Blended Learning in ActionJohn Cropper, Director Project Services, LINGOs (

john@lingos.org) Karen Chio, Senior Project Officer II, Management

Sciences for Health (kchio@msh.org) November 28, 2012

Why are you here?

“Blended learning” methods, the combination of a variety of learning media (face-to-face, online, print, mobile, etc) and learning environments (instructor-led, teamwork, peer-to-peer interaction, self-study and individual work), may enable moreopportunities for application and support to learners than traditional approaches.

What is blended learning?

Example: MSH’s VLDP

http://vldp.msh.org/mande10

http://pmdpro4you.ning.com/

Example: LINGOs Project Management for Development

Cost-saving Scalable Application of learning on-the-job Works in low connectivity Flexible Allows for cross-fertilization Challenges power dynamics and enables

more participation

Advantages

Design must be very well-thought-through before execution

Consider the specific target audience Facilitators have less control than in face-to-

face environments Participants may see the training as “less

serious” than face-to-face and be more distracted

Challenges

Things to keep in mind

• Start with your learning objectives and target audience in mind

• Blend delivery methods to mitigate the impact of low connectivity

• Provide performance support over time

Communicate timeline, expectations, and instructions clearly and often

Clear written communication, keep an encouraging tone

Invest in facilitation

Things to keep in mind

Things to keep in mind

Hold participants accountable In order to scale-up, establish

and document successful processes and data collection: standard facilitation procedures and

training content development and management

processes project management procedures and

training tracking, data collection, and

performance improvement processes

Comments? Questions?