#blended training

AI Powered Assessment Creation for Smarter Blended Learning by SimpliTrain 

SimpliTrain supports AI Powered Assessment Creation to make training smoother and more adaptive. Combined with blended learning, it helps teams learn through a mix of digital and instructor-led methods while receiving assessments that adjust to their performance, creating a more balanced and effective learning experience.

https://simplitrain.com/blog/ai-powered-personalization-future-of-lms-platforms/ 

FAQ 

Can you recommend an LMS that includes built-in content creation features? 

In today’s fast-paced, digital-first world, businesses and educational institutions are continuously looking for innovative ways to deliver effective learning experiences. Two popular approaches that have gained significant traction are blended training and virtual training. Both of these training methods combine technology and traditional learning techniques to create flexible, engaging, and efficient training programs.

While these two approaches are often used interchangeably, they have distinct characteristics and can be utilized in different scenarios based on the needs of the learners and the organization. This article will explore what each approach entails, their benefits, and how they can be used to create a more effective learning environment.

What is Blended Training?

Blended training, also known as blended learning, is an approach that combines face-to-face classroom instruction with online learning. This combination allows learners to experience the best of both worlds: traditional instructor-led training and the flexibility of eLearning. Blended training is highly adaptable, with many organizations incorporating different methods and technologies to suit their specific needs.

In a typical blended learning environment, employees or students may attend in-person classes for certain topics while also completing online modules, quizzes, and assignments on a learning management system (LMS). The blend of synchronous (live) and asynchronous (on-demand) learning allows participants to engage with content in a way that suits their individual learning styles.

What is Virtual Training?

Virtual training, on the other hand, is a completely online-based approach to learning. This method relies solely on digital platforms to deliver content, interactions, and assessments. Virtual training can take the form of live webinars, online courses, virtual instructor-led training (VILT), or self-paced eLearning modules.

Unlike blended training, which involves a combination of in-person and online learning, virtual training is entirely web-based, often conducted through video conferencing or learning platforms. Virtual training allows learners to access materials, attend sessions, and participate in activities from anywhere with an internet connection, making it highly accessible.

Why Choose Blended Training?

Blended training offers a range of benefits that make it an ideal option for many organizations and learning environments:

Enhanced Learning Flexibility

Blended training gives learners the flexibility to engage with materials at their own pace online, while also offering the structure and guidance of in-person sessions. This combination ensures that learners receive the benefits of both synchronous and asynchronous learning, enhancing overall engagement.

Improved Retention and Comprehension

The mix of face-to-face interaction and digital learning creates a more well-rounded experience that has been shown to improve retention and comprehension. In-person sessions allow learners to ask questions, participate in group activities, and collaborate with peers, while online learning allows them to revisit content at their convenience.

Customized Learning Experience

Blended training allows for a highly customized learning experience. Depending on the subject matter, learners can spend more time in the classroom or engage with self-paced modules. This flexibility enables organizations to tailor their training programs to meet the unique needs of employees or students.

Cost-Effective

While blended training may require some initial investment in both physical and digital resources, it can be a cost-effective option in the long run. The ability to conduct some learning online reduces the need for travel, venue rental, and other costs associated with traditional in-person training sessions.

Why Choose Virtual Training?

Virtual training offers several distinct advantages, especially when it comes to scalability, accessibility, and convenience:

Wider Accessibility

One of the biggest benefits of virtual training is that it can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. This makes it an ideal option for global teams or learners who are located in different regions. Virtual training allows businesses to deliver consistent training programs to a large number of employees without geographical limitations.

Cost-Effective and Scalable

Since virtual training eliminates the need for physical classrooms, travel, and other associated costs, it is a highly cost-effective option for organizations. Additionally, virtual training is easily scalable, making it ideal for businesses that need to train large teams or global workforces.

Flexibility and Convenience

Virtual training offers maximum flexibility for learners. They can attend live sessions or complete pre-recorded content according to their schedules. This flexibility makes it easier for employees to balance work and training commitments, which can improve completion rates and engagement.

Interactive Learning Opportunities

While virtual training is online, it can still include a high level of interactivity. Virtual instructor-led training (VILT) sessions, for example, allow learners to interact with instructors and peers through video conferencing, polls, Q&A sessions, and breakout rooms. This maintains the human interaction that is crucial for effective learning.

Blended Training vs. Virtual Training: Which One is Right for Your Organization?

Choosing between blended training and virtual training depends on the needs of your organization, your workforce, and the specific objectives of your training program. Both approaches have distinct advantages and can be effective depending on the learning environment and the desired outcomes.

Blended Training is best suited for situations where in-person engagement and hands-on practice are essential, such as when employees need to interact with equipment, collaborate in person, or require real-time feedback from instructors. This approach also works well for industries where interpersonal skills, networking, or group collaboration are a critical part of the learning experience.

