“I used to be the biggest skeptic, but today I am firmly convinced of the concept of Blended Learning” – this is how Nicole Mast describes her journey to becoming a successful E-Trainer. Find out in the interview what ultimately convinced Nicole and what tips she has for aspiring Blended Learning trainers.

Nicole Mast is a self-employed trainer and coach at MenschTRAINING. In 2018, she was nominated for a trainer award from the BDVT – with a blended learning program that trains young executives in face-to-face seminars and supports them online for eight weeks. We wanted to know from her: What tips do you have for other trainers considering expanding their offerings online?

Hello Nicole, it’s great that you want to share your expertise in an interview. Could you first introduce yourself briefly?

Nicole Mast: I would love to. I am the owner of MenschTRAINING and offer customized personnel and organizational development. By training, I have studied marketing communication and communication psychology. I understand my craft as accompanying clients who do not have personnel development themselves or, if they do, that I act as an interface. From conception to execution and follow-up, I support my clients.

My focus in training is on the practical added value for participants. To this end, I dive deeply into the company to learn the goals, values, and framework conditions well.

Suppose I were an executive wanting to increase my successes. How can you concrete help me?

Nicole Mast: Typically, companies approach me because they want to provide support for their executives – for example, in the junior area. For specific challenges or to lay a foundation. In sales, this is often linked to business performance, such as increasing turnover.

I can help by identifying goals and jointly determining: Where do you currently stand as a leader? Where does the company stand? … After a detailed analysis of the current situation, I create the concept with a focus on the competencies to be expanded and helpful leadership tools. Then follows training, coaching, or even blended learning. In blended learning, we conduct both classic face-to-face trainings or individual coaching and I also accompany the participants online over several weeks in my Online Academy.

You were nominated for the European Trainer Award for Training, Advice and Coaching in 2018 as a finalist in the medium-sized category – congratulations on that! How did this nomination come about?

Nicole Mast: A colleague of mine knows my Program4Starter for junior executives, which operates as a blended learning program, and recommended me to the BDVT. The special thing about this program is that we involve all interfaces within the company. This means that the executives work together with their direct supervisors and the internal personnel development.

The program consists of an e-learning component, as well as face-to-face training and individual coaching. When participants are, for example, supposed to conduct employee discussions and have practiced this in face-to-face training, they can read online what was worked on. They then conduct the discussion together with their supervisor and report back to me in the individual coaching about what worked well and where there are still challenges.

At the Zukunft Personal trade fair in September, it will be decided whether we will win bronze, silver, or gold with our blended learning program.

You specifically offer the combination of face-to-face training and e-learning, that is, blended learning. What convinces you about this method?

Nicole Mast: What convinces me about blended learning is the possibility of sustainability and also a bit of ease of work for me. You have to imagine that I am now providing things that I previously sent to the client and participants via email (classic pre-work) online.

Once the group is opened, and the participants are invited, I have the opportunity to introduce myself online and also bring the participants together a bit. Typically, I also initiate self-reflection. What is also very beneficial is: I can extend the process. A classic training that would normally last two or three days can, for example, be extended to eight weeks.

This way, I can gradually provide content before or after the seminar, assign small tasks, or also accompany playfully and entertainingly, for example, through quizzes or podcasts and videos. In this way, I increase and ensure sustainability, which is a huge advantage for my clients.

These are the advantages trainer Nicole Mast sees in blended learning:

1. Ensuring sustainability

2. Cost-effective extension of training

3. Flexibility – both for oneself and for the participants

4. Added value through a variety of methods

5. Ease of work for oneself

What do your online courses look like in terms of content?

Nicole Mast: I am still relatively at the beginning with my blended learning program and have been actively involved for half a year – but I have been actively dealing with this topic for longer. What I include are primarily small video units that I shoot myself or also use and incorporate existing materials from YouTube. With this, I want to show the participants that not only what we do in the program is interesting, but that they can also know how to inform themselves afterward.

What I also offer includes classic PDFs for reference, connected with small tasks. At the end of a program, the participants complete a final quiz. I then coordinate individually with my client on what is desired: What knowledge should be tested? Should the participant be able to fail? How many percent should he have passed – etc.

Suppose I am a participant in your blended learning. How do I experience your training?

