3 Ways Blended Learning Benefits Classroom Training

3 Ways Blended Learning Benefits Classroom Training
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Summary: Classroom training, though impactful, is fraught with logistical and scheduling problems. To fill these gaps, it is essential that organizations include online learning technologies in their training programs. Read to find out how technology enhances the effectiveness of classroom training.

How Blended Learning Benefits Classroom Training: 3 Ways

With the advent of powerful mobile devices and high-speed internet, every aspect of our lives has been digitized. This has also influenced the way we work. With laptops, we are no longer confined to one place to work. Smartphones take this a step further, allowing us to work on the go.

The way people learn has also evolved with this technological revolution. As work culture becomes increasingly remote, and new skills are required constantly, solely instructor-led or classroom training cannot fulfill organizational training requirements.

Gathering employees under a single roof at one time, for training is very difficult. If employees miss the classroom sessions, they don’t have a concrete way to gain the missed knowledge. Even finding the right instructor, booking a classroom each time, and printing study material can become logistical hurdles for a classroom training program.

3 Ways Blended Learning Can Help You Develop Your Training

In order to fill these gaps, it is essential that organizations include online learning technologies in their training programs. This blended learning approach combines the best of digital and classroom training methodologies. It assures comprehensive training by giving the latest in the world of eLearning, keeping the traditional values of learning intact. Let’s now explore some of the primary ways in which a blended learning approach can change the face of your training program.

1. Integrated Learning

Digital technology can beautifully gel with your existing classroom set up. You can develop introductory eLearning courses around the topic that has to be covered later in the classroom. Such courses can prep learners for the classroom session that lies ahead.

You can even change the face of your classroom sessions by flipping the way you convey information. This means, instead of learning in the classroom, employees learn through an eLearning course. The classroom session can then be used for further discussions, clearing doubts, and exchanging ideas with peers and instructors.

Short and impactful digital learning videos or infographics can also be used post a classroom session to summarize the topic.

2. Mobile Learning

Integrating technology in your learning program would be incomplete if we leave mobile devices out. While developing online courses, always ensure that your vendor opts for a responsive design, so that your courses work seamlessly across devices of all screen sizes. You can even create bite-sized microlearning modules specially crafted to run optimally on the small screens of smartphones.

Micro modules convey a single learning point comprehensively, so they can be used to provide on-ground just-in-time performance support. Microlearning also greatly helps employees recollect information covered in a classroom session, that might have happened a while ago, before proceeding with a crucial task. Using the touchscreen functionality of smartphones, you can also create games that have your subject matter embedded in them for a stress-free learning experience.

3. Digital Assessments

This aspect is very difficult to replicate in a traditional classroom session. With eLearning, you can adapt any number of innovative and interactive ways to evaluate your learners for effective knowledge transfer. Create drag and drop, match the columns, pictorial multiple-choice questions, a point-based cue card game, mini-games, and the list can go on.

The best part is that with digital learning, you can effortlessly compile all the test data of your employees, and take corresponding steps to improve results. Not just your employees, eLearning also allows you to assess your training. Using feedback forms, learners can give their opinion about the training they undertook, allowing training managers to continuously improve the overall program.

So, what do you gain with a blended learning approach?

Benefits Of Using Blended Learning In Your Training Program

By opting for a blended learning approach, you can create a digitized control panel to manage your entire training program through a Learning Management System. The LMS gives employees clear visibility about the scope of classroom sessions and digital modules. It also makes scheduling easy as learners can be assigned courses and know the timings of classrooms sessions, all from one place. It also keeps track of learner progress, yields meaningful data analytics, and much more.

These are just glimpses of how technology can be used in your training program. After all, each organization is different and has unique training requirements. But, the thing that remains constant when it comes to digital learning technologies is its undisputed advantages. Let us explore some of them to view the improvements your training program will go through once you integrate technology:

1. Greater Flexibility, Greater Reach

Digital learning can be accessed anywhere and anytime, based on the convenience of your learners. There are chances that your employees might miss out on classroom sessions due to unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances. But, with digital modules, there is no need for prior arrangements or taking time out of a busy day to attend training. Hence, you can rest assured that each course will reach its designated audience. A video or webinar recording of the classroom-part of the blended course can be shared conveniently with anyone who might have missed the session.

2. Up-To-Date Information

One of the biggest drawbacks of traditional learning methods is rigidity. However, eLearning allows you to seamlessly manage all your learning content. With an LMS in place, you can easily update existing courses, create new versions, and make modifications almost effortlessly and instantly. With mobile learning, your employees can even get useful bits of information through push notifications almost instantly.

3. Increased Profitability

With eLearning, your employees have constant access to all the latest information, constantly. eLearning courses make use of attractive multimedia such as videos, animations, and infographics, integrated with learning strategies, such as scenario based-learning and game-based learning.

All of these factors, combined with the personal attention of classroom sessions result in better transfer, retention, and recollection of knowledge. Increased knowledge translates to enhanced employee skills. Skilled employees are effective in achieving goals and targets. This means the profit graph of your company is only going to go up. Skilled employees are also happier at doing their jobs, which increases employee loyalty, which means lesser employees will leave your organization.

Technology Is Great! So, How Should You Proceed Further?

Implementing technology in your learning program is only going to add positivity. You can begin by doing a thorough analysis of your learning needs and the kind of results the existing program is giving. You can then hire an experienced eLearning partner who understands your specific needs, and develops online modules, best suited for you. Experienced vendors also use Instructional Design strategies to ensure that the digital portions of your training strike the right chord with your employees. So, leave your doubts about digital technology and embrace this technological revolution.