The Right Mix
A bulletproof model for designing blended learning
By Frank J. Troha PhD.

May you never hear an outside consultant tell you that it will take another $250,000 and an additional six months to complete your e-learning or blended learning project. By blended learning, I mean e-learning typically combined with classroom training.

Bringing together the best features of online learning such as 24/7 accessibility with the best features of classroom instruction such as live, face-to-face interaction is popular. But the question is: Why do so many blended learning initiatives turn into frustrating boondoggles, consuming far more time and money than anyone anticipated?

The answer can be found in poor planning-the bitter fruits of which often appear long after substantial time, money, and enthusiasm have been expended.

Whether you and your staff have experience designing e-learning or blended learning, it's critical that you at least attempt to define the major aspects of your project before consulting with outside service providers. In addition, be sure to perform an analysis to confirm a need for training in the first place, as opposed to some other type of performance improvement intervention.

The rationale is simple. By deliberately thinking this through and working with all parties involved to specify who your audience is, their learning objectives, the exact content, constraints, etc., you'll be better positioned to:

* efficiently and accurately communicate project scope and requirements to potential providers,
* gain the support of all internal stakeholders early in the process, * hire the best provider for the job, and
* manage and monitor tasks to ensure success.
* understand the true scope and nature of your project,

Design blended learning from top to bottom

Through this article, you'll learn how to best guide your team through the process of blended learning design. By virtue of its checks and balances, you are assured of a successful outcome.

The instructional design document can serve as a focal point for all parties involved in developing and fine-tuning the project.

Gather information
Gather standard background information on training needs, as if designing a course for classroom delivery. Consider, for example:

* known and potential constraints affecting any aspect of the classroom training from design to development to delivery, and
* learners' interest in the subject matter,
* the number of people to be trained,
* the time frame.
* what learners liked and disliked about previous training experiences,
* what they must learn-knowledge, skills, and attitude,
* your audience-their titles, functions, and locations,

Learning objectives

Next, write down the answers to the question: "What exactly must our audience know, do, and feel as a result of the training?" Preface the list of specific, carefully worded outcomes or learning objectives with: "As a result of completing the training, participants should..."

Before moving to the next step, make sure the decision makers, design team members (including subject matter experts) and other key parties agree to those objectives. The more time spent confirming objectives upfront, the less chance inaccuracies will follow.

Content outline

Based on the agreed-upon learning objectives, outline the topics and subtopics to be addressed by the training. You and your team should answer this question for each learning objective: "If the audience is to accomplish this objective, what exactly must we cover?" What you produce should look like the table of contents in a textbook-highly detailed, comprehensive, and logically sequenced.

Learning activities

Next to each item listed in the content outline, note the type of learning activity that best conveys the content to the audience in a classroom setting. The premise for noting in-class learning activities at this point instead of both classroom activities and online activities is two-fold. The process establishes on paper the "ideal" learning experience: live, face-to-face, instructor-led, and peer- collaborative. Then, when you're ready to design the blended learning experience, you have a tangible blueprint that can be pared back as much or as little as your circumstances dictate.

On-the-job application

Now it's time to figure out how to ensure the transfer of e-learning. Outline what can be done before, during, and after training to help the information stick. This step is crucial, yet often neglected. If what employees learn is not applied on the job, there is no return on investment (ROI). For example, prior to training, the manager could review the course's learning objectives with the participant and discuss their relevance to his or her developmental needs. After training, the manager and participant might discuss, fine tune, and implement an action plan drafted by the participant during training.

Look through your content/ learning activities outline for additional opportunities for learners to practice skills and to distribute quick reference tools such as checklists, templates, and memory joggers for on-the-job use. Document in writing the transfer of learning strategy that can include methods beyond those described earlier.

Evaluation strategy

Develop an evaluation strategy, outlining how the effectiveness of the training can be determined:

* Given the nature of the training, can its impact on the organization be determined? If so, which metrics will you use?
* How long after delivery should you wait before measuring the impact on the organization?
* How will you measure the target audience's degree of learning and behavioral change?
* Will you conduct a dry run so decision makers, training personnel, and others can assess the course prior to rollout?
* Will you test the relevance, value, and appeal of course materials (in the final draft stage) by conducting walk-throughs with a sampling of your target audience?

