This post is going to cover 10 of the best blended learning tools and techniques your organization can implement today.
In fact, these tools can help to:
Effectively train your entire organization
Create an engaging and interactive learning environment
Train both in-person and remote employees
Promote collaborative learning
Measure the effectiveness of your learning materials
Upskill your employees
Plus, much more...
These tools for blended learning are a solid start to properly distributing learning materials and ensuring they are working.
Blended learning tools for training success
Blended learning is simply a hybrid of classroom and online training. It can take the headache out of the scenario we just gave. And likewise, the headache of the drawbacks of a solely-based online training program. Blended learning gives you options and flexibility. So what blended learning tools are available today? How can you make the most of your blended learning training sessions?
Here are the best online learning tools for a blended or hybrid approach:
1. Implement an LMS
If you don’t currently use a learning management system (LMS) partner, it’s time to find a provider. LMS companies can build your training system to support both in-person training and online training. Once your system is in place, an LMS provider will help you create personalized training experiences, reduce training costs, and track employee performance/skill development. Plus, your employees will learn smarter and be more engaged during the training process.
2. Educational games
People of all ages play video games. But besides recreational fun, games are a great way to infuse your training with new life. Gamification in training is another blended learning tool to keep employees learning and remaining active participants during a training session.
Serious game or educational games come in the form of quests or legends and are under a general theme. Some theme examples are movies, T.V. shows or casino games. Employees are divided into teams that compete against each other using their mobile devices. Everyone receives instructions on a general screen and results are given in real-time.
Audience response system (ARS)
Sitting through a classroom-led presentation can be boring. Instructors try and reach out to the audience to make it more interactive, but how many in the room really interact during a given session? Maybe five at the most?
That’s where audience response systems (ARS) can be a great blended learning tool. All employees are given a tablet during the training session with a pre-installed ARS app. The instructor then asks a general question or polls the attendees and everyone responds by typing in their answer on their tablet. Answers are calculated in real-time and then can be displayed back to the audience in a graph format. Employees stay engaged, data can be collected for future training use, and everyone leaves training feeling like their voice was heard.
FAQ cards
FAQ cards is another great blended learning tool. They can be used as part of your training workshops in sales or customer service scenarios. What you can do is role play with your team and each card of the FAQ app can present a challenging situation. A participant would then open the card, read it, and act out the scenario given.
Interactive posters
Since repetition has been shown to work well in memory retention, it is great to incorporate during training. Interactive poster apps are one of the blended learning tools that can solidify key messages for takeaway.
Basically, participants scan a QR code of a poster or a brochure for example. Then, they are granted access to more information on the training subject matter. Once they memorize this material, participants are then tested through quizzes on what they have learned. It’s a fun way to memorize key information through gamification.
3. Digital badges
Digital badges are another great blended learning tool to consider implementing. They can be used in a few ways. One is it can help designate one type of course from another; making it easier for employees to locate within a learning management system. Secondly, digital badges are a motivator for employees to successfully complete a course or a series of courses.
Basically, you can assign different courses with badges and track to see which employees are earning the most badges. Not only is it a great analysis tool, but digital badges can be used to award top performers.
Some companies to check out for digital badges include Credly and Badgr.
4. Formative assessment tools
Formative assessment tools are a great way to track how your blended learning program is running and how your employees are performing. Specific examples include how assignments are submitted, surveys or polls are taken, and tests are administered. These basic capabilities can be found in most learning management systems today. However, to get the most accurate assessment of how your program is performing and functioning, it’s a great idea to look for outside apps to integrate within your LMS.
Continu offers built-in assessments to evaluate an employee's performance and productivity.
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Webinars are a great way to bridge the gap between in-person training and online training. It is a happy medium and therefore an ideal fit for your blended learning environment. Employees can ask questions, and message peers, and webinars can be recorded for employees who can not attend the day of.
A couple of tips of to make your webinars part of your key blended learning tools are to schedule them far enough in advance to avoid schedule conflicts. Also, send out a few reminders with an outline of what will be discussed before the training day. That way employees are prepared to ask questions and can anticipate the subject matter better. After your webinar has ended, be sure to ask employees for follow-up on how the training went and if there are additional questions that were not answered during the session.
6. Blogs
When you first hear the word “blogs” you may think they are a vehicle to improve workplace communication externally. But blogs can also be beneficial in blended learning training internally, for employees.
Every employee’s skill set is different and usually different by the department as well. Employees who do not deal with the latest technology or more seasoned employees may resent online training. In their eyes, new technology is hard to navigate and time-consuming for training purposes.
A way around this is to introduce blog writing as a blended learning training exercise. You can start by breaking your trainees into groups. Then task each one to write a blog about a key business problem and how they would solve it step by step.
Not only will this help improve employee and team communication skills, but it will also help your tech-shy employees feel more comfortable.
7. Simulations
The worst part about the training is you teach your employees new skills and then they soon forget these skills once they return to their desks. Or, worse, they convert to their old methods. In order to avoid this situation, you want to teach skills, but more than teach skills, you want these skills retained and used by your employees.
That is where simulations come in. Simulations reinforce what was learned and help with changing employee habits. In order to begin, you first want to teach employees key skills in whatever format you want. Then, you want to set up a simulation highlighting these key skills along with any pre-existing knowledge your employees may have. This will help tie new skills with what they are already using.
Simulations should be around 10 minutes to fit with busy schedules and keep employees' attention. Also, make sure these can be performed in-person, but also via mobile for contractors or sales staff that are traveling frequently. And each simulation should only focus on one key topic or task to avoid sensory overload. Simulations are a great way for employees to learn from one another and reinforce new skills.
8. Social media pages
Some other great blended learning tools are social media pages. Employees often sift through personal Facebook or Twitter accounts so why not make them part of the training? For example, you could create a LinkedIn page for a certain sector of employees. Add posts periodically and invite trainees to add comments or feedback. Or start a YouTube channel and post webinars, presentations, and tutorials.
Social media pages are also a great way to keep training top of mind for your employees. For example, you can gain insight into how your training program is doing. Try posting a poll on a Facebook page on what training employees would like to see in the future. And you can use the calendar feature to post upcoming training sessions.
9. Case studies
Case studies are a great way to train employees whether in the classroom or online. If you are teaching several new concepts, it’s easy to forget what was taught once back on the job. But with case studies, employees are taught concepts and then immediately asked to apply these concepts during the training. In order to implement case studies in training, you’ll first want to come up with some real-life scenarios Then, you can share these scenarios with your employees. Working in groups, attendees will work to solve each issue at hand. If in a classroom setting, ideas can be written on large pieces of paper taped to the wall. Or if you are working virtually, ideas can be shared via a virtual message board.
Check out how Slack used Continu for blended learning.
Story Mapping was invented by Jeff Patton. He has been using this technique to design software products for several years now. Basically, story maps look at a product or feature from a user perspective. This same technique can be a useful blended learning tool. You want your employees to always think in terms of how your product or service is used by your customers.
So using a visual map, employees will plot the customer experience at each stage. For example, if attending a blended learning course, the steps you may take ar
Be informed about the course by an instructor.
Discover the course.
Take the course and be engaged throughout the course.
Finish the course.
Go back to work and apply the new skills of the course.
What techniques or tools work for you?
We’ve given you 10 great blended learning tools to take your training to the next level. But we are curious about what works best for your company. If you currently use a blended learning environment for your training, what tools or activities are the most successful? What feedback have you received from your staff about these tools?
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