Before I had heard the name ‘Blended Learning’ I had been operating under that learning style for years; from one resource I could easily grasp one aspect of business while trying to learn that same concept from another stymied me.
At the same time the thing that motivated me may have been how easy it was to access at the time or how quick I needed the information or training.
Sometimes it may look like this type of learning incorporates distinct opposite methods, like whether your experience is online or with another person, someone giving you direction or taking things up on your own, or possibly formal versus informal. The underlying purpose is so that you can achieve the goals of the business and your individual role within that purpose.
What might blended learning do for you?
Allison Rossett, Ed.D has this to say:Capitalize on the resident smarts in your organization: Blended learning presses people and organizations to find, store, stir and share what they know.
Converge learning and work: Instructors and managers have good reasons to worry about transfer when employees go to training and return to work. This is less worrying in a blended situation because blending insinuates learning, information and support into the workplace. Got a question? You can look it up online. Got a problem? Chat with your manager or share it with an online community. Eager to get better at personnel management? There is a course you can take and a pre-assessment that will make certain you are ready for that course.
Promote connections and conversations: Blended learning encourages the organization to extend lessons and conversations beyond the classroom and into the workplace through coaching, e-coaching and online communities.
Provide consistent and updated messages: Instructors are a great resource during training, but their messages sometimes differ and their smarts and enthusiasm depart after class. Technology, on the other hand, can deliver standardized messages consistently, tirelessly, swiftly, repeatedly, patiently, around the globe. Online modules, knowledge bases and archived presentations do not get jet lag.
Nurture independent habits: Employees in blended programs can participate in online communities, seek out lessons and answers as needed, and enjoy interaction, guidance and encouragement from peers, experts, supervisors and coaches. For those who are reluctant to turn exclusively to independent learning, blending anchored in the classroom can pave the way.
Improve performance and control costs: Studies have reported increased cost-effectiveness and productivity for those using a blended approach as opposed to e-learning alone. Other studies have reported enhanced employee retention and reduced training time for blended approaches. In addition, online resources can be easier and cheaper to update and distribute.
Learning in this way changes the way we manage and work as employees. As we move away from one way of learning to numerous, responsibility and results transfer into the hands of the managers and workers rather in a top-down order from the top. That always is a more productive way of doing business.
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