“Any fool can learn. The point is to understand” A. Einstein
The main purpose of all training activities, independent of the training topic, audience and strategy used, should always be to allow people to understand the content they are studying in order to make it part of what will become the student’s knowledge - i.e. for learning to actually take place!
Nowadays technology offers many ways to help people really understand and learn, rather than simply going through the motions of learning (and sooner or later forgetting) training material. While many find elearning a very useful and efficient instrument for self-development and professional training, sometimes it’s not enough. That’s the reason why blended learning was born.
Why blended learning?
The first and most important reason for using a blended learning approach is to have a mixture of both offline and online activities, with the aim of getting the best of both strategies. So for example we could have a trainer sending preparatory material to students using the company’s learning management system, in order to give students the chance to prepare at their own pace and to give them specific support as and when required. At this point classroom activities become more effective as a reinforcement of the online learning activity that’s already taken place.
Moreover using a blended learning approach you can simplify your course’s logistics. Imagine a class of 200 students and a number of seminars. Managing such a situation is complex on a number of levels, with issues ranging from finding a suitable day and class (physical space) to printing documents for so many people. By using a blended approach you can easily run a few seminars live, in class, and the remaining ones by using a videoconferencing app, you can also distribute your class materials through the Learning Management System (LMS), which is both simple and more ecological. After all of your training activities have been performed you can finally use the LMS for tests, surveys and to issue certificates.
Another very important reason for using this approach is the chance to manage all of your training activities with a centered management tool: your LMS. For example, by using a Classroom App (there is one that has been developed by Docebo) you can easily set up your live training by selecting the location, date, class material and more. When dealing with complex learning paths, these kinds of features are fundamental in order to help your students not to get lost; tools like a unified Calendar will make sure no one is missing training sessions whether online or offline.
Corporate blended learning in action - a real life example
A good practical example of a blended learning approach is the Autodesk Certified Instructor program. By using a smart LMS, Autodesk was able to retain its very specialized and high quality classroom training, whilst adding extra key elements such as assignments (videos recorded by the learner to demonstrate their new teaching skills). You can examine the characteristics of this training program in depth by reading E-Learning Case Study: Autodesk