In this extended interview, Clive Shepherd addresses a wide range of key questions about blended learning, the answers to which will be of interest to just about anyone responsible for learning and development in the workplace:
1 What's the case for blended learning? 00:08
Common objections:
2 What's so new about the idea of blended learning? 00:33
3 Isn't blended learning just a euphemism for e-learning? 01:33
4 Aren't blended solutions just another way of bundling up the same old formal learning approaches? 02:31
When to blend:
5 When is blended learning appropriate? 03:40
6 So, is blended learning always the right option? 05:08
Definition:
7 There's some disagreement about what the term 'blended learning' actually means. How do you define it? 06:00
Situation analysis:
8 How should someone set about designing a blended solution? 07:29
9 What impact does the learning requirement have on your design decisions? 08:25
10 What audience characteristics have the biggest impact on your design? 10:29
11 What difference do the constraints and opportunities make to your design decisions? 12:32
Methods:
12 What's your next step once you've analysed the situation? 13:46
13 How do you begin deciding which methods to use? 15:14
14 How do the various social contexts for learning compare? 17:13
15 What options do you have in terms of an overall learning strategy? 20:20
16 How do social contexts and learning strategies interact? 25:49
17 Why start with methods rather than technologies for learning? 26:38
Media:
18 What choices do you have when it comes to delivering your strategy? 27:57
19 Why would you want to conduct a learning activity on a face-to-face basis? 29:14
20 What value do offline media have in an online world? 31:25
21 Surely online delivery is fast becoming your default choice? 33.21
22 What about the telephone? What value can that have for learning? 34:46
23 So our last consideration has been media. Why is that? 36:23
The process:
24 How would you summarise the blended learning design process? 37:57
25 What guarantee is there that you'll end up with a solution that is both effective and efficient? 41:00