It combines the conventional classroom with the power of tech-enabled, self-paced, new-age learning to deliver real-time training that’s contextual and engaging.

In this article, we’ll break down what blended learning is, why it matters, and how you can use it as your L&D strategy to achieve your business goals. Further, we’ll share how SincX Learn can help you drive digital transformation in your learning programs.

What is blended learning

Blended learning is a combination of traditional classroom methodology like lectures with new-age methodologies like videos, podcasts, simulations, etc. Learners benefit from blended learning because, on one hand, they still get to interact with their instructors. On the other, they are also able to learn and practice with interactive, hands-on, and self-guided experiences.

This mix enhances retention, allows employees to practice hands-on the theory they learn, builds practical skills, and helps in maximising training ROI.

Blended learning training is an instructional approach that combines digital learning materials and activities with traditional classroom methods. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) defines it as a mix of online resources and in-person interaction. While the term often comes up in K–12 contexts, blended learning is equally effective in corporate settings. It is also commonly called hybrid learning, flipped classroom, or mixed learning.

Learners undergoing blended learning training typically access content through a Learning Management System (LMS), which can be accessed either through a website or even an app. Simultaneously, classroom engagement whether offline or virtual via Zoom, Google Meet, or webinars, adds the interpersonal component to the training. The real strength of blended learning strategies lies in this dual mode, where personalised, self-paced learning online is coupled with live interaction and guided facilitation offline.

Benefits of blended learning

With any new practice, a great way to put things in perspective is – What are the benefits? Why should we implement it at our workplace? How does this help us accomplish our business goals?  

Here’s why blended learning training is a game-changer for workplace L&D, and why it drives business goals with measurable impact.  

Inclusive Learning: Blended learning is inclusive. It accommodates diverse learning and teaching styles, offers customized content and personalized learning journeys. It mixes classic training methods with digital tools.   

Not all face-to-face training is easily translated to the digital medium. However, in most cases, it can be re-engineered in a way that complements existing training.  

Additionally, features like live sessions, discussion boards, collaborative problem-solving activities, and group projects facilitate and encourage collaboration, peer learning, and team cohesion.  

Timeliness and Scale: Modern workplaces are often distributed globally, and blended learning strategies help in scaling L&D across geographies. Technology allows L&D teams to address issues related to travel costs, scheduling conflicts, and time-zone differences, ensuring anytime-anywhere access with high levels of engagement and and minimal productivity loss.  

Retention, Engagement, and Feedback: Blended e–Learning creates a buffet-style approach to training, which empowers learners to choose their pace of engagement with the content. They may decide if they want to revisit content, test out a familiar topic, seek support from an instructor, or gain hands-on practice through simulations, demos, etc. Further, LMS reporting offers real-time feedback to track progress and close gaps and refine training.  

Technology: Blended learning solutions merge online and offline tech for agile, on-demand, device-agnostic access to content across a variety of devices including computers, tablets, phones. Instructors can adapt the training curriculum to latest trends, whereas automated reporting delivers data-driven insights regarding learner progress and program success.  

Cost and ROI: Like any business process, the success of blended training initiatives must be measured by the cost and the ROI of such initiatives. While offline training seems cheaper at the face value, it incurs hidden costs like downtime, instructor fees and logistics.  

Blended learning strategy delivered superior ROI because reduces these costs and offers long term cost-saving through offering reusable content and economies of scale. 

Common blended learning strategies

There are various kinds of blended learning models depending on learner needs, the technology, and most importantly, instructional goals. Here’s a short summary of some common approaches used in blended learning training.

Flipped Classroom – Learners study the instructional content on their own before class. The in-class time is used for discussions, group projects, and peer learning.

Rotational Model – Learners switch between training methods like like independent study, online activities, face-to-face instruction, and group activities. Rotations may be scheduled or self-paced, depending on the learner’s role and logistics. Common examples include learning stations, online training labs, and flipped classrooms

The Driver Model – This may be both online or offline. Learners engage and interact with an instructor face-to-face or by using chat, email, and message boards. This allows instructors to support learners where needed. The online driver model, however, lacks personal interaction, even though it allows for flexibility.

