How SkillBuilder Delivers Blended Learning

The Training Study Report for 2016 found that almost a quarter of all training was delivered through blended learning. This highlights the realization many organizations are having, that the human component of learning can be just as important as advances in online learning.

Why should this matter to you? Why is blended learning something you should consider when choosing an LMS for your organization?

Read on to learn more about blended learning, and how SkillBuilder can help you introduce this valuable learning method to your organization.

What is blended learning?

The increased use of technology and online learning has had many positive results, including the ability to extend the reach of your learning program, and allow learners to access information anywhere and anytime. Along with these benefits, however, it is important to remember the value of face-to-face interaction. Blended learning strikes a balance between online and face-to-face learning. It is a natural development of the growing accessibility of eLearning, online resources and the continued need for a human component in the learning experience. A blended learning approach ensures that the learner is engaged in a personalized learning experience that caters to their individual needs.

In his book "Building Effective Blended Learning Programs," author Harvey Singh defined blended learning, in its optimal state, as combining "multiple delivery media...designed to complement each other and promote learning and application-learned behavior."

Blended learning describes the way multiple teaching modals and learning methods are combined to create a new methodology. It can combine any number of different scenarios, including eLearning, mobile learning, gamification, and face-to-face interaction.

Why choose blended learning?

Most learners have unique learning styles and a blended approach is more likely to cater to those needs than a traditional classroom teaching experience. Blended learning not only offers more educational choices, but is also a more effective approach for your learners.

While eLearning is currently getting a lot of attention, traditional seminars and face-to-face workshops also serve an important purpose, by creating a safe communication space that will allow learners to truly collaborate, interact, and share ideas.

In her 1999 study, Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams, Amy Edmondson posited that people in organizations are reluctant to ask for help, admit errors and seek feedback "even when doing so would provide benefits for the team or organization." However, "familiarity among group members can reduce the tendency to conform and suppress unusual information," proving that face-to-face interaction is a valuable tool that not only creates a safe space for learners, but ultimately helps the organization itself.

Blended learning both extends the reach of your learning program, and optimizes development cost and time. Choosing an LMS that has the ability to bring blended learning to your organization just makes sense.

The importance of choosing the right LMS.

In the Training Study Report discussed earlier, 74% of organizations surveyed currently use an LMS for their training delivery. It is important to choose an LMS that has the elasticity and flexibility to provide an effective blend of learning approaches that allow you to get the right content in the right format to the right people at the right time.

Choose an LMS platform that will take advantage of the convenience and ease of online learning, as well as the benefits of face-to-face interaction and effectively deliver blended learning,

SkillBuilder is a powerful, proven LMS that you can leverage to successfully manage all types of learning, such as downloadable documents or manuals, online courses, videos and webinars, as well as the ability to evaluate learners on these different learning items. SkillBuilder allows you to create learning paths customized to individuals in your organization, and can also help you deliver a powerful blended learning platform.

How can SkillBuilder help deliver blended learning?

To fully optimize blended learning in your organization, you need an LMS that has the ability to create adaptive, personalized learning experiences through a combination of face-to-face and online instruction.

With the addition of its new seminar feature, SkillBuilder LMS has gone one step further, and now allows you to expand blended learning by administering seminars. SkillBuilder LMS allows administrators to add seminars as a learning activity, meaning the learner has to complete the seminar to gain certification. They can then schedule the seminar, add sessions, manage registrations or enrollment and keep track of attendance.

SkillBuilder's seminar feature allows you:

• Full Customization

SkillBuilder makes it easy to facilitate out-of-office seminars, or programs where you have multiple locations or facilitators. For each seminar, you can use this system to customize different sessions, dates and locations. SkillBuilder even lets you customize the delivery language and time zone!

• Convenient Tracking

Set minimum and maximum numbers for your seminars, and use SkillBuilder to track registration. Numbers are updated in real time in this program, so you always know how many learners, and which ones, are registered in a seminar at any given time.

• Ease of Planning

SkillBuilder gives you the capability to allow for self-enrollment and self-withdrawal; choose whichever method works best for your organization. Add as many dates, locations and sessions to your seminars as you need. This valuable tool allows you to concentrate on other things without having to worry about registering learners for multiple seminars -- let SkillBuilder do the work for you!

The seminar functionality helps bring blended learning to your organization, and allows your learners to access the best of both the eLearning and face-to-face worlds.

Conclusion

Almost 75% of companies will invest in, or are already invested in, learning management systems. Why not make sure you choose one that allows you to deliver a blended learning platform that will benefit both your learners and your organization as a whole? SkillBuilder is that LMS, and the new seminar feature will help create an immersive and engaging blended learning experience.

Now that you have learned a little more about blended learning, and how it can benefit your organization, take the time to explore the different features of SkillBuilder, and ask yourself, How can SkillBuilder help you deliver the best version of training for your organization?