What is Blended Learning and how it can benefit from LMS?

Many schools and institutions have already announced their plans of conducting online classes during the disruption period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational institutions allowed students to learn from home through various learning approaches, including instructor-led learning and self-paced learning.

Though, both self-paced learning and instructor-led learning approaches have their individual pros and cons. Because of this, universities and institutions explore ways to integrate both learning approaches to ensure better knowledge acquisition, retention, and application. Blended learning or hybrid learning approaches along with learning management system (LMS) platforms allow institutions to bridge the gap between online learning and instructor-led learning approaches.

What is Blended Learning?

Blended learning, also known as “hybrid learning” or “mixed learning,” is an approach that includes the combination of instructor-led classroom training with online content, usually in the form of on-demand videos that learners review outside of class. The live instruction can be online (through a live virtual classroom or even two-way video) or face-to-face.

Blended learning can also be a combination of other elements besides content and instructors. For instance, in a study on blended learning published in 2018, one university completely excluded face-to-face or virtual lectures from their teaching methods but instead used a mix of videos, digitized reading materials, practice exercises with feedback, pre- and post-learning assessments, and weekly surveys, along with face-to-face discussions in the form of study groups, presentations, formative assessments, and other peer interactions.

Major benefits of Blended Learning

Blended learning has the potential to optimize outcomes for individual students in different ways that traditional instruction cannot. Blended teaching and learning modes allow for each aspect to be taught using the most suitable medium for the topic at that particular stage of training. Here are five reasons why blended learning along with the combination of LMS platforms is the best way of educating students in schools, institutes, and universities.

1. Different students use different ways to learn different things.
2. Using multiple modalities dramatically reinforces engagement, learning, and retention.
3. Learners can control the pace of learning.
4. Blended learning saves money.
5. Blended learning is modular and scalable.

How Blended Learning can benefit from LMS?

Blended learning has changed the way of teaching students and how they are delivered important information along with monitoring them and their performance.  However, the success of a blended learning program is based on how it’s managed and presented to students and learners. The appropriate learning blend has to be chosen to make the learning effective. With a Learning Management System (LMS), it’s very easy to organize and administer blended learning courses. Here are 5 ways in which blended learning can benefit from LMS platforms:

●       Allows self-paced learning

Successful blended learning should allow students to learn at their own pace. With an LMS, students are able to learn at a pace that is suitable for them. All the materials including URLs, videos, documents, podcasts, and more, can be accessed by your students whenever they require them. This improves efficiency and knowledge retention by allowing students to take enough time to process difficult topics and review the known ones. As an LMS provides multi-device support, students and learners can learn through their laptops, smartphones, and tablets, providing them with enhanced flexibility.

●       Supports virtual classrooms

With the help of a Learning Management System, course instructors and teachers are able to conduct virtual sessions that connect learners from any part of the world, within no time. All that is required is a stable internet connection and a device such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. The inclusion of LMS in blended learning saves a substantial amount of time and cuts learning costs as several students from different locations can be trained at once. Virtual classes can be recorded for future reference so that students can always revisit what they’ve been taught. In LMS platforms, it’s also easy to track the progress of each course.

●       Enhances Learner Collaboration

Collaboration is an important aspect of blended learning. Using an LMS, learners can interact and collaborate effortlessly. With the help of a dedicated online forum, internal chat, and group video and audio calls, a Learning Management System platform bring together learners and course administrators for hands-on activities, discussions, and debates. These discussions allow the flow and exchange of ideas and help your students understand a topic from different perspectives. Learners tend to develop a feeling of community, that improves their morale. All these things together make learning more engaging, effective, and interesting.

●       Introduces Targeted Learning

Targeted learning is important for ensuring that students actually gain the required skills from the blended learning program. With a Learning Management System (LMS), instructors can create an infinite number of learning programs, and your students are able to select the grade course applied to them. Teachers can also suggest relevant courses for their students with the help of an LMS platform. Learners can also provide their feedback regarding their course, which helps you to improvise and make the course more relevant and effective for future learners.

●       Provide detailed insights

Analytics are required to improve the blended learning courses continuously. With the help of an LMS, instructors can get valuable insights that provide clarity on every aspect of your blended learning program. Any discrepancies in the LMS programs can be identified and solved at an early stage before they further escalate. For example, by generating reports about how course content is performing, you can identify popular learning topics among your students and create more of them for improving knowledge retention. This also makes the teaching effective and easy for the learners.

Wrapping Up

Using Learning Management System integrated blended learning method eases every aspect of your course development and delivery. By supporting different styles of learning, an LMS platform makes learning more flexible for your students and learners.

Powered by an Enterprise LMS, VRTUZ is among such platforms that helps instructors and students to maintain the consistency of learning, easy tracking and reporting, creating and using engaging courses, and achieve better results through engagement and gamification. For more information on VRTUZ, please visit our website.