Blended Learning

Blended Learning

Main idea

Learning that happens in an instructional context which is characterized by a deliberate combination of online and classroom-based interventions to instigate and support learning.

Main objectives

Self-learning modules that may be completed by the student at his/her pace and/or time to enhance/substitute the classroom instruction.
Combining various delivery methods with instructor-led instruction should extend the students’ access and choices to learn knowledge from any location until faceto-face meetings take place.
Reduce and balance costs to the minimum by combining various delivery methods that use simple self-paced materials, documents, case studies, recorded events, text assignments, and so on.

How is it used? (environment, target groups, premises, facilities, etc)

It is applied in the educational environment as well as in training settings. The combination of both approaches can happen in different forms and varies from one educational or training context to another. In this kind of environment, the student can at will select the participation mode which is based on what suits the best to his/her own study habits. In study participation, the student can thus use the flexibility brought by technologies in such a way that the study is conducted in a manner that supports the student’s study preferences. This multimodal environment supports different types of students better than lecture teaching alone. It enables to provide effective training on the latest innovations and updates while catering for different target groups and learning styles.
With mixed media options for delivering content, learners are not depend on one learning style. Instead, they have options for reading, watching, or listening to content or materials. Those varied methods can help learners absorb information at a pace or in a format they find more beneficial.

When, where and by whom was it created?

Blended learning is the latest step in a long history of technology based training. We are today in an important place, built on several major steps and learnings in technology evolution.
Technology-based training developed as an alternative to instructor-led training in the 1960s on mainframes and mini-computers going through several stages.
In the last few years some important changes have taken place. Web browsers are widespread, network access is now relatively common and computers are fast enough to display sound, broad ranges of color, and video. All these new technologies create a platform that solves many of the problems faced by the evolution of Technology-Based Training.