What are the Advantages of Blended Learning?

Technological advancements have penetrated almost every industrial sector and we witness many fascinating products that make our life easier. While some sectors are quick to adapt to technological changes, many struggle to do so and continue using traditional methods.

Sectors like education fall in the second category and most of the educational institutions lack the infrastructure to implement the right technology and give a better learning experience to students. The COVID-19 pandemic compelled governments to think about the need of making educational institutions technologically advanced. 

Online education is what helped learners continue their study when the universities and schools were forced to shut down indefinitely during the lockdowns across countries. If not for the availability of online learning platforms, millions of students would only have minimal resources to study.

To access the eLearning content, students would just need to have an electronic device like a laptop or smartphone with a good internet connection. Earlier online learning used to involve pre-recorded videos of short duration that could be accessed on the browser or mobile application.

This way, learners could watch the videos anytime they want and continue learning at their own pace. 

Since self-paced learning lacked the human element required in learning, a different learning mode is gaining popularity these days known as blended learning. It combines the best of both physical classroom learning and online learning.

In blended learning, students are offered self-paced video modules as well as live instructor-led classes. In a live class, students attend the lectures conducted by the trainers through video conferencing. This way they can interact with the mentors in the presence of other students and get their queries answered.

So, a virtual classroom-like environment is presented to the students to get a rich learning experience. 

Not just the students, blended learning has also proven to be the best means of upskilling in the corporate sector. Professionals already preferred eLearning to gain the skills of the future as they could easily incorporate it into their busy routine.

Now, blended learning is further helping them develop in-demand digital skills. Online training providers offer a wide range of courses related to every field, be it data science, artificial intelligence, digital marketing, or quality management.

These courses can either be taken for skill development as well as preparing for industry-recognized credentials like Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), and more.    

Benefits of Blended Learning 

Blended learning is beneficial for employees and corporates alike. Key players in the eLearning industry have realized the limitations of self-paced learning and thus are focusing more on offering blended learning solutions.

For professionals, it becomes easy to follow pre-recorded videos during the week and attend instructor-led live classes during the weekend. By interacting with their peers and trainer through video conferencing, learners are able to better understand the concepts.    

Another benefit is that the courses are curated as per the learner’s needs. Often, employees have to learn specific concepts needed for their projects rather than an entire subject.

As such, academic courses do not suit their requirements and they tend to take online courses that are more skill-specific. Evidently, taking such courses is cost-efficient as well for employees.

Blended learning can also include webinars, downloadable content, gamification, industry-oriented projects, and integrated labs. All these methods contribute to better learner engagement. Today, a career in any field requires professionals to master some tools which are often paid ones and cannot be afforded by individuals.

With blended learning programs, employees also get access to these tools and become well-versed in using them. Knowledge of such tools also increases the credibility of professionals.  

For businesses, blended learning reduces the costs involved in on-premises training. Being an effective learning method, companies get quicker and better ROI (Return on Investment).

Blended learning also enables performance tracking and management can know if the employees have completed the training program or not.  

With blended learning offering such benefits, are you still exploring other learning options? Take up a certification training program today and take your career ahead.

Today, many training providers also offer digital badges that you can use on your professional networking sites like LinkedIn to showcase your developed skills. Companies are promoting digital learning and value the employees who are enhancing their array of skills through them. So, why not enroll in one such program and witness the results yourself!