1 Sept, 2022 Caribbean work environments are evolving rapidly like much of the world.  Departmental leaders and HR leaders are increasingly tasked with ensuring that employees are equipped with both the necessary skills to be effective in their jobs and the transformation mindset necessary to adapt to the changing world. To help employees adapt, employers are increasingly turning to blended learning,  a mix of online learning activities that include trackable quizzes and assessments and in-person or interactive instruction as a key strategy to upskill and re-skill their employees. Blended learning has proved advantageous for modern employees who are increasingly geographically distributed or operating in hybrid or remote environments. In addition to catering to employees with different learning styles and expectations for their training; where some may prefer a trainer in front of them, others prefer online, self-paced learning. In the modern work environment, Caribbean leaders are beginning to recognise that their learning and development programs should cater to these varying styles, and that hybrid training can deliver powerful benefits in expanding employees’ knowledge. Blended learning has changed the way in which we approach learning and it’s applicable to every industry.

BEST PRACTICES FOR BUILDING YOUR BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS

Against this backdrop, at Caribbean Ideas Academy we continue to see leaders successfully incorporate best practices for blended learning in their teaching to keep employees engaged and drive the results they need. There’re many ways to keep your employees engaged with the blended learning approach. Here are a few techniques that you can try for greater impact:

1.    Dynamic Content

You don’t want to bore your employees; time is already spent where they think they should be working. Dynamic Content will keep your employees engaged. For in-person training, for example, a simple PowerPoint can have some appealing images, and videos that grab attention and maintain interest. Even some funny content along the lines of your company culture can be very relatable. For online learning, similarly, video content has interesting content that makes you think, stimulating images, animation, or visual effects.

2.    Interactivity

In-person interactivity allows persons to work in groups or pairs and do different activities based on scenarios shared by the facilitator with possible presentations to their peers. For online interactivity, completed knowledge check quizzes or problem-solving games. can be used. This can appear after a module to ensure learners fully grasp what they’ve learned before moving on to another module. Some LMS (Learning Management System) platforms can track this so if the learner did not pass the quiz they can repeat it, sometimes forcing them to review the module again and pay attention. Also, in online interactivity, there are knowledge checks in the video content being shared so while the learner is viewing the content, a question or activity could pop up to ensure they are paying attention and understanding the material.

3.    Mobile Friendly

Mobile devices have become an integral part of us from accessing the internet to being entertained or connecting with friends, it’s always at our fingertips. Online learning has benefitted from making courses mobile friendly. Employees can learn on the go or whenever it’s convenient for them via a learning app. They can even listen to their courses on the go like a podcast and share information at the click of a button. For in-person engagement, the facilitator can use online surveys or polls based on the course. Results can be populated in real-time therefore discussions about the results can happen in real time during the training.

4.    Check-ins

Another engagement activity is check-ins with the line managers. This lets you know if the training you’ve invested in is providing some form of ROI (Return on Investment). Therefore, check-ins with the learner’s line manager can ensure they can share what they’ve learned. It can be broken down into things they are going to stop doing and things that they are going to start doing based on their key takeaways from the course. Similarly, online engagement can be done the same way but via online discussions with the line managers in a group setting. For both online and in-person engagement, the learners can receive a case study that they would need to present to their line managers where they apply the learnings from the course. This is just a taste of some blended learning methods that you can try with your employees. By catering to their learning styles, your employees will be more motivated to learn, be more engaged and share the information learned. Have you implemented blending learning? Tell us more about your experience and lessons learned in the comment section below.