Blended Learning: 5 Tips for Getting Started

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People often talk about the shift from classroom training to elearning as if it’s a light switch – classroom training gets turned off and elearning gets turned on. In reality that’s almost never the case.

Most organizations need to blend different types of training opportunities in order to deliver the appropriate types of learning and support to their workforce. But if you’re someone who has always worked within a classroom environment, the idea of moving to a more blended format that includes elearning can seem intimidating.

We recently asked members of the eLearning Guild Community to share their tips for making the shift from classroom training to elearning. Here are a few tips shared that can get you started with blended learning.

Start slowly and adopt a blended approach

Jeff McLanahan recommends replacing “a portion of your classroom training with eLearning” in order to ensure that the same message is delivered to the online audience that was previously delivered in a traditional classroom setting.

Flip the classroom

Stevie Rocco shares that it can be worthwhile to “put the lecture materials online and then use class time for activities and hands-on exercises.” This provides time for more productive activities and the whole process of delivering and consuming lectures become less stressful.

Enrich the learning experience with elearning

Stephen Foskett suggests that as a teacher or trainer using elearning tools, your goal should not be to hand over the teaching job to digital tools. Instead, focus on using these tools to enrich and engage everyone involved in the process.

Convert the learning into an interactive experience

Kai Niethammer discusses the importance of finding the most crucial parts of the lesson and converting them into interactive media, such as online forums, videos, and documents. It can be a brilliant way to allow enough practice, learning, and application of core concepts.

Carefully plan the transition

Russell Amundsen points out that the results you achieve through elearning can be directly dependent upon how well your transition is planned. While you continue to put more and more material online, keep using classrooms as appropriate for deeper discussion and clarifications.

Get Started with Blended Learning Today!

Blended learning isn’t new; in truth, blended learning is the standard for what training looks like in today’s digital world. Applying these tips to your own projects will help you harness the potential of blended learning for your organization.

Wondering where these tips come from? We recently asked our members to share their tips for making the shift from classroom to elearning, and our community responded with a host of great advice. We’ve curated those tips into a new eBook titled Moving to eLearning: 154 Tips on Getting Started. This eBook is available as part of your FREE eLearning Guild Membership. If you’re not a member, it takes just a couple of minutes to join and gain access to this eBook and hundreds of other eBooks, videos, and other benefits of membership.

Download Moving to eLearning: 154 Tips on Getting Started today!