What Are the Pros and Cons of Blended Learning - Part 1
Blended learning has been around for a while now. Plenty of organisations claim to use it. Some actually do. Not so many learners claim to like it. But there are some who actually do.
This and the next several posts will pose and answer the question, "What are the pros and cons of blended learning?" It's for those of you who are grappling with the prospect of blended learning for the first time. Or for those of you re-visiting the topic after a long pause.
In this first post we'll focus on one aspect of the cons - why people object to it. In the next post, we'll focus on another aspect of the cons - why it might fail. In our third post we'll start to look at the pros - why people might like it. In our fourth and final post we'll continue with the pros and look at why it might work.
What people object to
Just like any approach to learning, blended has its detractors. The objections take a variety of angles.
For some, it's just a fad. A new name for something we've always done. Long before computer technology there were alternatives or complements to classroom teaching. People listened to cassettes, worked through self-study packs, went to seminars or had one-to-one coaching. What's suddenly so new?
Others worry that it's just about choice. It's not about really providing a coherent mix of learning. They point to the duplication of content that happens in many organisations. Just the same old stuff being churned out in a variety of flavours.
What about the work involved? Another common and very valid objection. Aiming for a coherent blend of learning provided through a variety of delivery mediums and instructional techniques is hard. It will take some careful thought and planning. Why bother some might ask, if only a handful of learners fully engage with all the elements.
It's just a marketing ploy. A ploy dreamt up by e-learning vendors and/or management. A ploy to get more e-learning in through the back door allowing them to slash the classroom training budget.
It gives e-learning a bad name. The people who develop blended learning would much rather be using classroom training throughout. They deliberately put all the boring bits of the blend into e-learning and save the fun bits for the classroom training.
It's frequently not necessary. Short training programmes or knowledge that can be covered in a day or two simply doesn't require the complexity of a blended approach. To provide it in these circumstances is just overkill.
As you see, the reasons people don't like blended learning are many and varied. Some objections even contradict others. So what about the practical problems?
Stayed tuned for the next post when we'll look at what might go wrong with a blended approach.
By the way, if you've got blended learning on the brain at the moment, take a look at our free, concise guide to blended learning: Making Blended Learning Work
It explains the ins and outs of some of the different delivery channels you might consider using with a blended approach. It also contains a costed example of a traditional classroom training approach compared to a blended programme.
