6 Advantages Of Using Blended Learning In Your Organisation

6 Advantages Of Using Blended Learning In Your Organisation
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Summary: Learning in the workplace doesn’t need to sit solely in a classroom or on a screen. Blended learning provides your employees and your L&D teams with choice and flexibility, alongside a wide range of other benefits.

Using Blended Learning In Your Organisation And How That Benefits You

There is a wide range of factors at play when it comes to learning engagement in the workplace. Perhaps the most important is how your learning is delivered. With a huge choice available for the modern L&D team to implement, it may seem counterproductive to limit your learning to one particular style.

What Is Blended Learning?

Blended learning is an approach to training that involves the use of eLearning, mobile learning, classroom-based, and face-to-face instruction. When implemented successfully, it can be seen to increase engagement, improve flexibility, boost morale, and encourage collaboration between employees.

What Are The Benefits Of Blended Learning?

1. Increases Learning Engagement

Blended learning allows your employees to tailor their learning experience to them. Combining cross-device eLearning content with classroom-based and face-to-face training is a fantastic way to increase engagement across the board. Shaking things up and providing multiple ways to access the information they need, when they need it, makes it more likely your workforce will engage in the learning initiatives you have put in place. Attention spans are decreasing, so in order to maintain good learning engagement levels, you need to make learning work on your employees’ terms.

2. Improves Flexibility

Using a blended approach to learning encourages greater flexibility in a number of ways. Not only does it allow your learners to engage in a variety of different materials, the flexibility of cross-device learning means that they can work learning into their working lives. Demand for productivity is increasing, and learning can sometimes be left by the wayside. Improving the flexibility of learning is a great way to improve completion rates and employee interest in learning in the workplace as a whole.

3. Provides More Reference Material

One of the best ways to approach blended learning is to make as many of your materials accessible in as many ways as possible. Improving this accessibility is key for a few reasons. Firstly, it allows you to meet the needs of more of your learners (there is no one size fits all when it comes to learning). Secondly, it encourages your workforce to engage in point-of-need and on-demand learning, allowing them to refresh their knowledge or learn a new skill as and when they need it in a manner that suits their current circumstances.

4. Encourages Collaborative Learning

Providing a mix of learning styles encourages a more collaborative style of learning. Combining technology, for example in webinars or Skype calls, with mobile or eLearning and face-to-face interaction in workshops creates a dynamic learning environment perfect for collaborating with colleagues. Combining technology with face-to-face learning techniques in the same training session can also be a great way to ensure all of your learners are actively engaged in the experience. The more your workforce are actively involved in their training, the more of the information they will retain.

5. Boosts Morale And Productivity

Providing choice and freedom goes a long way to improving morale in the workplace. Using a blended approach to learning means you need to place trust in your employees to take charge of their own learning in a way that works for them. Using a diverse range of learning techniques also allows you to further understand what really works for your employees in terms of engagement and information retention.

6. Meets The Needs Of More Employees

One of the most important things in Learning and Development is understanding that a “one size fits all” policy to learning simply doesn’t work. As the famous saying goes, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life feeling stupid. Blended learning allows you to adapt your training to the needs of as many learners as possible. Great eLearning content is adaptable for a wide range of devices and situations, allowing you to meet the needs of more of your employees.

Conclusion

The use of blended learning within your organisation comes with a wide range of benefits. From boosting morale and productivity through to providing more flexibility, blended learning is proven to increase learning engagement in a wide range of businesses and industries. With the use of effective, adaptable eLearning content, you can meet the needs of more of your employees with every learning initiative you put in place.