What is Blended Learning, anyway?

The boom of the eLearning industry has seen the market saturated with online training providers and learning management systems. With it’s popularity came the realisation that online training alone still couldn’t provide all of the benefits we see in traditional classroom-based training.

Over time, we’ve seen the growth of the ‘blended learning’ model, which has seen training providers take the best of both worlds and create something entirely new.

As the name suggests, blended learning is focused on delivering information through a mix of online and face-to-face media.

A study by the research and consulting organisation Ithaka S+R recently found that blended learning produced the same, and in some cases better results than traditional face-to-face training. While a study by the United States Department of Education also uncovered that trainees enrolled in a blended program were 25% faster in achieving the same learning outcomes as their classroom-based counterparts.

But, blended learning isn’t just about speed to competence and the effectiveness of learning. In a corporate setting, it’s also about having the ability to reduce training overheads.

Through their research, Training Magazine found that, on average, corporations save 50-70% on their training costs when they move to online training from the traditional face-to-face model.

We understand the value of face-to-face feedback in a retail environment, which is why we take a blended learning approach to our training.

We facilitate face-to-face coaching interactions with our practice activities, which a coach must observe and mark as complete before the trainee can progress through to the next session in their training.

Did you know that the number of staff reaching and exceeding target increases by 25% when there’s a formal coaching process in place?

Real-time practice and feedback means learning is more effective, suited better to the retail environment, and provides an accurate overview of the trainee’s understanding of the new skill.

The ‘Coaching Feedback Loop’ is fundamental to the success of our training because it gives coaches an easy way to keep track of coaching and monitor engagement.

It's about creating a more successful outcome for the trainee. But, it also has other effects like; creating loyalty, increasing enjoyment and motivation, and even reducing sick days.