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Features

Published January 2009

Executing Blended Learning

  

  Eric Rodgers

Blended learning has long been a popular topic of discussion in the employee development space. Yet, for all that attention, too many learning professionals still don’t know how to successfully design, build and deliver a blended learning solution.

Intellectual capital remains one of the last true differentiators in our business world today. The ability to effectively leverage that intellectual capital is what allows savvy organizations to catapult past their competitors.

One of the best ways to ensure you make the most of your intellectual capital is through exceptional blended learning strategies. In fact, blended learning has become a mainstream focus for many learning and development organizations. If you consider how things have changed throughout your career, you will most likely agree that more focus and attention is being paid to workforce training and development than ever before — and a large percentage of that is due to blended learning.

Blended learning is arguably one of the most widely discussed subjects in the training world. It has been the focus of countless articles, books and marketing campaigns, but many organizations and their practitioners still struggle with the most foundational question: “How do you successfully design, build and deliver a blended learning solution that addresses all of your needs?”

Like many things in life, sometimes we look too hard in faraway places when the truth is right in front of us. The same holds true for executing blended learning successfully. There is no secret formula or tricky equation requiring superhuman intellect. Instead, success calls for good old-fashioned elbow grease, patience to gather the details and a thorough understanding of what gaps you need to bridge.

Blended Learning Defined
Most learning professionals will have differing opinions and definitions of the term “blended learning.” Let’s agree that for the sake of this article, we are defining it as “executing a learning strategy that integrates multiple delivery modalities (both synchronous and asynchronous) and, in doing so, creating the best possible learning solution for your target audience.”

Secondly, let’s agree that exceeding a true blended learning strategy is not just about mixing together a variety of learning media and then calling it blended learning. Blended learning is about optimizing the entire learning cycle by strategically aligning the learners with the best learning solutions for their challenges.

Avoid the Most Common (Costly) Error
Experience has taught us that sound planning and preparation are good things. So why do so many organizations and experienced professionals bypass the analysis and design phases?

The brutal truth is that many learning organizations undertake blended learning initiatives without a strategic mindset and approach. They go tactical and pay the price. They may not set out with that intention; however, they often end up at that destination point. They focus on a training event and find themselves diving into the e-learning or the content development without first stepping back and assessing the right learning tools, environment or target audience.