Blended learning in corporate learning has been one of the most widely discussed and implemented practices of the past few years. But it’s not an entirely new phenomenon. In fact, the term blended learning was first coined in the late 1990s and refers to “the thoughtful integration of classroom face-to-face learning experiences with online learning experiences.”

The COVID-19 pandemic brought blended learning to the forefront of conversation nationwide and has continued since. Blended training approaches have been increasingly promoted and adopted by school systems and higher educational institutions across the United States. However, these environments and organizations are not the only ones that realize the value of blended learning solutions .

Boasting several distinct advantages to traditional methods of employee learning, blended training has recently seen a dramatic increase in adoption by businesses and other organizations as a way to train, reskill, and upskill workers to boost employee retention and productivity.

In fact, some 43% of training hours were delivered with blended learning techniques in 2021, up from 23% the year prior, according to a survey of businesses in Training’s 2021 Training Industry Report. Additionally, 56%of survey respondents indicated they plan to return to some classroom training while maintaining some of the remote learning instituted during the pandemic.

What Is Blended Learning?

Blended learning is a corporate training solution that combines in-person instruction with eLearning content and training tools. Blended, multimodal, or hybrid learning focuses on traditional classroom-led sessions, communication, and digital resources to maximize knowledge recall and promote skills development. This hybrid training approach balances self-paced custom eLearning courses with facilitated sessions, leveraging the benefits of both methods.

Blended Learning Best Practices

Combining custom eLearning with in-person training offers a practical approach, providing quality and flexible training with a clear return on investment in time and money. Adhering to blended learning best practices ensures the effectiveness of this training solution. Hybrid training best practices include:

• Defining precise objectives: Learning goals should be outlined with measurable benchmarks to ensure you are meeting objectives.
• Taking a learner-focused approach: Your employees should be at the core of a multimodal learning approach. Prioritize their learning preferences and needs when designing eLearning courses to promote engagement and improve employee recall. 
• Aligning with organizational goals: Blended training should address skills gaps and improvement areas to support your objectives. 
• Evaluating its effectiveness: A vital aspect of hybrid learning is tracking your efficiency in training your workforce. Key areas to consider include monitoring employee engagement, pinpointing delivery improvement areas, and evaluating knowledge acquisition. 

Blended Learning Examples

Some examples of blended learning include:

• Live online and in-person training: A live, instructor-led virtual classroom that allows for the personal attention of an in-person classroom but is accessible online, from anywhere, coupled with periodic in-person training.
• eLearning content and in-person training: In-person classroom training supplemented with custom eLearning videos aimed at conveying information and providing training unique to a business’s needs.

Blended Learning Advantages and Considerations

By combining virtual and online learning approaches with face-to-face, in-person instruction, blended learning models are able to deliver the best of both worlds in terms of employee learning and corporate training.

Advantages of Blended Learning

There are many benefits of blended learning, including it being a powerful corporate training tool. When drilling down on the advantages, we see that blended learning:

• Increases Effectiveness

o  Blended learning allows learners to complete certain sections of training using online resources, saving time in the classroom by enabling assessment of learners’ understanding after the fact. In addition, blended training can incorporate a variety of different learning approaches and permits the curriculum to be customized to employees’ core learning styles, whether visual, auditory, reading/writing, or kinesthetic.

• Boosts Engagement

o  A blended learning model breaks the monotony of typical corporate training, giving learners a variety of digital tools and supportive resources to gain knowledge and truly retain information. Such a model provides a truly interactive learning experience, increasing learner engagement by providing different options for self-study and thoughtfully combining digital and real-world training techniques.

• Provides Greater Flexibility

o  Blended learning approaches give managers and employees flexibility and convenience, and they empower employees by letting them learn at their own pace using digital tools. Learners can re-visit microlearning lesson videos and take online assessments at their own pace to ensure they retain the material.  

• Decreases Costs

o  There are many costs associated with in-person, traditional classroom training, including expenses for travel, transportation, lodging, and meals. IBM estimates that almost 40% of classroom training costs are spent on travel and lodging. Business leaders and executives can cut costs and increase return on investment by using a blended learning model for a company’s corporate training.

Considerations When Adopting Corporate Blended Learning

Blended learning has many benefits, but companies may face a few challenges in implementing it:

• Resource dependence: An organization may require more financial and human resources, making developing and implementing hybrid training difficult. Having an effective blended learning solution takes investment. 
• Technical challenges: One technical challenge may include employees needing to be technologically savvy to navigate the online learning environment effectively. An organization may require more IT support and infrastructure to assist learners when issues arise. 
• Resistance to hybrid learning: Traditional employees and managers may be unconvinced of the benefits of hybrid or eLearning,and prefer to stick with instructor-led training.
• Consistent quality training: Keeping eLearning content relevant is a crucial component of blended learning. Training should be consistent, and evaluation and monitoring must be continuous.

Overcoming these challenges can be as simple as partnering with a reputable learning and development organization with the ability to customize eLearning development and in-person training. A skilled training solutions partner will help you create a comprehensive blended learning and development plan, provide valuable, relevant eLearning content and courses, and help you foster continuous learning. 

More Statistics Around Blended Learning

Blended learning is a versatile and effective corporate training solution. Here are additional interesting statistics about this multimodal learning and development approach:

• According to Training Magazine’s 2021 Training Industry Report, the average company in the U.S. spent $1,071 per employee last this year on training costs.
• A recent Gallup poll shows that 45% of full-time employees in the U.S. work from home, whether all of the time or part of the time. And a May 2021 Mercer study found that 70% of companies said they were planning to adopt the hybrid work model. As more and more U.S. employees are able to work remotely, blended learning will only continue to grow.
• A 2019 study on blended learning found that where human interaction was present in a blended workplace learning program, it was reported to be linked with more active behavioral engagement, higher cognitive engagement and stronger and more positive emotional engagement than where human interaction was absent.

Blended Learning Solutions With Intellezy

Blended learning is a powerful approach to corporate training, learning, and development that has several clear benefits for businesses. Intellezy with our learning management system, can help your organization implement a customized blended learning approach by leveraging our 30-plus years of expertise in learning and development. Whether you want live virtual training led by an expert instructor or you prefer to have employees train and learn via the most up-to-date, focused custom eLearning videos, Intellezy can work with you to achieve your ideal blended learning solution.

Connect with us online to explore how we can help implement blended learning into your corporate training.