The following article was published in Inside Learning Technologies [Summer 2002].

Blended Learning; fad, fantasy or future?

Over the years we have seen an increasing number of fads and trends. These have urged us to purchase videos and integrate them into our training, especially in the post-lunch 'graveyard' session. We have been encouraged to adopted open and distance learning, take our employees on 'outward bound' style development activities, measure our personalities via an ever increasing array of psychometric instruments and even to try juggling or jungle drumming as part of the self and team development process. But of all the options open to the modern training manager, none has potentially been more well-developed, well-packaged and at times over-hyped than e-learning.

Over the years we have seen the e-learning industry grow in a dramatic manner. According to IDC, the Western European market for e-learning will grow from $320 million in 2000 to $3.9 billion in 2004; substantial growth to say the least. Couple this with the fact that according to the Clinton administration, e-learning is cost-effective, enabling 30% more learning in 40% less time at 30% less cost; and you have an exceptionally compelling argument for diverting the majority, if not all of your training and development resources to e-learning. And this is what many large companies have done. Industry giants such as Cisco and Microsoft have long espoused the benefits of e-learning, with Cisco CEO John Chambers even saying that 'Education over the internet is going to be so big it is going to make e-mail look like a rounding error.' And many people have believed the statistics and the predictions, investing heavily in e-learning, expecting that it will cure all known training ills. And has it? Well frankly no, and to be perfectly blunt, it may even have caused a few more problems than it's fixed. But why should this be? The e-learning approach is so compelling from virtually every standpoint. The accountants love it as it's quicker, more efficient, reduces travel and logistical costs and is quite easily measurable. Compared with traditional training, it's just too good to miss. True; unfortunately, it's rarely the accountants who take the courses and the real learners have been left feeling that they are getting a raw deal, and to be honest they have. I love pasta but would never want to eat it all the time, so why make the assumption that e-learning will solve all your organisational training issues, as clearly it won't. Don't get me wrong; I'm not anti e-learning, far from it, I just believe that there is such a thing as the right tool for every job and e-learning is not always that tool. As Robert Pursig [author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance] puts it; 'Technology assumes there is just one way to do things and there never is.'

And so it has come to pass that many training and development professionals now realise that a mix of training approaches is probably best for their employees. This is more commonly referred to as Blended Learning. Interestingly enough, I was on a panel session at a conference earlier in the year and was asked to name two labels used within our industry which I felt were inappropriate. One of those I mentioned was Blended Learning! Why? Because I felt at the time that the term Blended Learning was misunderstood by the majority of training and development professionals and that it had been forced upon us by our American cousins in an attempt to stimulate an otherwise flagging market. I also felt the term Blended Learning did not correctly describe the component nature of the approach. Well, in hindsight I was partly wrong and partly right! On talking in depth with a number of clients it became clear that they had a very good idea of what Blended Learning could achieve for them. They understood that no one method could provide training for all people in all situations. At a macro level they understood that Blended Learning was a mix of self-study and human interaction and virtually everyone I talked to understood the need for a blend of human-led and self study within their learning organisation. Many clients were already embarking on the road of assessing each of their courses and seeing how these could be best delivered; not just from a cost point of view, but also from an effectiveness and learner acceptance point of view. Blended Learning is firmly on the map!

But why should we 'blend' learning? Why not just deliver one approach all the time and let the learners get used to it? Here are some reasons:

OK you might say; I understand that. But what do I need to do in order to make Blended Learning work in my organisation? To help you with this, I have prepared a five step plan based on the mnemonic QUEST, which you can apply to your existing courses or programme. The five steps are:

Quantity: take a good long look at each course or programme and ask if you honestly need to do this quantity of learning. It's often the case that courses contain detail, information and exercises that do not necessarily relate to the objectives and outcomes of the course. If there are any elements that can be removed, now is the time to do it.

Uniform Knowledge: take another look through the content of the course and see if any of the content could be delivered as pre or post-course materials. All too often learners are brought together on courses and the first half day is spent getting them up to the same page in the book before real group learning can begin. This is not only tiresome for those learners who already know this material; it is also additional learning to those for whom the material is new. Ensuring that much of this 'grey area' of learning is dealt with in pre-course materials will allow learners to approach the learning with uniform levels of knowledge. This not only reduces the length of any formal elements of the course, it also allows learners to take in additional information at their own speed.

As with pre-course materials, the use of post-course materials can also aid to shorten a course. Action plans and evaluation questionnaires can be easily completed outside of the formal elements of a course and technology can be used to keep learners in contact with one another, long after the course had ended.

Ensure human interaction: looking at the remaining content, ask yourself where face-to-face interaction should be used. Remember, with Blended Learning, each of the components should play to the strengths of the delivery medium. You therefore need to ensure that any component which would benefit from face-to-face delivery is delivered in that manner.

Suitable Media: look at all the media you are using in the Blended Learning solution and ask yourself if the most suitable media is being used at all times. Could a game or business simulation be used to embed learning? Could the use of coaches and mentors allow the learners to more rapidly implement their learning in the workplace? And could simple job aids be used in place of lengthy workbooks and user manuals? Each of the media you used should be challenged in this manner.

Technology: as a final check, you should now consider where technology can play its part in the solutions. In Step 2 [Uniform Knowledge], I mentioned the ability to use technology to keep learners in touch with one another long after the course has ended. You may also consider the use of technology for delivering aspects of the course which have a particular focus on product, process or procedural tasks as these often translate well to an electronic medium.

