mTesting...noone is safe anymore

[Cheryl Hall]

The teachers have won. OnPoint Digital and a hand full of other tool providers have discovered how to reach out and test you wherever you are, provided you have a cell phone or other data-enabled device. They have the ability to capture responses through text messages, responses to audio prompts (think automated response systems) and HTML, XML, J2M and other formats. They also have a native application capability that allows content providers to push the app to a smartphone and users to access even when the web is out of reach (like when sitting on a plane). The president of OnPoint, Robert Gadd, used active participation to show us what we could do with technology, and I have to say, it was pretty slick. The data capture into their application was pretty quick. Within 2 minutes after completing a test/survey from a phone, OnPoint was able to show the results. Think how this could be used by marketing as well as training to deliver content. Even for those without smartphones (which is 3 billion and climbing), you could stretch the capabilities of text and audio response quite a bit. In fact, the audio response portion actually makes this a quick and easy alternative for international deployment of testing content; all you need is a native speaker to create tests that could be delivered to anyone who speaks that language.