Session Information:

Virtual Blended Learning – 5 Keys to Success

On-line learning has suddenly become mission critical. One form is virtual blended learning. Virtual blended learning is the intentional integration of self-paced e-Learning, as pre-work to transfer knowledge, with virtually delivered human interaction events (classes, sessions, meetings etc.) that focus on knowledge application. Done well, virtual blended learning can be a game-changer.

• Learn to optimally integrate knowledge transfer with knowledge application.
• Learn to assess quality when classes are delivered in a blended format, virtually.
• Learn to leverage systems in order to more effectively teach, mentor and coach students.
• Understand why attention to detail is even more important where training virtually.

Session Transcript:

Hello my name is Rob Stewart, CEO of opusWorks. Thank you for joining us today and we trust you are having a great conference, so far here at opusWorks online learning has been our 30-year focus.

Today in short our mission is to enable you and your organization to more rapidly scale your process improvement initiative with compelling content an all-in-one platform and an integrated tool set we advocate blended learning to prepare people our project tracker to propel them to complete projects and our communication system to identify accomplishments worthy of praise in 2020 online learning is suddenly mission critical in this session.

We will introduce you to virtual blended learning let's begin with some operational definitions learning events every learning event has two parts knowledge transfer and knowledge application with transfer you learn the knowledge with application you learn what to do with that knowledge blended learning blended learning is the intentional integration of self-paced e-learning to transfer knowledge as pre-work for human interaction events classes sessions meetings etc.

When students apply the knowledge done well blended learning can be a game changer virtual blended learning do blended learning all virtual and do it well and the possibilities are limitless done poorly and the consequences could be catastrophic please if you're serious about your process improvement learning initiative don't skip skimp on quality especially if you're driving culture change you're striving for everyone to become a competent problem solver give your people great learning experiences and you will greatly exceed your expectations in this session.

I'm going to share five keys to deploying virtual blended learning that delights shareholders key number one planning who what when where why and how planning avoids the rework and false starts who is your target audience you must know the typical student their motivations their learning styles what is that student to do after the training well-defined learning objectives are essential when do they need to be trained you've got to assure that the support infrastructure is ready prior to training where are your students anticipate possible barriers for students to access the training and why is this training strategically important you need to define the expected future state.

So purpose can be clearly communicated think smart s specific m measurable a achievable are realistic t timed think smart goals how will progress be monitored and barriers overcome along the way an agile passionate and data-driven planning team will mitigate resistance and power you through change management key number two blended learning design quality in traditional designs instructors both teach the information and facilitate its application with blended learning designs teaching is automated via the e-learning and as with any automation.

You gain speed savings scalability reduced variation and with automating the learning process you also gain a way to teach everyone the same way every time at the same time you measure your e-learning by student preparedness for application sessions let me say that again you measure e-learning your e-learning quality by how well students are prepared for application sessions nothing else really matters you measure the instructor by the student's ability to apply that knowledge and deliver results you measure the overall design by how well students are satisfied with the pace and the tempo of the e-learning session mix here are a few additional tips offer e-learning without a blended learning process and few will come you got to think train do deploy blended learning in a class format with due dates assignments activities.

A class is a group of people going through a common experience you need to expect student accountability celebrate the go-getters cajole the laggers and yes you might even need to release the non-performers obtain stakeholder buy-in so the blended learning students are supported and given the time they need to complete the learning mix e-learning and sessions so there is ample time for action and reflection and finally imagine and create a blended learning design playbook for wide ranging purposes here's an example from our lean six sigma greenbelt virtual blended learning design here we're showing session three in the measure phase this 12-week course itself consists of about 30 hours of self-paced e-learning interspersed with roughly 30 total hours of weekly virtual sessions in the form of two-hour class sessions and three-hour capstone events notice up here.

The session purpose the learning objectives the prerequisite e-learning modules and the approximate amount of time it's going to take for them to complete here's the agenda of what you're going to do in class what are the tools templates and forms that are needed what's the homework how long is each one of these activities going to take and what's the approximate time required this is the level of detail that's necessary to deliver world-class virtual blended learning in general and for process improvement topics in particular let's move on to number three number three is effective engaging e-learning with blended learning if you nail the e-learning there's a chance for success if you misfire with the e-learning.

