Focus on blended learning in companies: What is the implementation?

Introduction

A few years after its massification during the covid period, some organizations are questioning the validity of full e-learning.

For good reason, between lack of commitment by learners, inability to measure the impact of training and lack of ROI, the results of digitalization are sometimes salty. Others are taking the plunge cautiously by digitizing as they go.

Whatever the reasons, the number of organizations that conduct training courses “blended learning” or “hybrid” Is increasing. By blended learning, we must understand the establishment of a course that combines “face-to-face” and “remote” methods (synchronous and/or asynchronous). Again, with success that is at least heterogeneous on the scale of pedagogical effectiveness and ROI.

Therefore, it is appropriate to ask How to set up such a device efficiently?

It is clear that if the e-learning modality fails, it is not because it is fundamentally bad, but certainly because it often does not focus sufficiently on the transformation of professional practices, content with a sterile reorganization of information. You will agree that deporting these bad practices into a hybrid system will not change your results. It is desirable to go beyond these superficial approaches, which do not allow the resolution of concrete problems or the lasting anchoring of newly acquired skills.

This article will start from the presupposition that your ultimate objective remains to guarantee a significant Return on Investment (ROI) of your blended training in terms of operational performance. We will therefore try to provide you with actionable advice to maximize its impact.

Upstream of the system: e-learning to engage and deconstruct

We advise you to install your learners in your blended courses via an e-learning module. This will allow you to establish the necessary theoretical and practical bases. For this, it is worth following a few rules.

Indeed, many organizations make the mistake of using this step as a simple way to get rid of the theoretical part of the face-to-face. Result? Upstream e-learning consists of a collection of top-down knowledge transfer. It's not good for the engagement or impact of your learners. A more effective approach would be to take this step as An opportunity to deconstruct preconceived ideas and bad habits of your learners before getting to the heart of the matter. Make a clean sweep of bad reflexes to better transform them. In this respect, effective e-learning must give priority to the testing effect (see our article). The testing effect: training by testing yourself to learn sustainably on this subject). To do this, do not skimp on exercises in a work situation, from the beginning of the course. Coupled with immediate feedback, these exercises promote an initial anchoring of key concepts. There is no question of starting on complex exercises and a pedagogy through discovery that will be too expensive in terms of cognitive resources. No Simple situational quizzes limited to a micro-skill usually remain the right scale. Another potential advantage, with a powerful LMS like Didask , these exercises will not only bring out data quantitative but also qualitative which are invaluable in adjusting the content of face-to-face sessions.
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The heart of the system: Face-to-face to exchange, confront and practice

Once the cognitive terrain of your learners has been prepared, your expert trainer can conduct his face-to-face session by focusing on the one hand on educational activities with high added value, and on the other hand on the most problematic concepts for learners. This is how he will shape the skills development of his group. Good trainers will adopt active learning methods that encourage reflexivity, analysis, and problem solving. Their role will be different from that of a simple content provider. The effective trainer will be a facilitator, coach, able to exploit practices and interactions to distill corrective feedback and consolidate learning.

As mentioned, this essential part of the journey, in order to be sharp, must draw on qualitative statistics obtained via early e-learning to target the most critical notions/skills and thus strengthen the effectiveness of the training.

The endorsement of the system: post-face-to-face e-learning for anchoring and feedback

Beyond the training room, it is the ability to concretely apply learning in concrete and varied situations that determines the sustainability of the skills acquired. Again, we recommend that youFocus your post-face-to-face e-learning on application exercises, well-organized, which offer constructive and immediate feedback allowing the learner to consolidate his achievements in a virtual “cold” setting similar to the situations experienced. These activities should be designed to reflect the real challenges that employees face. For example, interactive simulations followed by debriefs make it possible to highlight the right reflexes to adopt and to correct errors in a concrete and sustainable way. (See our article Interactive simulation: an apprenticeship in which you are the hero)

In a second step, you can suggest to him Switch to the hot application, in a real situation. He will feel more comfortable doing so. Some platforms offer micro-challenge systems for this purpose! This is a good time to involve managers in supporting learners and monitoring challenges. The transfer of learning then becomes not only deeper, but also more automated (we are talking about Chunking), facilitating adaptation to varied professional contexts.

Closing the system: Evaluation, the last link for ROI

Measuring the impact of training is not an anecdotal step but the cornerstone of the success of the learning journey. To do this, you will deploy the sacrosanct final assessment. It offers the opportunity to link training goals to strategic goals of the company, confirming the ROI. Again, the flexibility of digital technology will allow you to easily deploy this summative assessment. Some platforms offer you the possibility of automatically generating certificates based on the grade obtained by the learner.

Finally, setting up a satisfaction questionnaire will help you collect feedback to enrich and make your blended program live.

Conclusion: Actionable ways to make a real impact

All of the strategies presented in this article are based on principles identified by Cognitive psychology research and pragmatic feedback from the field. They consist of concrete courses of action aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of blended learning courses, taking into account the cognitive needs of learners. By adopting a structured and thoughtful approach, by promoting quality interactions and by pragmatically measuring the results obtained, your organization can not only respond to current challenges but also lay the foundations for sustainable professional development, which will result in increased performance in the field. That is our common objective!
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