Virtual Training, on the other hand, is ideal for organizations that need to scale training programs quickly, deliver content to a distributed workforce, or provide flexible learning options. Virtual training is also a great option for companies with employees working remotely or in different locations.

Best Practices for Implementing Blended or Virtual Training

Set Clear Objectives

Define the goals of your training program, whether it’s to improve specific skills, increase productivity, or meet compliance requirements. Clear objectives will guide the design and delivery of the training content.

Leverage Technology

For both blended and virtual training, technology plays a vital role in creating an effective learning experience. Use the right tools—whether it’s a Learning Management System (LMS), video conferencing software, or eLearning platforms—to facilitate the delivery of your content.

Create Engaging Content

Engagement is key to the success of both training methods. Use a mix of multimedia (videos, simulations, quizzes, etc.) to keep learners engaged. For virtual training, ensure that instructors are trained to use interactive features, such as polls and Q&A sessions, to maintain learner engagement.

Provide Ongoing Support

Ensure that learners have access to support throughout their training journey. Whether it’s through in-person mentors or online resources, providing continuous assistance is essential for maximizing the impact of your training program.

Evaluate and Improve

Collect feedback from learners and instructors to assess the effectiveness of your training programs. Use this feedback to continuously improve and update your content and delivery methods.

Conclusion

In this article, I highlight five compelling reasons why you should evaluate a blended training approach that combines classroom and online training. I also share two examples to show how you can use it to create a high-impact blended training.

What Ιs Τhe Βlended Τraining Αpproach?

As the name suggests, the term blended training, or else hybrid training, combines different learning techniques. It offers a combination that brings in the best of both forms of training, namely:

Instructor-Led Training (ILT)

Online training, eLearning or mLearning

As it offers a blend of both formats facilitated as well as self-paced, it maps more effectively to suit the learning expectations of a wider audience.

While the pressure on training budgets may often trigger conversion of ILT programs into eLearning or online training programs; it is equally important to assess if a middle of the road. That is, a blended delivery offering a combination of classroom and online training, may be the right answer.

What Is Triggering The Adoption Of Blended Training Approach Over Instructor-Led Training, Or ILT?

The push from learners is probably the biggest factor for that. This is driving the momentum to convert Instructor-Led Training, or ILTs, into blended training. If not fully online or eLearning programs.

Certainly, pressure on budgets and a need to reach a wider audience in lesser time are two other factors. Actually, these two are significant drivers from the organizational perspective.

What Are The Benefits Learners And Organizations Gain If They Adopt A Blended Training Approach Over A Traditional ILT?

Benefits For The Learners

The blended training approach is learner-centric and provides better control to the learner in adjusting the pace at which they want to learn.

It also gives them the flexibility to pick up the online resources in case they missed the ILT session or to refresh their knowledge post the workshop.

The supplementary online training provides them a self-paced learning track. Also the online resources are available 24×7 now.

The blended training offers a significantly better collaboration, including online discussions, messaging, feedback, and a platform to communicate with peers as well as instructors.

Research confirms that retention levels of online training are higher than face-to-face facilitated sessions. Therefore, blended training approaches lead to higher levels of retention for learners.

Benefits For The Organizations

From the organizational perspective, Virtual Instructor-Led Training, or VILT enables organizations to reach a wider audience in a significantly shorter time. This comes in complete contrast to the traditional Instructor-Led Training, or ILT approach.

As you convert the ILT program to a blended training mode, the seat time also becomes shorter. For instance, a 5-day face-to-face workshop may now need a maximum of couple of days of workshop. Moreover, you can balance the learning using online resources.

Additionally, the online framework enables the instructors to assess the learners’ performance online and far more quickly.

More significantly, with a blended training approach, organizations can tap into the prevailing online strategies, like Microlearning or Gamification. They can also adopt collaborative social learning to create supplementary online trainings. Usage of these approaches provides an immersive learning experience aimed at better recall, retention and application.

The supplementary online courses or resources facilitate a continued learning post the workshop.

How Do Learners Respond To Blended Training Approach?

Each learner has a different learning style and they relate differently to a given training format.

Blended training offers a broader set of options to the learners and can match a more varied set of learning styles.

Added to this, there is the flexibility that blended training provides. Even if they miss the facilitated session, they have access to the same resources online now.

Today, you can design online courses or supplementary resources to support multi-devices including tablets and smartphones besides desktops and laptops.

Particularly, online supplementary resources can be designed using a wide range of innovative formats, like Interactive PDFs, eBooks/Flipbooks, Interactive videos, and so on.

These can be accessed by learners on the device of their choice, when they need and as often as they require. All of these help the learners retain the information and re-use it when the need arises again.