You're going to fail again student preparedness is the results measure for e-learning quality for process measures that will indicate whether we're on the way to results measures we turn to the kirkpatrick model the cryptocurrent model has four levels level one is reaction is the training favorable engaging and relevant we measure that via surveys level two learning was the intended knowledge skills attitude confidence and commitment acquired can we measure this be test the via post test generally now sizzling e-learning for some is going to be boredom for others you develop for the target audience remember key number one for engineers pdf documents.

May be fine if you're teaching frontline workers and appealing to them an interactive instructional design will be much better here's a few things to think about the structure introduce learning points then explain them exemplify them confirm understanding use knowledge checks remediate reinforce transition good e-learning is much more involved than voice over powerpoint content development.

If you excel with scripting interactivity graphics voice over video and animation the learners will be engaged but remember don't overdo it and be sure to use pleasant voices learning styles provide options both for fast learners and methodical ones notetakers like downloadable student guides which eliminates the need for doing tedious screen captures data use post-test data and time and course data to improve and to identify the outliers those to help and those to nurture as your future superstars here we see a four-page extract example of our instructional design which is the drum beat really for all our opus works modules you've all caught firefighting versus root cause analysis perhaps done it dozens if not hundreds if not thousands of times but you haven't taught it this way.

This quickly this memorably and this effectively where we introduce a learning point we explain it we allow the learner to self-assess the knowledge tech and checks in this case by dragging and dropping the characteristics uh the four characteristics for firefighting and the four fair characteristics for a root cause analysis and if they're all put in the right place we affirm the understanding is a winner if you develop e-learning at this quality level inspired and motivated students are we gonna are gonna show up in your virtual sessions key number four bought in and competent instructors blended learning instructors are guides on the side not sages on the stage as with all change many will thrive some are going to be pulled along picking and screaming and others won't make it again student ability to apply the knowledge and deliver.

The results is the measure is the new measure for instructor performance to excel instructors need to ensure student accountability the e-learning must be completed on time and on schedule next and i really think this one is very important respect the e-learning as a blended learning instructor you need to know the e-learning content otherwise you run the risk of reteaching it don't re-teach it your job is to make it relevant important real and actionable next embrace the data scores time measures participation and surveys all of this is provided by the system and enables you to do personalized coaching by student master the technology practice practice glitches are inevitable and bandwidth as we all know gyrates make sure however that you the instructor do not cause the cut technology breakdowns.

Trust your design when executed well virtual instruction engages better than in person instruction again virtual instruction it has been our experience engages better than in person to do this you need to keep class sizes manageable you gotta use the aids the breakout rooms the whiteboards the chats the polls involve non-participants and be comfortable with silence to mentor new instructors we use four steps model assist observe release so we teach the instructor in training follows they then lead we assist we observe ongoing and then we release them to form their own virtual blended learning instructor class pat pat on this slide with this link.

We'd like you to meet john best one of our mbb instructors as he shows you his setup and explains how he delivers world-class blended learning our fifth key is enablement technology stakeholders are wowed with virtual blended learning designs remember key number two and these virtual lever blended learning designs are wooers when they are supercharged by an intuitive simple to use and excessive and accessible system a system a system that automates all aspects of a deployment is a deployment leader's dream imagine having the control and the agility to make a real-time adjustment that takes effect immediately globally realize that you can indeed have it both ways you can have the control of the system across your organization and if your system is cloud-based you can also be seamlessly integrated with your organization's learning management system.

Next delight your instructors with automated tools that highlight special needs mark attendance score tests grade assignments produce at a glance reports disseminate class materials enable class cloning and eliminate the incessant email do this and you will enable your instructors to get out of the tedium and be able to inspire more higher performing students as a leader receive accolades from your students with automated all-in-one place intuitive access to all blended learning activities and by the way give them keyword search ability on information.

You want them to have so that it's not lost on a shelf but right at their fingertips via a keyword search remember our 12-week lean six sigma green belt design from key number two here we look at the system itself to illustrate the value of enablement system and here we see that same information presented to students in and where everything is easily accessible all in one place so there you have it the five keys to success now go forth on your virtual blended learning journey hopefully now more confident that you can indeed lead the way and even knowing that opus works has your back for a copy these charts and to learn more about how we at opus works might help you more rapidly scale your process improvement initiative.

Please meet call me or meet Jan freyberger at our exhibit and schedule an appointment to discuss your specific needs and now it's time to say thank you and let's all proceed onward to the next step in our never-ending process improvement journey.

Thank you.