More than blended learning - stand alone version

The skills journeyAct 1

It was after another long trip away for Harry Keane, this time to Hong Kong, to chair a conference and run a workshop.When he puts these assignments in the diary he does so with enthusiasm, because they provide an opportunity to go somewhere new and meet some interesting people. When it comes to it, the actuality is several days of travel in each direction, disrupted sleep and a whole week written off.Nowadays, Harry also add on a few days for sightseeing, because otherwise all he experiences is an airport, a motorway and a hotel - he has those in the UK.

The implication for those left at home is rather different - none of the jet lag and the hours spent cramped up on a plane, but also none of the excitement. This always makes Harry feel a little guilty and, on getting home, he would certainly be reluctant to launch straight away into my own hobbies - playing tennis, watching the football and making music.

So, when Harry’s wife, Rita, suggested that they take up a new activity that they could do together, he was in a position of weakness and couldn’t really refuse.Ballroom dancing was the suggestion.This would not have been Harry’s first choice - his experience of dancing was limited to occasional drunken moments, and in spite of the fact that they both followed Strictly Come Dancing avidly, he still remember when the very idea of ballroom dancing was a bit of a joke, something that people like him would never dream of doing.

Anyway, they made an appointment at the local dance school and had a chat with one of the teachers. She asked what experience they had (Rita loved dancing, Harry didn’t, but neither of them had ever tried ballroom) and what they were looking to achieve.They agreed that the two of them would enrol on a series of ten beginners’ classes, starting in a couple of weeks. The teacher gave them some material to read beforehand, explaining how the course would work and pointing them to some web sites that would give them a background to the different dances.

The classes themselves were a lot of fun - one hour per week, most of which was spent on the dance floor having a go.Of course the teacher did provide them with some simple instructions and demonstrated the various steps and moves, but never overloaded them with too much at a time.They soon lost any self-consciousness they might have had (especially Harry) and made quicker progress than they would have thought possible.

A nice touch from the dance school is that they had prepared a series of simple instructional videos that they made available on YouTube for Harry and Rita to watch between classes and practise with at home.This meant that the classes themselves could be as practical as possible, giving the teacher the opportunity to watch their progress and provide them with feedback.

After the ten weeks were up they had covered all the basics and developed enough confidence to feel that they could progress largely on their own.The dancing still did not come completely naturally, but these were early days and they were on their way.

They took every opportunity to flaunt their new skills, even entering a few beginners’ competitions.They started to work on the fine points of technique and soon realised they needed some help if they were to keep improving.So, they organised occasional coaching sessions with the dance teacher and she helped them to set goals for their performance which they would review at their next session.

They had made a lot of friends through the classes and met many more as they continued to participate in as many events as they could.They kept in touch with these friends through Facebook and shared their experiences, good and bad. This soon led to much wider networking across the Internet with aspiring dancers like themselves from around the world.These were still early days in their learning journey, but at least they weren’t travelling alone.

The skills journey

Let’s take a moment to analyse this experience as a blended solution …

Non, je ne regrette rienEdith PIAF

Edith Piaf has no relevance to this presentation other than the fact that her name spells out the four phases

in an effective blend.Follow this model and you too will

have no regrets (hah!)

PreparationInputApplicationFollow-up


I told you – PIAF!



The purpose of the preparation phase is to align the learner with the

intervention, so both are prepared to receive each other.



The input phase acts as a catalyst for action. It’s usually the most formal part

of the blend.



In the application phase, the learner applies what they what learned to real-life (or at least highly authentic tasks).



The follow-up phase is actually the longest. The aim here is to embed the

learning into normal job behaviour.

The skills journeyPreparation

Discussion with dance teacherReviewing information about the courseBackground reading

Input

Group classes, mainly practicalVideos to watch independently

Application

Lots of practice at home

Follow-up

Individual coachingDancing for fun and competitivelySharing experiences with other dancers

repeats

Here’s how the ballroom dancing course maps against the four phases

of PIAF. Notice how the input and application phases loop.



Input


Application


Follow-up


repeats

The first three phases constitute the ‘course’. The aim here is to inspire the learner and to build their confidence so they can proceed independently.