How Can Blended Training Be Delivered?

Blended training solutions can be rendered in multiple ways based on the nature of training. Broadly, this maps to:

1. Virtual Instructor-Led Training, Or VILT

Here, the training is facilitated by an instructor, just like in ILT, but a virtual platform is used to connect learners who can be geographically spread out. The session integrates many online aspects like polling questions, online questions, and breakout rooms to conduct group activities. These sessions can be recorded and made available to participants as an online learning aid. The instructor can provide pre-workshop material in an online format that is accessible to the learners. Online delivery also enables the instructors to obtain feedback quickly. Since the assessments are online, the results can be shared quickly and more significantly, this data can be used to track the learners’ performance and determine the training impact.

NOTE: In this case, the primary training is facilitated or instructor-led, and eLearning or online training supplements it.

2. Blended Approach Where ILT/VILT Complements The Online Or eLearning Delivery

Certain training needs cannot be mapped readily to a pure ILT or pure eLearning formats. In fact, they need both components. A good example is an induction and onboarding program where significant parts of the training can be offered in a self-paced, eLearning format. However, to successfully induct and onboard an employee, several components of this program need face-to-face sessions. In fact, some sessions will greatly benefit with group activities.

NOTE: In this case, ILT and eLearning-based training complement each other.

Examples: How Can You Enhance The impact Of ILT By Adopting A Blended Training Approach?

Let me share two examples that will help you see the value that a blended training approach will bring.

Example 1: Features our platform eSpace, a unique online framework for offering ILT and blended learning that enables you to go beyond the traditional ILTand blended delivery to a new-age digital experience.

eSpace retains the edge of the ILT delivery and offers the benefits and flexibility of online delivery. This unique framework allows you to offer ILT or blended training through an online platform. It is a cloud-based system and works on all devices including tablets and smartphones.

You can create learning paths featuring Microlearning nuggets for blended delivery. You may also integrate Social Learning features to provide higher-impact learning.

eSpace gives you the opportunity to:

Provide Access At A Single Source For ILT Material: Learners can share pre-workshop online material before the training session. They have an ongoing access to it, both during and post workshop.

Give Instructors Control: They can define the learning path and integrate all the job aids required for training acquisition and eventually its application on the job, thereby establishing a performance gain that businesses want to see.

Communicate And Collaborate: There are several features to facilitate communication with groups and individuals.

Engage And Contribute: The tool offers different features to take feedback from participants during the training.

Take a look at this video to see the features of our eSpace platform and how it can be used to enhance the effectiveness of Instructor-Led Training and blended learning deliveries.

Example 2: For our own Induction and On-boarding program, we use a blended training approach.

Part 1 – Online Learning Path: The essential elements of induction are available to the learner through the online portal, which supports multi-devices including smartphones and tablets. The learner goes through a multi-stage learning journey. The journey features various learning resources in microlearning format.

Part 2 – ILT Supplement: At each stage of the learning journey, we do an online assessment of the learner’s progress. We also provide additional face-to-face, facilitated ILT sessions. The focus of the facilitated sessions is to push knowledge acquisition to application. We must then also ensure that the new inductee can begin contributing quickly and effectively.

The online portal features innovative approaches, including:

Microlearning

Learning paths

Social learning

Gamification

Millennial-centric designs

I hope this article gives you a balanced perspective as you evaluate the transition of your ILT programs into online training modes.

I firmly believe that a middle-of-the-road approach is often a more sensible choice if you are in early stages of eLearning adoption. It is also a better choice where learning gains are directly linked to a human intervention. If you have any further queries, please contact me at [email protected].

Also Read:

Digitize Your ILT Sessions To Increase Employee Engagement And Performance

How To Convert Instructor-Led Training (ILT) To eLearning

          Blended training, the combination of traditional on-site classroom with online self-paced training, has become very popular in the last 10 years and it can be found in very different forms and industries.

Today, we see a significant shift from on-site training to online solutions that already incorporate social features and interactive tools that are characteristic of the face-to-face approach.

Below, we share with you the 4 main reasons to opt for this type of training. Feel free to add your comments below and tell us what approach you prefer the most!

Scalability

The number of participants that you can reach only with on-site training is very limited. The blended option allows you to involve participants from across the globe and also keep up-to-date, those that did attend a live classroom but cannot do it on a regular basis.

Engagement

The live classroom is a great way to build a personal relationship with your clients, specially with the most relevant ones. Having on top of that a direct channel of communication through an online platform is essential to keep the bridge between your organization and your trainees alive.

Flexibility

On-site training as well as live-webinars have a big constrain: trainees need to commit to be present at a specific point in time. Specially when you have clients all over the world, this limitation becomes relevant. On-demand training gives them the flexibility to take the training when it is most convenient for them.

Cost Efficiency