Employees Learn More with a Blended Approach

Students may begin with a live class in a traditional classroom and then receive the majority of the learning content through self-study workbooks or via the Internet.  They may reconvene for demonstrations, role-playing, or a final wrap-up.  Alternatively, the program may be conducted totally through phone and email communications with a facilitator who spends live call time with the participants as a group or individually.

A key success factor in blended learning environments is creating high quality student-instructor interaction, as well as student-to-student interaction.  The best programs combine directed and self-paced study while providing an effective way to answer questions, provide assessment, and collaborate with peers. 

Learners who have completed a blended learning program can be encouraged to continue participating and learning through access to white papers, knowledge bases, and update sessions.  “Alumni” can be encouraged to stay in touch, facilitating better peer collaboration, and intra-group networking.

Overcoming the Challenges: Because blended learning changes the way employees, managers, and trainers think about education, some natural challenges arise in the effort to shift behavior to the new model.  Employees who are used to more passive traditional learning may find the level of interactivity expected in a blended environment to be daunting.  Workers who have snoozed through classes in the past may be surprised at the visibility individuals have in the blended learning environment.  Collaboration, one-on-one coaching calls, homework posting, and contribution to knowledge databases and forums force students to be engaged and to participate in the learning process.

Managers also face challenges with the blended learning environment.  Traditional classroom learning means that employees are in a designated spot at a designated time.  Their managers know exactly where they are and what they’re doing.  With blended learning, employees combine scheduled calls and Webinars with self-directed study offline and virtual group collaboration.  This requires managers to trust employees to be active participants outside of a classroom setting.  Managers must be supportive of the at-work time requirements for calls, collaboration, and knowledge sharing.