Courses Resources



Input


Application


Follow-up


repeats

In the follow-up phase the emphasis shifts to providing resources, both

human and content.

Courses Resources

Preparation


Input


Application


Follow-up


The skills journey

Another way of analysing the four phases is against that old favourite – the journey

from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence

Unconscious incompetence Conscious

incompetence

Conscious competence

Unconscious competence





Blending by social context …

The skills journeyPreparation Input Application Follow-up

We are going to explore four ways in which you can blend, starting with the ‘social context’ – who you learn with





Individual One-to-one Group


Community

The first of the four social contexts is individual learning, which provides the learner with the greatest flexibility but

little in the way of support.







Community

One-to-one learning provides the opportunity for individualised instruction

or support. This may be expensive to supply but can be highly valuable.







Community

The third option is to learn in a small group or cohort, which provides the

opportunity for shared experiences and mutual support.







Community

The fourth option is to learn by interacting with a wider community, whether that’s other

employees in the organisation or all those out there on the Internet







Community

The following four slides show how the four social contexts have been applied to our

case study …







Community







Community







Community







Community





Blending by learning strategy…


Another way in which you can blend is in terms of the strategies that you employ to

bring about learning …





Exposition Instruction Guided discovery

Exploration


The first of the strategies is exposition, which is no more than a one-way delivery

of information.






Exploration


The second strategy is instruction, which is a more formal and structured way of

building knowledge or skills.






Exploration


Guided discovery puts the learner into situations from which insights can occur.






Exploration


Exploration puts the learner in control of how they access resources that might

benefit their learning.






Exploration


The next four slides show how these four strategies have been employed in our case

study …






Exploration





Individual coachingDancing for fun and competitivelySharing experiences with other couples from the course


Exploration







Exploration







Exploration


The corporate versionPreparation

Joining instructions

Input

Two-day dance workshop (1.5 days of theory, then one practice session per pair while others observe and provide feedback)

Application

Up to the learner

Follow-up

Printed handouts for reference

Unconscious incompetenceConscious incompetence

This is how the intervention might have looked in a typical corporate context .

Notice how the learner never gets beyond conscious incompetence!

The ideas adventureAct 2

Not every blended solution addresses a skills gap. Often the intention is to put

across some ‘big ideas’ that will inform the learner in their decision making.

Examples include project management, diversity and inclusion, marketing,

business management and aspects of many other jobs, including learning

design.We’re going to take a look at how a

leadership programme could be blended.

The need

Middle managers who are capable of delivering results in a fast-moving business environment through cohesive teamwork and motivated, high-performing direct reports.

The ideas adventure

This bit of corporate jargon explains the need for a leadership intervention.

Hopefully you’d want to ask some more questions to flesh out the requirement

before you started designing!

The need

Middle managers who are capable of delivering results in a fast-moving business environment through cohesive teamwork and motivated, high-performing direct reports.

Analysing the situation usingthe three L’s …

The ideas adventure

One way of structuring your analysis is around the three Ls – the learning, the

learners and the logistics. The next slide shows what you managed to find out.

Learning

Insights into the dynamics of effective leadershipIncreased awareness of own leadership abilitiesSkills in interacting with individuals and groups in a wide variety of leadership situationsConfidence to apply new leadership thinking to their work

Learners

Middle managers with 1-20 years of experienceResponsible for teams of up to 10 direct reportsHighly-variable leadership awareness and abilityA minority will have had leadership training beforeVariable levels of motivation both for the training and for the job

Logistics

150 managers distributed across a single territoryAim to complete the formal element of the programme in 24 monthsSenior management commitment to the programme includes ‘as much time and money as is necessary to do the job properly’.

The ideas adventure

Learning

Insights into the dynamics of effective leadershipIncreased awareness of own leadership abilitiesSkills in interacting with individuals and groups in a wide variety of leadership situationsConfidence to apply new leadership thinking to their work

Learners

Middle managers with 1-20 years of experienceResponsible for teams of up to 10 direct reportsHighly-variable leadership awareness and abilityA minority will have had leadership training beforeVariable levels of motivation both for the training and for the job

Logistics

150 managers distributed across a single territoryAim to complete the formal element of the programme in 24 monthsSenior management commitment to the programme includes ‘as much time and money as is necessary to do the job properly’.

