Welcome to Unpacked: Totara Thursdays, where each week we explore one Totara feature and its impact on modern learning strategy.
Why Mobile matters in Learning Strategy
Picture a frontline employee waiting for their next shift to start. Instead of sitting in a classroom or logging into a desktop, they use a few spare minutes on their break, on the road, or between client visits to complete a short module. A quick notification reminds them of a pending course, and even without an internet connection, they progress toward a certification. That moment of learning isn’t an interruption, it’s a continuation of their development pathway.
Workforces today are increasingly dispersed, mobile and time-constrained. Learning needs to move with them. Mobile learning has become an essential link between development and performance, not a convenience, but a driver of real impact. That’s where Totara Mobile plays its part: keeping learners connected, motivated and advancing along their pathways, wherever their work takes them.
Feature Overview: What Totara Mobile Offers
Let’s walk through what Totara Mobile offers:
Anywhere, anytime access: Learners can open the app on iOS or Android, view their courses, programs and certifications, and continue learning independent of location or device.
Offline SCORM and course downloads: Critical for teams in low-connectivity zones or on the move, the app supports downloading SCORM packages, full courses or modules ahead of time, complete offline, and sync progress when back online.
Push and personalised notifications: To keep learning momentum alive, users receive mobile notifications about required training, progress reminders or manager-actions.
Customization and branding: The app can be styled with your organisation’s branding, login experience aligned to your LMS, and content visibility controlled by role and permission.
Mobile-friendly UI & search/self-enrolment: Learners can discover content, self-enrol via catalogue, search and filter easily from a mobile interface, meaning the pathway to learning is simpler.
Strategic Alignment: Why Totara Mobile Matters for L&D
From the L&D leader or HR executive perspective, Totara Mobile isn’t just a feature add-on, it’s part of a strategy to link learning investment to organisational performance. Here’s how:
Pathway continuity: With mobile access, learning doesn’t stall because of device, location or time constraints. Staff can begin or resume courses outside the desktop environment, which reduces drop-off and keeps people on path.
Performance-enablement, not just compliance: For enterprises that run compliance programmes, certifications or career development tracks, mobile delivery means training can happen in the flow of work. It’s no longer “do training then work” but “train while working”, closing the gap between learning and doing.
Broader reach, deeper engagement: Workforce models are increasingly hybrid, remote or field-based. Traditional training models may miss these groups. Mobile ensures learning inclusivity and extends the LMS footprint into parts of the workforce that were underserved.
Data-driven impact: When more learners engage — and do so regularly — tracking completion, progress and outcomes becomes more meaningful. Mobile supports metrics that matter to the C-Suite: time-to-competency, certification rates, learning ROI.
Brand-consistent experience: From an HR/management viewpoint, the learning app becomes part of your employer value proposition. A well-branded mobile learning experience helps support culture, internal mobility and talent development.
Practical Application: Illustrative Examples
Here are two illustrative use-cases of how organisations might deploy Totara Mobile:
Example 1: Retail chain frontline team — A national retail chain uses Totara Mobile to ensure sales associates and store staff complete product knowledge, compliance and onboarding modules during off-peak hours. Courses are downloaded overnight when Wi-Fi is available; associates complete training on their breaks or commutes. Push notifications remind them of upcoming certification deadlines for new product lines. The result: higher completion rates, faster time to sell new products, fewer missed training windows.
Example 2: Healthcare field staff — A healthcare services provider has staff working in outpatient clinics and mobile units with intermittent connectivity. Learning modules (e.g., patient safety, data privacy, equipment handling) are accessed via the app, downloaded when connected, and completed offline during shifts. Managers receive alerts when key trainings are pending. The outcome: improved compliance, less disruption to patient-facing time, and better alignment of learning with operational performance.
Impact & Takeaways: Turning Features into Strategic Value
What does all of this mean when you connect the dots from mobile features to enterprise outcomes?
Increased completion and certification rates: Fewer barriers (device, location, connectivity) mean learners stay on the pathway.
Shorter time to competency: Mobile lets learners bite-size training into their workflow; the gap between enrolling in a programme and being fully capable shrinks.
Better engagement of mobile/remote workforce: When you bring learning to the point of work rather than bringing workers to the training, you engage previously hard-to-reach segments.
Stronger alignment of training and performance: With training embedded into mobile workflows and tracked via your LMS, you move from “training completed” to “performance improved”.
Cost-efficient scale: Mobile delivery can reduce the need for physical classrooms or desktop-only learning time, thus scaling your training reach with less incremental cost.
Cultural uplift and brand value: A modern mobile learning experience reinforces the message “we invest in our people everywhere”, which supports talent retention and employer brand.
Reflection Prompt
Consider your current learning ecosystem. Where are the friction points in your workforce’s pathway to learning? Are there teams or roles who struggle to access training because of device, location or bandwidth constraints? What could happen if you removed that friction and gave them a mobile-enabled path to development and performance?
Further reading
Totara Mobile App – Totara Learning
Totara Learning. Mobile Learning LMS App.
Available at: https://www.totara.com/mobile-learning-lms-app
Totara Mobile App: 5 Reasons You Need It – Hubken Group
Hubken Group. 5 Reasons You Need the Totara Mobile App.
Available at: https://www.hubkengroup.com/resources/totara-mobile-app
Totara Help Documentation – Mobile App Guide
Totara Help. What is Totara Mobile?
Available at: https://help.totaralearning.com/display/TH16/Totara+Mobile
Totara Learning – Offline SCORM and Mobile Learning Features
Totara Learning. Offline Learning and SCORM Player for Totara Mobile.
Available at: https://help.totaralearning.com/display/TH16/Offline+learning+and+SCORM+player