Flex Model – This blended learning training approach gives learners control over their learning journey, combining online and in-person support as required. Employees can access the content at their convenience, and instructors can step in to support them whenever requested or needed.

Gamification – This is one of the most effective ways to motivate learners in blended learning training. It uses gameplay elements like points, levels, certificates, badges, etc. Learners get into a playful but competitive and motivated mindset and end up engaging with the material more than they otherwise might.

Online Lab – Among blended learning solutions, online labs are one of the most effective tools. They are entirely digital with little or no instructor interaction. It takes place at any stage of a training — before, during, or after. Usually, it allows learners to use microlearning on any device of their preference.

Self-Blend – There is also supplemental content like white papers, e-books, webinars, industry blogs, tutorials, podcasts, etc., which learners can access on an ongoing basis as and when required. A robust LMS allows the L&D teams to bring all of this under one roof.

As is obvious from the above examples, the blended model is not always about entirely replacing classroom training. It is about accentuating and enriching the traditional training models. It is about making adaptations for training to be easy to access, convenient, inclusive, and more practice-oriented.

So, how do you get started?

Implementing blended learning at your workplace

Blended learning is not an approach adopted only by big enterprise companies like Intel, Boeing, etc. Even small and mid-sized businesses like research firms and service companies can use it to plan their training interventions.

Implementing blended learning initiatives can be both tough and easy, depending on your expertise in L&D as well as tech. It is ideal to partner with implementation experts like Sincx Learn, while your own team focuses on how they want to use blended learning strategy to achieve your business goals. Here is how to go about it.

  • Consider your training objectives, your larger business objectives, what your training aims to provide, and what your learner needs look like. Most likely, you will already have insight into this.
  • Next, use your experience, seek support from instructors, and identify challenges that you’re facing. This is your starting point.
  • Identify which segments of the instructor-led training sessions you can take and adapt as e-learning so that learners can learn and practice on their own time. Moving course content to digital modules also augments instructor-led sessions, allowing instructors to concentrate more on the application of knowledge or on more complicated tasks. The online learning can provide the “what” while the instructor-led content can focus on the “how.”
  • Use contemporary instructional design approaches in your blended learning solutions to include demos, videos, simulations, etc., where necessary.
  • It is always advisable to use a system that can help you track both offline and online interventions. Typically, a Learning Management System (LMS) can help you take reports from all teaching methods equally and track different training metrics.
  • When you work with both L&D and tech experts, you and your L&D leaders can choose which blended teaching models work the best for you — flipped classroom, driver model, rotational, or flex, etc. This choice depends on various factors like your target audience, your training objectives, available resources, and any logistical considerations that you might have.
  • While technology, platform, methods, and mediums are important, shifting the employees’ mindset is the most important. If your team (leaders, managers, trainers, learners, and all other stakeholders) are not aligned with the change in your L&D approach, your blended learning training initiatives may not be as successful as you wish for them to be. So, make sure all stakeholders are aligned with the transformation.

Choosing the right implementation partner

At SincX Learn, we strongly believe in choosing an L&D implementation partner wisely and after thorough research. This allows you to address not just your current training needs, but also to plan for future needs as your business evolves. Here are some key questions that we recommend asking your blended learning implementation partner.

  • How can they help you in achieve your training objectives?
  • What technology and infrastructure will they use and how easily it can be implemented?
  • What platform, medium, and teaching methodologies can they implement now and in future?
  • How much time will it take to implement a blended learning initiative at your workplace?
  • How can the initiative be scaled should there be a need?
  • What is an ideal timeline to see visible results?
  • How much can they automate the platform for you? This facilitates in automation and data-driven report generation.
  • How are they going to implement assessment of trainees, feedback collection, and measurement of training effectiveness?
  • Logistics and commercials.

Whether you implement blended training in-house, or with us at SincX Learn, your organisation needs to be prepared to face the common challenges while implementing blended learning programs. Your implementation partner can be a great support in handling some of these. For example, technology adoption, technical hiccups, content integration issues, and measuring success.

At SincX, we are happy to show you how blended learning strategy can help you combine the strengths of both traditional and online learning methods, and give your learners a more engaging learning experience.

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