New research has supported 100% Effective’s efforts to deliver a true blended learning experience across multiple platforms.
The research by a consortium of universities has highlighted the enhanced learning outcomes seen in blended learning when compared to traditional classroom teaching methods.
Ten lecturers and 40 students from Tampere University of Applied Sciences (Finland), the University of Lincoln (United Kingdom), the University of Vic (Spain), Liepaja University (Latvia) and HKU Hilversum (Netherlands) collaborated on a project they called Media Culture 2020.
The aim of the project was to develop joint multidisciplinary courses using traditional learning approaches, in the form of two two-week workshops, supported by online teaching, virtual group discussions and use of social media platforms.
In their research paper, lead authors Richard Vickers and James Field from the University of Lincoln, and Cai Melakoski from Tampere University of Applied Sciences, said: “The blend of both synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods fostered an open, blended learning environment, one that extended the traditional boundaries of the classroom.”
While online courses have been used to great effect for decades, the way they interact with traditional classroom-based teaching methods has been evolving for a number of years.
“Online courses are not a new invention,” the authors explained.
“They are however usually an online replica of traditional teaching in classrooms: one teacher instructing students on one subject involving one field … By leveraging the interactive and decentralised capabilities of a range of technologies in an educational context, this model of digital scholarship facilitates an open and dynamic working environment.”
At 100% Effective we welcome this new research expanding on the benefits of blended learning over traditional classroom teaching. We were among the first UK training providers to notice the trend and have been offering blended learning courses since 2011.
We became aware of the desire for delegates to use online methods to discuss their learning with us, and other students (past and present) around three years ago. Since then, we’ve encouraged those attending our classroom and in-house training to discuss their projects in our online groups and talk directly to their trainers and coaches on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.
Our team is also working on new developments that will allow students to collaborate with their trainer and each other in live virtual classrooms, with more news to follow about that in 2016.
We pride ourselves in identifying customer trends early in order to ensure we’re ahead of the curve and offering a professional training environment that is unparalleled in the UK. And that determination has recently led us to win a business award.
In October we won the BiY Inspired Out of their League Award, which recognises small businesses that consistently perform and successfully compete against much larger competitors. We’d argue our size gives us an edge, making us more flexible and adaptable to customer requirements.
To read the research paper in more detail, search Media 2020 by Vickers and Field (2015). Or if you’d like to learn more about how we can support you with blended learning get in touch on 0800 066 3749.