While Instructor-led training offers rich interactivity, eLearning has
advantages in cost structures. With this realization, organizations are
increasingly opting for hybrid learning-also referred to as the blended
approach. Deciding the right hybrid learning solution is very critical.
Let us begin with the choices that we have:
- Selecting the media for delivery-options can be classroom trainings, WBT,
CBT, chat, email, Webinars, etc. - Selecting the mode of learning-options can be synchronous community
based learning or asynchronous self paced learning.
Enterprises need to blend the two options keeping in mind
various factors: scalability, culture, type of content, cost and learning
effectiveness
Scalability
With most enterprises going global, there is a need to create training that
can be administered to an audience that is dispersed and large. Any learning
framework should be able to address how it can be scaled to meet this need.
Culture
One of the important issues is the learning culture of the audience, which
is based on the learning culture of the organization. Some issues that impact
the decision are: since most people are used to traditional classroom training,
they think that is the only way to learn.
Type of content
Behaviour-related learning, which combines eLearning with Instructor-led
training, answers the shortcomings of eLearning in illustrating subtle
differences in social behaviors and in teaching social skills such as teamwork
and acceptance of diversity.
Cost
Combining different delivery modes has the potential to balance out and
optimize the learning program development and deployment cost and time. Various
options have different cost structures. Let us look at some:
-
Instructor-led training: Even though development costs
are low, delivery cost is high. The variables that affect the cost are
building infrastructure and executive travel. -
CD-ROM: High development cost with low delivery cost.
However, upgrades can be very expensive. -
Web based training (WBT): High development cost with low
delivery cost -
Low-bandwidth Internet (LBI): With the use of tools like
Webinars, chat, and expert answers, development and deployment costs are
minimized.
Learning through integration
Contact sessions with a human expert are effective for learners in specific
situations. But, for these, classroom sessions need to be pitched somewhere
close to the lowest common denominator of the audience. The second issue deals
with the pace of learning.
Where, one way of dealing with heterogeneous knowledge profiles is to make
them go through self-paced learning the other is to let each one operate through
an individualized learning plan.
In one-on-one sessions, because a single individual is in question, audience
diversity is unimportant. What is important is that the learners are aware of
their own progress and the stated purpose of the session. The Learning Plan
takes care of that. Also learners' specific remediation needs are taken care
of by the fact that the learning plan can be revised. The fact that these can be
conducted on the web, if required, make it possible to have them more frequently
than is physically possible.
Source:-Namit Kishore,
NIIT Ltd.