Why Choose Blended Learning?
Blended learning has become something of a buzzword in recent years. For all the hype, it is notoriously difficult to pin down and define, and therefore tricky to assess its merits in any objective way. For these reasons, a seminal paper published by NETg (now Skillsoft) in 2002 is still relevant today and is often cited. It compares the results of traditional e-learning against a blended model in a repeatable experiment and therefore bears scrutiny. It found that a group of learners who received blended learning performed with 30% more accuracy and 41% faster than those who took only a traditional e-learning program.It is the fact that this experiment is clearly defined and therefore repeatable which contributes to its popularity, and also because it defines the hallmarks of a strong blended learning model. There was no industry-wide blended learning ‘standard’ model at the time of the study, and that holds true today. This is a symptom of the differing needs of each learner and the many tools and systems available. However there is broad agreement that any training model should involve real-world problems, it should build on existing knowledge in a smooth and gradual fashion, and new skills should be demonstrated clearly and simply to the learner.
TIBCO Spotfire Education’s ‘virtual’ training sessions are a live example of this blended learning approach. Our model utilizes all five of the key characteristics for success identified by this report. They are: (1) use of scenario-based exercises; (2) integration of objectives with real-world scenarios; (3) early use of the actual software being trained for; (4) access to live mentors and (5) assessments which mimic real-world tasks. This is an ideal way to teach people across large distances without incurring travel and hotel costs, plus it allows you to spread a single course over a period of several days. Even better, students still receive a two-hour live seminar with one of our professional instructors. It really is the best of all worlds, and this research shows why. In future blog articles, we hope to be able to consider the merits of traditional classroom training too, which is strongly recommended for more advanced topics or for those who prefer to learn away from their day-to-day office environment.
The full paper can be downloaded here
