Day Two Discussion: A Mobile Tech Revolution in Low-Wage Work

Thanks for bringing this up again, Michael. It will be great to get more examples from rural and urban areas across the country.

In the webinar I shared how office janitors and room attendants at hotels in urban areas are increasingly being asked to utilize mobile devices (tablets/smart phones) on the job to receive work requests, report problems, and track their progress and need for supplies on facilities management software. I also heard from Kraft's HR department of their interest in having all their factories and poultry processing plants across the country (some more rural than others) have factory line workers start to use tablets for controlling machines and ovens that were manually controlled before. I imagine this is the case in other food processing or mail processing centers in rural areas. Also, any warehouses or transportation or distribution centers would also be utilizing mobile technologies as would large retailers. Once they implement it in a plant with operations management, it's just a matter of time before they'd want all line workers to use those systems for improved efficiencies and higher quality control. 

For rural areas where workers might have a challenging time finding internet access once they leave work, fortunately there are apps and mobile enabled websites created in HTML5 that allow for one to use them both online and off. Also, programs like CellEd.org allow for learning just through interactive internet and text instruction if internet access is a larger problem. 

Good afternoon. At Skylab Learning, we create mobile-based training programs for low-skilled frontline workers across a variety of industries, including retail, food service, hospitality, and home health care. Our programs are designed to support ELL, digital literacy, numeracy, and a variety of job-specific skills development by engaging adult learners in game- and video-based training.

While businesses are open to innovations in the space (and our user engagement data demonstrates high usage and Mission Path completion), we are constantly looking at ways to demonstrate the company's return on investment through a series of lead and lag indicators. As much as we are providing important skills support for individuals, we must show ow our programs improve business efficiencies and positively impact bottom line costs.

To help qualify and quantify benefits for businesses, we deliver a series of tools to help understand "lead" ROI indicators -- usage analytics reports to demonstrate employee compliance and completion, frameworks for noting behavior and performance, models to correlate customer feedback and ratings in relation to those who've completed our training programs and those who haven't, and activities managers can do with employees to encourage transfer and application of skills attained through the programs and job performance.

We also help businesses develop models to understand "lag" indicators, such as reduced turnover and increased promotions among those who've completed a Skylab training program.

While t's critical to develop and deploy new and innovative employer-based training programs that help frontline employees develop basic skills and expand their potential for economic opportunity, it's equally important to provide metrics and evidence that businesses require to justify their investment in such programs. We have to be diligent about proving that upskilling is, indeed, great for business.

Concerning rural areas, mobile learning can be a perfect fit if the adult education agencies were to form a network or an alliance, working together versus working independently and at times competitively. All too often agencies are duplicating their efforts when it is not necessary.

For example, let’s start with the basics, “digital literacy”. A public library or a community center are perfect places for someone to learn the ABCs of computer use in general.

Usually libraries offer literacy classes for English speakers and rely on tutors. Therefore an agency like a community college could provide training in mobile learning for the tutors in the areas of ESL, GED, Citizenship, etc. A library can also provide assistance in job training and test preparation, onsite and via mobile devices.

Other agencies in the network, such as community centers, churches and public housing also provide classes, and likewise these agencies could be brought into the network.

To use an example, I know one person who has been a house painter for many years, and is interested in learning more about the construction business. His English skills are low, though. He needs not only to learn carpentry, plumbing, etc., but also ESL, and at the same time the laws, rules and regulations that govern remodeling and house building. It is a daunting task. A network of adult education agencies could provide him with the information and classes he would need more efficiently if they combined their efforts and coordinated their work.

I think that in a rural area in particular the establishment of a network or alliance would not only work well, but also is actually necessary considering the various difficulties rural programs have. I also think that a collaborative approach is more attractive to funding foundations. It is not necessary to rely only on large employers or the government.

A community-based network would probably be more supported by the members of the community.