What is Blended Learning?

chillibreeze writer — Yamini Gopalakrishnan

Blended learning – What’s in it? – Myth unveiled

Blended learning is a buzzword in today’s corporate training sector. Most of the training solution providers have started moving towards blended learning technologies. So what is this new form of learning? You probably have a lot of questions to ask. Like, for instance,

• Why do we need a blended learning solution?
• Is this something entirely different from the existing methods?
• How is it implemented?
• Are there any examples of blended learning programs?

Solutions to your questions are right here! This article will focus on answering your questions and will also share my experience in developing blended learning solutions for corporate training. To start with, let’s get on to a time machine and travel to the past to re-evaluate the reasons that led to the evolution of e-learning (Electronic Learning).

Corporate companies felt that traditional Face-to-Face training was more time consuming and wanted to shift to a more learner-friendly solution that trained their employers on the move. This led to a technology-aided training solution, with the most popular mode being online self-paced learning solutions. This helped companies reduce their training cost and the time spent in training their employees.

With the rapid development of digital technology, self-paced training is now delivered in several mediums including mobiles. Well, there is no doubt that the emergence of self-paced learning solutions has greatly helped learners by providing a more convenient, technology-oriented, flexible and time-effective solution. However, it lacks the collaboration and interaction with instructor and other learners and requires self-directed motivation. Somehow, the “apply” factor in learning was missing.

This requirement led to the natural evolution of blended learning – a more learner-centric approach, which is a blend of both the face-to-face and self-paced learning modes. The blended-learning approach attempts to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of learning by combining different instruction design methods and delivery modes. Sounds simple? But it isn’t. The real trick here lies in identifying the perfect blend.
Otherwise, the training solution will just be disjointed chunks of information.

Some of the basic factors in identifying the blend are:

• Audience profile
• Hours of training
• Budgetary requirement for training implementation
• Business requirement
• Resource availability

With these factors in mind, we need to come up with a right blended solution for the right client.

Interested in looking at some examples?

• A few hours of face-to-face training to introduce the topic, followed by a self-paced learning solution. This introduction will motivate the learners to take up the self-paced course.
• ILT (Information and Learning Technologies) program followed by a podcast with audio content on what they learnt, will serve as a reinforcement solution.
• A WBT (Web-based Training) or simulation followed by a face-to-face interactive session, where learners can discuss real-time scenarios that map to the learning.
• Face-to-face training followed by virtual labs for practicing what was learnt in a virtual scenario.
• Self-paced course followed by discussion using collaboration tools (discussion boards, blogs, expert chats).
• Face-to-face training followed by an online assessment.

We could go on and on. The real challenge here is to match the training strategies and the broad spectrum of delivery modes to your learner’s needs and client’s requirements. It involves a lot of research and creativity.

So, are you ready to take up the challenge?

 

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article.

 

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Out of 5 “chilies”, our editorial team gave this article...

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—About our writer: Yamini, “Learning is a life long process.” This inquisitive learner turned her passion into a career. She has around eight years of experience as a writer and has played varied roles as an Instructional designer, Courseware engineer, Trainer and PM. She loves writing and presently is involved in freelance writing.

 

 

 

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