How Do You Design Blended Learning Programs?
The instructional designer today has a myriad of instructional methods, strategies, media, and deployment mechanisms available to create the ultimate learning experience. So many options in fact, that the choice can become overwhelming. Is the learning goal best supported by a classroom course or a series of self-paced e-learning modules? A case study, or a full blown simulation? A video clip, or graphics with text? A workshop, or a live e-learning session? Or what about a combination of self-paced e-learning modules, a classroom course, and a follow up live e-learning session? Many organizations have successfully defined, designed, developed, and deployed such blended learning solutions. This blended approach supports the learning over time and designates or matches selected content to the mechanism that best supports the specific learning objective. This Chapter focuses on the design of these blended learning solutions and the practical lessons learned from organizations that are delivering blended learning programs to their employees.