The world is changing rapidly, bringing new challenges in all our contexts. Since education is one of the main pillars of growing and developing professionally and personally, it is one of the most vital investments that requires the complete attention on behalf of teachers, lecturers and trainers. What should be taken into considerable account is the answer to the question, “How can we, as trainers, facilitate the process of adult learning, in order to reach maximum results”? The value of blended learning has been highlighted by many professionals in the field.
People learn in different ways, based on their individual learning styles, degree of interest in the subject as well as the level of relevancy with what they really need in order to advance professionally-just to name only a few of the factors that play a significant role to the acquirement of new knowledge. Information is everywhere nowadays. Actually, we feel overwhelmed by it. The point is that we need to find innovative ways that contribute to enhancing the retention of new concepts by giving practical guidelines on how to apply them in real life.
Blended learning, therefore, is one of the best tools that can be utilized in the process of adult learning- be it in training inside or outside companies. Group discussions are particularly attractive since adults enjoy exchanging experiences and role-play exercises make them feel more comfortable to participate and give their own input, with specific skills being built at the same time. Case studies are always of a particular interest since they make the learning points much more tangible and memorable. In addition, inviting experts as speakers is very practical for the audience since they can benefit from their life-long professional experience. However, the more one knows about an area, the more difficult it can be to be understood from another person. Therefore, sometimes experts can become insensitive to how hard a task is for the beginner, an effect often called “the curse of knowledge”.*
Tacit knowledge is very difficult to convey to other parties and this is why traditional one-way lecturing can never be enough. We need to constantly find new methods of bridging the gap between what the participants in an audience need and what we know. What’s more, emotional involvement through games as well as computer-mediated activities should also be in the schedule. To sum up, different methods should be included in blended learning so as to guarantee that everyone reaches their full potential and enjoy a collaborative as well as individualized learning experience.
*Visible Learning And The Science Of How We Learn
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