While most delegates could see potential uses for M-learning within their organizations, many saw considerable challenges to overcome, including:

• Investment costs of creating an enterprise-ready mobile content delivery platform.
• The need to ensure that the members of the target population all have suitable smartphones to access learning.

Some also pointed to the reluctance of more traditional employees to access learning on a mobile device. However this was countered by the observation from many group members that this situation is changing rapidly as members of the so-called 'Generation Y' spread through the workforce, demanding content that they can access at any time, including on the move.

Others argued that while the present organizational IT infrastructure does tend to make M-learning difficult, the potential business benefits justify the initial investment involved. With mobile access to the internet predicted to pass desktop access worldwide by as soon as 2013, there are strong drivers for adoption acting alongside the generational shift, not least that of competitive advantage. One major global bank was prompted towards M-learning by finding out that its competitors were using it to design and develop vital compliance training, often with a quicker turn-around time.

On behalf of LINE, Ade Derbyshire-Moore, General Manager of LINE Communications Zurich, presented a number of examples of successful mobile learning including:

• Cultural Awareness for the British Army: a media-rich course for troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, successfully -œported- from the desktop to the iPhone.
• Dealership Training for Ford of Europe: an example of high-quality video content optimized for mobile devices that allowed dealers to present new features to the customer without taking them away from the vehicle.

Ade Derbyshire-Moore said, "Like all technologies, mobile needs to be used appropriately as part of a convergent blended strategy that combines a range of different kinds of learning with communication and performance support. It is not enough to simply repurpose existing eLearning content and methodologies. This, in our experience, is the route to achieving sustainable business benefits."