Blended Learning in Action

1. Blended Learning in Action John Cropper, Director Project Services, LINGOs (john@lingos.org) Karen Chio, Senior Project Officer II, Management Sciences for Health (kchio@msh.org) November 28, 2012

2. Why are you here?

3. What is blended learning? “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 more opportunities for application and support to learners than traditional approaches.

4. Example: MSH’s VLDP http://vldp.msh.org/mande10

5. Example: LINGOs Project Management for Development http://pmdpro4you.ning.com/

6. Advantages • 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

7. Challenges • 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

8. 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

9. Things to keep in mind • Communicate timeline, expectations, and instructions clearly and often • Clear written communication, keep an encouraging tone • Invest in facilitation

10. 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

11. Comments? Questions?