The ideas adventure

There are many ways of meeting this requirement and we’re going to have a look at one, starting with the preparation phase.

You’ll notice that, for each of the four phases, we’ve made a distinction between

the methods we’ll use to achieve the objectives and the media we will use to

deliver these methods.

Preparation Methods360 degree survey

MediaOnline

Goal setting with own manager

However practical

Some background reading

Print or e-book according to preferenceMaking contact with

the cohortOnline through the virtual learning environment (VLE)

The ideas adventure


MediaOnline


However practical




Blending by delivery channel …

The ideas adventure

There is a third way you can blend and that’s in terms of the delivery channel – the mechanism that you use to engage

with the learner


MediaOnline


However practical




Face-to-face Offline Online

The ideas adventure

The default channel for learning throughout history has been face-to-face,

the least flexible option but sometimes the only one that will work.


MediaOnline


However practical





The ideas adventure

Offline media, such as books and CDs, may be in decline but now we have e-books and MP3s - the only option if

there’s no Internet connection.


MediaOnline


However practical





The ideas adventure

Obviously the Internet has changed everything, providing endless ways for

the learner to find information and collaborate with others.


MediaOnline


However practical





The ideas adventure

The next few slides show how all of these three channels were used in the

preparation phase of this intervention …


MediaOnline


However practical





The ideas adventure


MediaOnline


However practical





The ideas adventure


MediaOnline


However practical



the cohort (groups of 15)

Online through the virtual learning environment (VLE)


The ideas adventure

Input(loops with Application)

MethodsGroup activities, group discussion

MediaFace-to-face workshops

Individual reading / viewing

Online

The ideas adventure

Here’s the input phase, which centres on guided discovery – perhaps the best way of helping the learner to gain insight

into important ideas.The next two slides show the delivery

channels that were used …

Input MethodsGroup activities, group discussion



Online

Face-to-face Online


The ideas adventure




Online

Face-to-face Online


The ideas adventure




Online

Blending by communication mode …


The ideas adventure

And here’s the fourth and last way in which you can blend – the mode of

communication …




Online

Same-time Own-time


The ideas adventure

Same-time (sometimes called synchronous) communication happens in

real time – more emotionally engaging perhaps but it takes some organising.




Online

Same-time Own-time


The ideas adventure

Own-time (or asynchronous) communication does not require a diary commitment, providing the learner with

more opportunity for reflection.




Online

Same-time Own-time


The ideas adventure

And the next two slides show which elements of this phase were same-time

or own-time …




Online

Same-time Own-time


The ideas adventure




Online

Same-time Own-time


The ideas adventure

Application(loops with Input)

MethodsIndividual and group assignments

MediaSubmitted through VLE

Review sessions Online – web conferencingIndividual reflection Blog on VLE

The ideas adventure

On to the application phase in which the new ideas are tested against the real world.

The next two slides show how this phase breaks down between same-time and own-

time …

Application MethodsIndividual and group assignments



Same-time Own-time


The ideas adventure

Application MethodsIndividual and group assignments



Same-time Own-time


The ideas adventure

The ideas adventureFollow-up Methods

360 degree survey MediaOnline

Review session(s) with own manager

However practical

Final assessment on basisof demonstrated competence

Submitted online.

And finally the follow-up phase in which the emphasis of the on-going adventure shifts from courses (push) to resources (pull).

Notice how assessment is based on demonstrated competence, not knowledge.

More than blended learning Act 3

We finish by summarising what ‘more than’ blended learning really means. Hopefully it

speaks for itself.

More than blended learning • End-to-end solutions, ‘blending in’ the formal and the

informal, and embedded in the real world• Selecting social contexts that provide the right level

of support and flexibility at each stage in the intervention

• Finding the right educational and training strategies at each stage to ensure the objectives are achieved for the particular target audience

• Selecting the right delivery channels to obtain efficiencies, scalability and flexibility without compromising on effectiveness

• Choosing communication modes to ensure the right balance of urgency and reflectiveness

• You can use this process for any learning intervention, blended or not, but it’s hard to see how a truly end-to-end solution could not be blended!

morethanblended.com

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More than blended learning - stand alone version