BLENDED LEARNING
What Is Blended Learning?
Blended learning is a learning approach that combines instructor-led brick-and-mortar classroom training and online learning activities.Unlike full-fledged eLearning, the online portion of the training doesn’t replace face-to-face training with a teacher; teachers incorporate technology to enhance the learning experience and broaden understanding of certain topics. For example, they can share a link to a video and offer students to watch it at home, email their review to a teacher, and then discuss it in class.
Benefits of Blended Learning
If you’re thinking about implementing blended learning, you’ll probably want to know whether it’s worth the trouble. So, take a look at some of the advantages of blended learning for learners (students or employees) and organizations (schools, universities, or companies):
Let’s take a closer look at each of them in turn.
Benefits of blended learning for learners
Safer learning environment
If there’s anything 2020 taught us, it’s that being in one place with a bunch of other people can have its complications. And seeing those people only on the screen is unbearable. The blended approach makes learning safer by reducing the number of hours learners spend together offline but still provides them with live communication.
Interactive learning process
Theoretical materials can be challenging (if not boring). It’s one thing when learners sit and listen to a speaker for a few hours. And it’s radically different when they learn that same information by clicking on buttons, participating in a dialogue simulation, taking a game-like course, and so on. Acquiring new knowledge can be fun, and blended learning provides lots of tools to make it so.
Learner autonomy
Being able to control and schedule an individual learning path is essential for learners – and especially adults. Learning isn’t the only (and hardly the most important) activity of students and employees. Work, family, hobbies, and friends – people’s lives are made up of many facets, and learning shouldn’t become an obstacle. In blended learning, learners can access courses 24/7 – whenever they want it and have the opportunity.
Benefits of blended learning for organizations
Greater learner engagement
No business or institution wants to force its employees or students to learn, because it won’t work. You need to engage learners in learning to make it effective. And, according to this study conducted in 2019, blended learning leads to greater learner engagement by providing different opportunities and using digital tools.
Better comprehension
One of the most popular blended learning models, called the “flipped classroom,” results in better comprehension by having learners study all theoretical materials alone at their own pace and practice new knowledge and skills during in-person sessions.
Detailed analytics
How much time did it take a learner to finish a quiz? How many attempts did they make? Do they have any expiring tasks? Can you answer these questions with classroom learning? Probably, yes. But how much time will you spend collecting all this information on each and every employee or student? With blended learning, you won’t even spend a minute – a learning management system, will do everything for you. Based on learner progress, you’ll be able to see how competent a learner is at specific topics, whether they are ready to move forward or need to revise some materials, and much more.
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Disadvantages of Blended Learning
Now that you know the ‘why’ of blended learning, let’s also look at the ‘why not.’ Here are the cons of this learning approach:
Blended Learning Models
We would like to highlight six principal blended learning models here:
1. Face-to-face driver model
This model is the closest to traditional classroom training. This approach usually means that not everyone in the class will take additional online training, as it mainly targets the individual needs of those learners who are struggling or would like to go above and beyond.
2. Online driver model
This model is the opposite of brick-and-mortar studying, as it relies entirely on a digital delivery of the training. It combines both synchronous training (live webinars, peer-to-peer training sessions, etc.) and asynchronous training (self-paced study of ecourses). With the online driver model, there’s usually no need for live face-to-face meetings, but they can be arranged if necessary.
3. Rotation model
This model involves breaking a group of learners into smaller units to perform different types of tasks at different stages in turns. Some activities are online and some are realized in person. This allows learners with different types of learning styles to get the maximum benefit from the training.
4. Flipped classroom
The motto of this model is “online learning, offline application.” With a flipped classroom, lectures and practical homework elements are reversed. Learners study new content at home before the class, and in-class time is devoted to active learning and applying the newly learned skills. This can be accomplished in the form of discussions, case studies, or project work. The instructor’s task is to guide the learners by answering questions and supporting them in the application of course concepts.
5. Flex model
The Flex model allows learners to have control over their learning. Students or employees can move from one activity to another according to their needs. Activities can be both online and offline. Teachers or instructors are always on-site to instruct and help learners if necessary.
6. Individual rotation model
Here, learners also move from one station to another, but it is the teacher (or instructor) or a special algorithm that sets an individual path. Students or employees don’t need to visit all the stations – only the ones that are on their schedule.
Bottom Line
When we talk about digitalization, some of the first examples that may come to mind are Amazon or Uber, where online technology changed the market. At the same time, these online services are strongly tied to the user’s offline experience. So is blended learning; it requires you to find a delicate balance between classroom training and eLearning.
Corporate training has come a long way from apprentice workshops to corporate universities. And so has academic learning. Still, there’s no way to know for sure, a priori, whether offline learning, online learning, or blended learning will be most effective in your case. Effective training is and has always been learner-centric; whatever strategy you choose, you can’t go wrong by putting your learners above everything else and then optimizing the rest as you go.
