Home > News > November 2003 > 11-Nov-2003

Survey looks at blended learning in the UK

According to research from Balance Learning and Training Magazine, blended learning is now used by 55% of organisations.

Based on a survey sample of 173 HR and training specialists, the survey found that 23% of organisations are now delivering over half of their total training provision through blended learning - a figure expected to rise to 35% by 2005.

In the report, Blended Learning: The Here And Now, the major challenges of blended learning, expressed by the respondents, were the cost of developing blended learning components and overcoming organisational culture issues during implementation.

What is blended learning?

From the suggestions of 94 respondents, the researchers have come up with the following definition of blended learning:

Blended learning programmes utilise various learning assets and methods to create an integrated, coherent, practical, stimulating and engaging learning experience, making the best use of mode, method and media to suit the learning outcomes and to appeal to people with different learning styles and time and location constraints, including measures of progress and the achievement of results.

Summarised, a blended learning programme has the following characteristics:

• A combination of learning methods
• Methods selected to best suit the learning outcomes
• Methods selected to appeal to a variety of learning styles
• Methods selected to reflect the audience profile and characteristics
• Design is a true 'blend' rather than a 'mixture'
• Provides tools for assessment and results measurement

'Blended learning is a logical next step from face-to-face training and e-learning,' said Chris Horseman, Managing Director of Balance Learning. 'Organisations are embracing it to provide shorter, more cost effective learning programmes, in which individuals self-study to ‘get up to speed’ through e-learning before coming together to concentrate on skills practice. Our research shows that this has breathed new life into the UK training industry and evidence of this can be seen in the vibrant supply and demand of blended learning components and resources.'

Why blended learning?

80% say they have already adopted blended learning because they recognise individuals have different learning styles and they want to meet their needs through a combination of resources; 62% are using blended learning to improve the learning rate and the efficiency of training; 59% want to maximise their investment in re-usable training materials and 57% say blended learning saves the time involved in traditional classroom events.

73% of organisations are using blended learning for business-specific training, 58% for management skills learning and 54% for IT/technical training. 67% are training middle managers through blended learning, 64% are training junior managers and 62% are training team leaders or supervisors. 45% are using blended learning to train senior managers.

Developing blended programmes

79% of organisations are combining existing training resources to create their own blended learning programmes. 59% are developing their own purpose-built resources and events; 40% are using a combination of in-house and external resources and 27% are looking to source ‘complete blended programmes’ from external suppliers.

In terms of resources, 64% are using generic off-the-shelf e-learning courses as part of their blended programmes and 51% are using e-learning courses which have been developed in-house. 79% design and deliver their own face-to-face training components in-house; 42% have face-to-face training designed externally but delivered by in-house trainers and 38% use external face-to-face trainers.

In the future, 87% plan to design and deliver face-to-face classroom events in-house, 79% will use generic off-the-shelf e-learning courses and 62% will develop their own custom e-learning courses.

When asked about the key skills needed by trainers to run blended learning programmes, 75% highlighted the need to understand the learning styles of the target audience as well as how different learning components can be blended to maximum effect.

62% of organisations are managing the administration of blended learning through e-mail, 61% use appraisal reports and website or intranet pages and 57% use manual records. Less than half currently use learning management systems (LMS), learning content management systems (CMS) or online tutor support methods. However 38% plan to use LMS or CMS in the future and 37% intend to use online tutor support.

Evaluation

95% of organisations are evaluating their blended learning. 76% evaluate at the end of the programme, while 58% use interim reviews at the end of each component. 73% are evaluating using paper-based forms; 60% use trainer observation of learning; 59% ask for manager feedback; 47% use the formal appraisal review to evaluate the learning gain and 34% use post-event assignments.

73% of organisations evaluate their blended learning in terms of the quality of the entire programme or its individual components. 64% evaluate the learning gained by the students and 56% consider whether targeted results have been reached. Only 34% evaluate whether business objectives have been achieved through the learning and just 27% look for a return on investment or other financial criteria.

'Ironically, the survey shows that organisations which spend the most on blended learning tend to evaluate the least against behavioural change and business objectives,'said Chris Horseman. 'Analysing course quality and other soft measures is certainly easier than analysing ‘hard’ criteria such as business performance. However if blended learning is to continue its upsurge in the training industry, HR and training specialists must develop more incisive ways of demonstrating its effectiveness to the business.'

Stephanie Sparrow, Editor of Training Magazine said: 'New learning methods continue to offer training and HR specialists a myriad of opportunities to make their mark on business success and talent management, but I would urge them to develop effective methods for measuring and managing return on investment.'

Related information

For related news, case studies, articles and research, visit our
blended learning home page

Books for training professionals

• Bookshop home page
• Blended learning books
• e-Learning books

Find blended learning providers

Visit the Training Reference Directory to view supplier details for a wide range of courses, products and services. Related categories:

• Blended learning providers

Sponsored links

Back to top