Mmmmm, I hear you say; as you do not sound convinced. Surely all this additional media will cost money and take time to prepare? Surely retaining face-to-face interventions is expensive? Well yes and no. Even simple alterations to courses could yield highly measurable results, both in terms of learning and financial. As an example, let's take a five day residential leadership course which 500 people need to attend. With some foresight each learner would be able, prior to attending the course, to access appropriate pre-course work via an intranet or internet. Through this media they could be asked to consider a number of diverse leaders including Shackleton, Churchill, Sun Tzu, Attila the Hun, Ron Dennis, Ricardo Semler and others and discover how a selection of these people approach leadership. They could also complete an online pre-course questionnaire which examines their leadership styles. They may also have access to the details of other learners on the course and be encouraged to exchange information and say 'hello'. These approaches, together with the appropriate use of media throughout the course could result in a two-day saving of face-to-face time. That could save almost 40% in logistical costs alone, without actually diluting any of the course content and whilst retaining the core face-to-face elements of the leadership course. For a 500 person course, the savings could be worth over £200,000; real savings indeed. But don't just take my word for it; the CIPD believes that e-learning is 63% more effective when combined with other forms of learning. Another recent survey showed that the use of Blended Learning within organisations would increase 278% between 2000 and 2003.

So you're hooked and you want to get Blended Learning working in your organisation but you're not too sure where to start? Well here's a tip; start with face-to-face learning. In a recent presentation I gave, 100% of the audience felt there was a predominant use of face-to-face learning within their organisation and wished to alter this. They didn't want to wholly replace the tutors with computers [thank goodness], although they did want to make more use of alternative media such as email, video, coaching, mentoring, workbooks and yes, even e-learning. Yet to reduce the reliance on face-to-face learning by implication means a major change for the organisational stakeholders and that is where the fun starts!

Within an organisation there are many 'learning' stakeholders. Some of these are:

and of course - learners themselves!

Within the same presentation I mentioned earlier, almost 80% of the respondents indicated that they were ready and able to take on the challenges for adapting to Blended Learning. Yet when asked if they were well connected to the stakeholders in their business, 100% replied 'No'. Clearly there is a gap here which needs to be addressed.

At the organisational/executive level, there are a number of issues constantly at play. These are:

In order to ensure Blended Learning is firmly on the organisations agenda, it is worth ensuring that it is correctly positioned with the above issues. Demonstrate that this is a strategic approach, one which is proactive and has long-term implications for increased learning and reduced cost.

At the managerial level you will need to internalise the benefits to be gained from adapting to Blended Learning. Ensure the managers fully understand the benefits so that they too can act as champions and make sure they understand the need to schedule time for learning within the workplace as now not all learning will take place within the classroom.

Consult with your learning designers and learning suppliers to ensure they understand what Blended Learning is and how to do it. It's at this stage that you really find out which of your suppliers are willing to work with you to achieve these changes. Ensure your designers and suppliers have an empathy with a wide variety of media. All too often I have found that designers and suppliers favour one media above all others. This is OK for specialists, but not what you are looking for in a good Blended Learning supplier. You'll also need to check that your designers and suppliers truly understand your organisation and the most appropriate media required. I can recall many years ago a supplier spending ages trying to convince me to use his products despite the fact that I said they just wouldn't work in my organisation. Eventually he asked me why I thought this. I replied that his solution required Microsoft Windows and we were only running on DOS!

Effective solutions don't have to use the latest technology. I once delivered a wonderfully effective video to all new starters welcoming them to the organisation. I was asked why I was sending out a traditional VHS cassette as opposed to a funky new CD-ROM. My response was again simple. 90%+ of our new starters had access to a VHS player in their homes; but only 15% had access to CD-ROM enabled PC's. Check that your designers and suppliers understand these issues and get them to demonstrate their experience of Blended Learning to you. If they can't; either train them or replace them.

But the two main stakeholders who will see huge changes as you adapt to Blended Learning are the trainers and the learners.

Trainers [especially internal trainers] are often the hardest hit with these changes. Initially they see their skills as being in less demand or not required all together. In reality they couldn't be further from the truth. As an organisation adapts to Blended Learning, its trainers will deliver less and less 'broadcast' learning. As a result, they should acquire the skills of facilitators and coaches as the face-to-face content becomes more complex and concentrated. They should be prepared to give up their place on the pedestal at the front of the classroom and concentrate on learner-led not presentation-led content. They should be passionate about helping learners and not about self-promotion!

For the learners the changes will be massive. Gone will be the days of attending 'broadcast' classroom events. They will have to increase their staying power, up their levels of concentration and be willing to make decisions and take charge of their learning, because in the future it will not all be done for them.

Blended Learning is not this year's fad; rather it is a return to solid application of learning. For many organisations however, the journey from a predominantly face-to-face culture to that of truly effective Blended Learning will take time and pose many challenges. There is an old Zen saying, 'The journey is the reward'; so my advice is enjoy the journey!


Jonathan Kettleborough is Managing Director of Corollis a leading provider of independent e-learning consultancy services. Jonathan is a regular online speaker at the Learning Technologies Group and will be speaking at the Learning Technologies Conference in 2003. Jonathan can be contacted on 01606 892011 or via jonathan@corollis.com