Blended Lives – Our Unwitting Motivation for Blended

Since 2013, the Haskayne School of Business has been tracking the trends in adult learning in an attempt to understand how executive education development needs are evolving. Although this year’s survey is not yet complete, the data is trending (refer to Table 1), for the second year in a row, that learners prefer a format which integrates both online, self-paced modules and classroom learning – also known as blended learning.

To better understand why executive learners may prefer blended learning, we connected with a fellow colleague who researches this trend. Giuseppe Auricchio, Ed.D., Executive Director of the Learning Innovation Unit (LIU) at IESE Business School (and UNICON research chair) has been researching how digitalization is changing the way executives learn. Here is an excerpt from Auricchio’s perspective:

There is something to be said about the speed with which the learning profession has adopted a blended model. When you think about it, as individuals we have embraced “blended lives”. Online shopping, playing virtual games… in almost all practices we engage in, our lives are blended. As a result, there is no demarcation between our “online life” and our “face-to-face life”.

This blended state is a reality of all aspects in our lives… except for learning, which has been slow to get there. My research indicates that learning is still not blended, or at least blended learning is not as pervasive as some of the reports out there would lead us to believe. Learners, in general, are more comfortable learning face-to- face. In adopting online learning, they typically require guidance on how to learn using new methodologies in a virtual environment. Even institutions that have adapted blended models are doing so from a starting place of a predominantly face-to-face learning model, to which they are adding elements that allow them to transition gradually.

What are the benefits to adopting a blended learning model? Generally, people refer to increased flexibility or reduced costs. That is not the real story. The real motivation for blended learning is that is allows for more impactful learning experiences – experiences that are truly transformational. Blended learning allows us to modularize the learning experience, as well as combine various methodologies. By spreading learning over time, and matching different tools to different needs, the overall experience becomes more impactful.

Ultimately, blended learning allows us to address old needs in new ways - thanks to the opportunities that have become available because of digitalization. Adopting a blended learning mindset means being able to approach a learning need agnostically, with no preference for mode or methodology, and design an experience with the best mix possible for achieving the desired outcome. Once we adopt this mindset, we start to see that the motivation for using bended learning is not actually about efficiency, but instead effectiveness - in terms of improving the impact of learning.

At Haskayne Executive Education, we strive to design learning that integrates various methods including blended elements. Our aim is to deliver learning experiences that produce tangible performance outcomes for both the learners and their organizations. Over the years, both market research and learners’ feedback have led us to analyze and experiment with blended learning models and spaced-learning program design. This ultimately steered us to transition from delivering traditional, lecture-based educational programs to providing interactive, learning-centric, developmental learning experiences. This data-driven, strategic transition required ExecEd to actively integrate new learning methods that support experiential learning, such as adult learning principles (Knowles, 1970; Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2011) and work-based learning practices (Raelin, 2008, 2010). Today the majority of our programs are fully blended, incorporating experiential learning techniques such as action learning and appreciative inquiry into our program design and learning practices.

Our commitment is to continue to evolve and experiment with new learning approaches with a relentless focus on transfer of learning into daily practices. Your feedback and perspective is key to designing relevant learning in Calgary.  Our Learning Trends Survey will be open until January 31, 2018. If you are interested in completing this survey click here. The survey will take approximately five minutes and is completely anonymous. Once finished, you may complete an entry for a chance to win $1,500 towards Haskayne Executive Education learning experience.

Table 1: Learning and Development Trends Survey: Preferred Learning Format Survey Results as of November 30, 2017