectively, research will take him/her less time as compared to other translators, as he/she will end up knowing his/her terminological glossary without having to constantly check and cross-check terms. This will help him/her handle your orders much faster. This speed will also help you meet your own deadlines. In addition, this specialisation can help you save time in the internal review stage, if there is any. Instead, this time could be used for modifying only those rare terms that are highly specific to your internal use. Working with a professional and specialist translator implies that you place trust in him/her without needing to check his/her work. If you know that your translation service provider specialises in your domain, you can then dedicate your time to your own projects with complete peace of mind. Contact our translation agency and you will definitely find this peace of mind. We will take care of everything!
