Blended Learning in TalentLMS
Boost your training program by combining traditional learning with online training
What is blended learning?
To define blended learning it’s essential to understand the benefits of balancing both in-person and online learning.
Online learning is a proven corporate and commercial way to offer training. It allows learners to study at their own pace, location, and in a cost and time-efficient manner.
For some types of learners though, real-time in-person training works best, allowing instructors to convey the subtleties of a physical task, engage in live discussion, and evaluate their aptitude in real-world conditions.
Modern Learning Management Systems like TalentLMS let you have the best of both worlds: web and mobile-based online learning for the bulk of your courses, and classroom or webinar-based training sessions when the subject calls for them.
What is blended learning training?
By definition, Blended Learning is a combination of online courses and in-person training.
TalentLMS makes developing and implementing a blended learning model effortless and intuitive, giving you all the tools you need to create, manage, and access your blended learning training.
Effectiveness of blended learning
While regular online learning and in-person training can be equally effective, they have different strengths and weaknesses.
Studying theoretical subjects or material that the learner must memorize aligns with asynchronous (self-paced) online training. Instructor-led training (ILT) is best suited to subjects that require physical demonstration, interpersonal skills, or verbal evaluation.
The effectiveness of blended learning comes from allowing you to incorporate both of these approaches into your online training program.
Benefits of blended learning
Through online blended learning:
You can cater to both asynchronous and real-time training
You can extend your training program to cover subjects that require Instructor-led training, physical demonstration, verbal exams, etc.
Learners can ask questions, participate, and receive feedback during an ILT session
Webinars and ILT conference sessions help increase training engagement
Instructors can evaluate learner performance in real time, including verbal exams
You can schedule, promote and manage your regular online training and classroom- or webinar-based sessions through a single blended learning LMS
Blended learning strategies and approaches
Blended training can be approached in multiple ways, whether in business, higher education, or commercial training offerings.
For some businesses or organizations, it may not even be needed. In many cases, an online-only eLearning program can give most of the benefits of blended learning in a simpler package.
This depends on the kind of training required and the subjects and skills that need to be covered. The “History of England”, for example, can be taught entirely through conventional text-based online courses. “Driving”, on the other hand, not so much, even if the theoretical part of the required training can be completed without an instructor involved.
If a business, organization, or educational institution already has a classroom-based learning program, an LMS that supports blended training methods can be leveraged to move most of that training online gradually.
Optimizing blended learning strategies
Blended learning courses are also used instead of more traditional text and media-based online learning, with webinars becoming an increasingly popular method of training delivery. This is often the case, even for content that can be covered in a text-based course, as it offers a visually engaging way of learning that can be effective for certain types of learners.
Coming up with the correct blended learning models is part art, part science, and businesses will need to analyze their particular needs and training use cases, as well as their existing courses, to determine where a blended eLearning approach might make more sense over ILT training and vice versa.
Blended learning for effectiveness
Blended learning courses are also used instead of more traditional text and media-based online learning, with webinars becoming an increasingly popular method of training delivery. This is often the case, even for content that can be covered in a text-based course, as it offers a visually engaging way of learning that can be effective for certain types of learners.
Coming up with the correct blended learning models is part art, part science, and businesses will need to analyze their particular needs and training use cases, as well as their existing courses, to determine where a blended eLearning approach might make more sense over ILT training and vice versa.
Blended learning examples
Blended learning strategies can help you train your employees and provide them with the training they need.
Blended learning in higher education
Higher education institutions are naturally a blended learning environment.
Classroom-based training is part of their core competency and attraction to prospective students. Yet, increasingly, they are transitioning to the realm of online learning.
With access to experienced instructors, classrooms, and lab facilities, higher education institutions can easily produce high-quality webinars and ILT training content in general. Blended learning methods are a way to combine these and offer them as a more personalized experience to the millions of remote students participating in eLearning programs offered by conventional higher education institutions. Instead of merely studying online material, they can also participate in online sessions and interact with their instructors more personally.
Blended learning in corporate and workplace training
As stated, typical online training lessons can cover a lot of ground with regards to corporate training but aren’t a good fit for subjects that involve physical skills or interpersonal communication.
In the workplace, assembly line workers, for example, can be taught theoretical courses. However, some rounds of physical interaction with the machinery they will operate are essential.
Similarly, there are all kinds of skills that simply cannot be taught through conventional courses alone. Examples can be found in most industries, from sales to F&B service, and more.
Blended learning software platforms
A modern LMS for blended learning can help businesses and educational institutions cover both their web-based training and their in-person lessons from a single, intuitive interface.
With TalentLMS you can:
Create and manage courses with both regular eLearning and ILT units from one intuitive platform
Schedule your own webinars either with the host video conferencing tool or integrate your own native tools with API
Automatically notify learners about upcoming blended learning activities
Easily handle course registration and prevent over-booking limited capacity lessons
Boost real-time online sessions with tools like virtual whiteboards, file-sharing, real-time chat, and more
Conclusion
eLearning and Instructor-led learning are two training methods with differing strengths and weaknesses. Blended learning refers to eLearning platforms’ support for combining both types of training.
With TalentLMS’s support for blended learning, you can combine eLearning and Instructor-led training in a balance to meet your learners’ needs.
Start with a free account today, and see for yourself how this industry-leading LMS can help you take your learning program to the next level with blended learning best practices.
Train your people. Measure results. Drive growth.
TalentLMS gives you the tools to supercharge every step of your training.