Infographic: Blended Learning Design

There’s a lot I could say about Blended Learning. I’ve spent much of my career designing blended learning solutions and it’s what got my thinking beyond traditional event based courses.

In essence, I think it’s about scaffolding the work, to provide support and nudges for people to work differently – that might involve using new mental models, tools, skills, mindsets or processes. This infographic is more dense than my usual attempts, but it provides an overview of my approach.

In these socially distanced times, it’s worth noting that its not useful to frame blended learning as primarily about f2f versus digital.

In my work, I aim to blend asynchronous (independent) vs synchronous (collaborative) experiences. And strive to blend learning ‘scaffolding’ ABOUT new ways of working, with on-the-job application learning IN & FROM work.

An effective design will ‘scaffold and shift work’, supporting people to change using new mental models, tools, skills and mindsets in their workflow.

And again, this can happen both virtually or with f2f elements.

It’s true that f2f has strengths eg. building trust quickly and supporting ‘serendipitous’ networking. But with virtual tools, events & skilled facilitation, virtual can also deliver these outcomes.

It will be very different, it’s NOT a ‘like for like’ translation in design, time, or experience but it can still work.

The image below encapsulates a framework I’ve used to great success for years. It’s a bit more info-heavy than my usual infographic (right-click on it to open it full size) but hopefully, you’ll find it useful as a guide now (virtually) and in the future.

Let me know your thoughts and contact me if you’d like help using it in these virtual times.

Note – This framework is useful for ‘course/ campaigns’ which should not be confused with designing for performance ecosystems here.

Feel free to copy and use this for non-profit purposes under the Creative Commons Licence. I do request that if you use it you:

• Let me know
• Where possible, include an active link back to this site:  arunpradhan.com
• If we ever meet in person, buy me a drink (I accept a banana smoothie or red wine, depending on the time of day  )