Conduct Blended Learning completely online – does that work? Michael Witzke, Managing Director at blink.it, participated in such a training with an online presence phase and reports his experiences from the participant's perspective:
About the person: Michael Witzke is the Managing Director at blink.it and an expert in digital further education formats. For years, he has been giving lectures on blended learning and video recording for online courses at events like Learntec, and he regularly participates in further education in the presence-online mix himself.
You participated in an online blended learning course on OKR (Objectives and Key Results) last week, where the presence phase was also digital. Was this format planned that way?
No, that came out of the Corona crisis. A face-to-face meeting with 16 participants was simply not possible. It was planned from the beginning that there would be a preparatory online course before the presence phase. In the online course, we acquired the theory on OKRs. It also fit perfectly with my experience: You don't have to convey any theory in person anymore! For me, that was very cool since I could directly relate the topic to our practice at blink.it.
How did the live meeting go, and what content was covered there?
In total, there were 8 hours in the video meeting, so a completely normal seminar day. In the live part, there was a one-hour wrap-up of the content from the online course to bring all participants to a common knowledge level. Unfortunately, some participants hadn't completed the preparation. Then followed an hour of in-depth theory. Afterwards, we actually did practical exercises.
How were the practical exercises realized online?
The exercises were conducted over Zoom, just like the whole meeting. With Zoom, there is the feature “Break-Out-Rooms”. This allows the moderator to split the group into any smaller groups. Our task in the small groups was to apply the OKR theory directly to a topic. To visualize the results, we used the tool “Miro-Board”. This led to some problems for the participants and took time as not everyone could access the Miro Board directly.
The online training lasted 8 hours. How did you find that as a participant?
As with a normal face-to-face meeting, there were of course breaks in between. Overall, I found it a bit more exhausting because I was much more focused than in a physical room, where there are simply more distractions from emails or other participants.
On the other hand, such an online training naturally saves time: The face-to-face meeting would actually have taken place in Stuttgart. That would have added several hours of travel time, which I did not have online.
If you had the choice to decide whether the next training should take place in person or online – what would you prefer?
I would do it online again. I saw many advantages, especially a significant time saving, and the learning effect is not worse in my view. I see this opportunity for all topics where I do not necessarily need close contact, like this management topic.
However, if it were a soft topic, for example on communication or personal development, where I have to interact intensively with the trainer or other participants, I would choose actual on-site presence.
What are your biggest learnings from the online blended learning that you would like to pass on to trainers?
First, check your technology beforehand! And do not introduce too many new tools that require participants to register separately. Instead of Miro Board, we could have just used a shared document in Google Drive, which everyone could directly access via a link.
Second, as a trainer, pay attention to your speaking time! It is important that I consciously think about how to keep the group engaged online. A live online meeting is similar to a webinar, just possibly much longer. So make sure to actively involve your participants online to avoid losing their attention.
Third, make it clear to your participants how important the online course is! There were a few participants in our training who had not done the preparatory course. As a result, a lot of theory had to be repeated in the online presence. The commitment should be 'You MUST prepare yourselves, we are not doing a repeat!' Otherwise, you punish those trainers who have prepared thoroughly and really want to make practical use of the face-to-face time.
Did blended learning with online presence cost the same as the originally planned face-to-face?
Yes, and I find that completely acceptable from both a trainer's and a participant's perspective! After all, I saved time and costs for travel, as did the trainer. The service that the trainer worked with us for 8 hours is identical. Many trainers think that they cannot charge the same amount for online offerings as for face-to-face offerings, but I believe that is incorrect. As long as the quality is right, and the learning effect for the participants is maintained, trainers can charge the same fee for online training as for traditional face-to-face training!
Thank you, Michael, for the exciting insights.
As a trainer, do you want to currently transition to digital formats like blended learning with online presence and are unsure how to market your online support to your participants or clients effectively? Michael has already provided important pointers in the interview on how to argue. Additionally, we have compiled 7 strong selling points for your online support as a free PDF for you. Download them now and start your online training!
