What is Blended Learning?

You might have heard about blended learning: professional training experts rave about it, and it has featured on the agenda of every digital transformation conference for some time. Want to know what all the hype’s about? We’ve produced a handy infographic to help explain.

What is Blended Learning?

What better way to explain the complexity of blended learning than by using an infographic? Explaining technical terms in simple language isn’t an easy task.

But infographics can come in handy by conveying a simple message quickly, without overwhelming the reader with lots of complicated words. The graphic here demonstrates how blended learning combines all the advantages of distance and face-to-face learning, therefore providing an optimised training solution.

The advantages of e-learning

• It’s more accessible: the learner can access their training course whenever they like from a computer, smartphone or tablet.
  
  
• It reduces training costs: thanks to e-learning, the company can train a vast number of learners at a lower cost. Although an LMS platform represents a considerable upfront expense, it will pay for itself in the long run. For more information, you can read our article on this topic here.
  
  
• It saves time: the fact that the learner can access the course whenever they like saves a considerable amount of time for them and for the company, too.
  
  
• It tracks learners’ progress: an LMS platform allows administrators and trainers to access data on their learners and training courses and analyse certain metrics (such as the number of registered learners, time spent, scores, etc.).

The advantages of in-person training

• It offers a social dimension: this is certainly the main advantage of in-person learning when compared with distance learning, as it helps to maintain a link between learners and trainers. This is also the reason that, despite all that it has to offer, digital training can never be 100% complete without the face-to-face element.
  
  
• Learners can gain hands-on experience: in-person training consists of a trainer and one or more learners. Being together in the same place is conducive to running practical exercises, workshops or simulations, which are more impactful in person than in a virtual classroom.
  
  
• Learners feel connected to others: in-person sessions enable learners to feel motivated and inspired by others. This sense of belonging can be more difficult to replicate in a digital training environment.
  
  

Digital technology clearly makes professional training much easier. While face-to-face training has innate elements that are difficult to reproduce in a digital environment, these elements remain essential for effective learning. That’s why, more often than not, blended learning offers the most comprehensive learning method – and therefore the most effective one.