Want to access your favorite social media channel on your phone? There’s an app for that.
Want to know the weather tomorrow? There’s an app for that.
Want to avoid traffic jams? There’s an app for that.
Want to read the menu in a foreign language when travelling? There’s an app for that.
It seems that There’s an app for that gets its way into every conversation about solving any kinds of problems. From trivial uses like games and silly pastime activities, to more serious ones, like monitoring body functions for sick people, or learning new languages — and everything in between — mobile apps have conquered all the smartphones. And along that, they have conquered all the aspects of life of smartphone owners.
It seems that everyone around us owns a smartphone, so it’s easy to assume that we’re all surrounded by apps. All the time, everywhere. Including in the workplace. The mobile employee couldn’t reach high productivity without some of them.
Currently, there’s an app for almost every aspect of the workplace, and soon there will be even more. Professional learning and development get quite a lot of attention from app developers, since modern employees put a “high importance” tag over the possibility to grow in their careers. And what better way of career growth there is besides continuous learning at work?
Companies need to pay attention to this wave of mobile apps for professionals, and tap their potential for business success. Here are some L&D apps that make the lives easier for employees/learners and trainers/instructional designers alike.
7 + 1 learning and development apps for businesses
The following apps can be useful for employees who want to progress in their careers by improving their business skills, L&D professionals who need to keep in touch with the latest news and trends in the industry, and for anyone who wants to increase his/her productivity at work:
- Udemy for Business. This is the offspring of Udemy, an app with millions of users and an advanced course library on many many subjects. Plenty of courses respond to the specific needs of professionals around the world, hence the creation of this app especially for businesses. While the app itself is free of charge, on both Google Play and App Store, some courses fee may be applied.
- SkillPill. This is also a free app, that works well on iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows phones. It is a great example of micro-learning and bite-sized content, providing short videos covering key business concepts. Learning new stuff for work is as easy and as fast as taking a pill, and this makes its users love it.
- ATD trainer toolkit. This app is especially helpful for anyone designing training courses. It offers tens of classroom and virtual training activities — some free of charge, others need to be purchased — created by expert facilitator, speaker, and author Elaine Biech. The app also gives its users access to dozens of articles and book excerpts on proven training tactics and related subjects.
- ATD publications. Created by the Same Association for Talent Development, this app offers tons of information on trends, insights, best industry practices, or talent development news. Also, it allows users to access a variety of ATD publications. The app is free, and it works well on both iOS and Android.
- Chief Learning Officer Magazine. As the name suggests, this app provides valuable resources for CLOs, and anyone with an interest in the L&D industry. Users have access to insightful articles on industry trends, training development, and instructional technology, to name just a few.
- Lynda. LinkedIn’s learning app for professionals, Lynda offers over 4,000 video tutorials on a plethora of subjects. Users can learn new business skills, from the most technical to the most creative. The app has some free courses for non-members, and a 30-day free trial. Subscriptions start from $19.99, and there are special features for working groups of more than four people.
- Box. This is a productivity app that allows users to securely store and share all sorts of files, edit business documents, add comments, assign tasks, monitor customer activity, and even more. It offers 10GB of free cloud storage, and it is the winner of the PC Magazine’s Ediotrs’ Choice Award.
- MATRIX LMS. You’re reading a list of L&D apps for businesses on the Business Blog, so of course the MATRIX LMS app found its way to this list! The app allows its users to access the full features set of our learning management system, create courses, connect with students, track their progress, share resources, and even sell courses. It is a free app, and it’s available both on Google Play, and on the App Store.
And those were the 7 + 1 learning and development apps for businesses. What would you add to this list? Share your opinions in the comments section below.