Be sure to document your overall evaluation strategy.

Don't reinvent the wheel

Identify and catalog any existing documentation that can be used later on for course development. In addition to detailing all topics and subtopics to be addressed, the content/learning activities outline represents a sort of shopping list for relevant materials that may already exist in your organization or elsewhere.

Do your best to locate pertinent reports, articles, books, videos, CD-ROMs, and training programs that can potentially save time, money, and effort. Search the Internet for prepackaged e-learning relating to your topics and subtopics. Subject matter experts can prove especially helpful in locating and assessing the potential value of existing materials.

Get organized

Outline all the information gathered thus far into an instructional design document. Identify elements within the content/learning activities outline for potential online delivery. Because you want to combine the best of both worlds-the 24/7 availability and efficiency provided online with the live, face-to-face human interaction of the classroom-highlight content and learning activities that are straightforward or easy to understand such as key terms, process overviews, guiding principles, and self-assessments.

Get approval

Brief the appropriate people involved in the project on your instructional design. Elicit their feedback and get their approval to proceed.

Getting buy-in from project sponsors, decision makers, content experts, and others at this point in the process is crucial for a number of reasons.

First, this meeting should confirm that you're on track in terms of what the target audience needs and what management wants.

Second, by providing the opportunity for all involved to weigh in on the design, their continued support is better ensured.

Third, you (and they) can feel confident that you're ready to begin talking with outside providers who can offer their views on how they would take your design to the next level.

Because technical questions may arise about the even-tual delivery of online learning, invite a representative from IT to this meeting.

Get outside input

Meet with blended learning providers who can help you fully optimize precious classroom time and ensure optimal ROI. Again, invite an IT representative, as many of the outsiders' recommendations will require a clear understanding of your organization's current technological capabilities and limitations.

Use the instructional design document as a roadmap for your meetings with providers, so your intentions and questions are systematically addressed. You should come out of these meetings with:

* a clearer understanding as to what should be delivered online versus in the classroom (and why),
* a decision as to which provider seems most appropriate for the job,
* a revised instructional design document, specifying in the content/learning activities section how each piece of content should be taught, where it should be taught and approximately how much time it requires.
* which aspects of the project can be accomplished using internal resources, and
*adjust other sections of the design document, such as duration (total online time vs. total classroom time), constraints, evaluation strategy, and transfer of learning strategy, according to decisions made with the outside provider.

The sign off

With your outside provider, present the blended learning design to all in-house stakeholders to elicit feedback, gain approval, and identify the next steps. A key part of this briefing is comparing and contrasting the first approved design document (based on live, instructor-led classroom training and highlighting certain elements for possible online delivery) with the second design document (based on the optimal blending of online and classroom venues within the context of your organization).

By doing so, they can see the full extent of paring back or transferring certain content and learning activities from the classroom to the Web. In the end, the potential benefits of a blended approach should be apparent. These include:

* automating training administration using a proven learning management system; and
* reaching large numbers of learners anywhere and anytime, faster, and cheaper than in the classroom alone;
* reducing overall training costs.
* reducing yet optimizing classroom time by limiting its use to instances where the presence of a live instructor and face-to-face interaction among participants is truly needed;

Once the blended learning design is approved, discuss and agree upon the next steps.

Take control

When diligently applied, this "bulletproof" model for designing blended learning virtually ensures a successful outcome. The key phrase here: when diligently applied.

Too often, corporate learning and development professionals simply delegate learning design to an outside provider. They may believe they lack the time, instructional design skills, or knowledge of the latest learning technologies needed to effectively orchestrate and lead the planning effort.

That's why this model is worthwhile. It requires only basic instructional design skills and offers the opportunity to learn about relevant, leading-edge technologies, especially when getting outside input. Moreover, the model fosters efficient and accurate communication among all parties involved.

With so many e-learning and blended learning initiatives taking place that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, aren't the stakes too high to do anything less than take control from the beginning?

Reprinted from: e-Learning Magazine, June 2002