Nicole Mast: If you are, for example, in my Program4Starter, which lasts eight weeks and is designed for executives, then you receive a small input every Monday that fits thematically into the program. Typically, this will take you five minutes or, in exceptional cases, up to fifteen minutes.

You will receive the tasks every Monday – and sometimes you answer them only for yourself, and sometimes you send the answers to me as your E-Tutor. Or I motivate you to initiate a group discussion. You would then have the opportunity to exchange ideas with the other participants. Sometimes the instruction is also to put something from the seminar or online support into practice. With the feedback, you then find yourself back together in the group and receive new solutions and ideas.

The nice thing about my blended learning is: We work asynchronously. This means each person decides for themselves when they log in online and provide feedback there. So, as a participant, you have the whole week to decide when and where to work on the content. You can do the tasks, for example, in the office on the PC or on the go via smartphone when you are sitting on the train and have time available. Some participants manage to complete their tasks comfortably at home on the weekend, for example, on a tablet.

Nicole Mast provides her participants in executive training with regular input through her Online Academy. Participants can decide for themselves when and from where they want to complete the short tasks.

You have not been in blended learning for very long and are already very successful with it. What do you advise other trainers who are just starting with blended learning?

Nicole Mast: When I start with blended learning as a trainer, I should first get to know the participant's perspective. I have been working with blended learning myself for a good half year, but have been active as a trainer since 2003. That’s why I completed a training course to become an E-Tutor at the end of 2017, which lasted three months.

That helped me a lot as a participant to know later in the trainer role what I actually need to pay attention to: What is motivating, what might even be demotivating in online training? Which communication tools work well? What types of learners are there, and how must I as a trainer pay attention to them?

My personal development is also very important to me. I try to continue my education once or twice a year. On the one hand, because I enjoy learning very much – that’s what my job is all about. On the other hand, learning never stops. I also want to stay attractive for my clients and always be up to date.

These are the tips trainer Nicole Mast has for colleagues who want to get started with blended learning:

1. First, get to know the participant's perspective

2. Regularly continue your own education

3. Listen openly to the wishes of your clients

   
   
   
   

   

   
   
   
   

Do you also offer Train the Trainer – is that also done as blended learning?

Nicole Mast: In fact, the Train the Trainer program is still run as a classic training for me, mostly in-house. So, if companies want to further educate their internal trainers as certified trainers or coaches, I am happy to share my knowledge. I am currently working on a new project and will soon be offering training for blended trainers. The contents will range from psychological background knowledge – how do groups function? How do adults learn? What role do I take as a trainer? – to practical tips from methodology and didactics for the implementation of e-learning in conjunction with face-to-face training.

What kind of tips do you give trainers on the topic of blended learning?

Nicole Mast: In the ongoing process, you need a lot of flexibility, which I want to convey in the Train the Trainer program. Good preparation and accurate needs assessment are enormously important – at the same time, we as trainers must act very flexibly. Especially with online support, there are always participants who are so busy with their jobs and other things that they cannot concentrate or simply have less time for online tasks.

Therefore, I should pay attention as a trainer to only offer “learn nuggets” – that is, only give tasks that take about three to five minutes. Additionally, I should continuously set impulses and pay attention to how participants react: Do they understand the content, and how do they implement it in their work?

How did you even come up with the idea of offering blended learning?

Nicole Mast: I have been dealing with the topic for several years and honestly avoided it for a long time. As a “human trainer,” I have a great interest in people and want to engage with them personally. That was always a point for me to say: Well, e-learning, others can do that. It’s not necessarily my thing; I might be stronger in other areas.

However, this has changed now because I have seen how easy it can be. I knew all these e-learning topics in a very complex context, where the technology was not as advanced as it is today. This has now changed; the technology has improved, become easier, and more reliable. Accordingly, e-learning is now much more fun. I can create videos or podcasts – although that was already possible a few years ago, it was not in the quality that I can now offer as a trainer. Thus, it is also more attractive for participants to use such online learning units.

And the third point: I have a twelve-year-old daughter and see how she interacts with digital media. YouTube, for example, is a huge learning platform for this target group. And I find it interesting to consider: How do young people learn today, how will people learn in the future? As a self-employed trainer, I want to be up to date. In the past, clients frequently asked me if I offered e-learning or blended learning.

These arguments convinced trainer Nicole Mast to start with blended learning:

1. I do not have to restrict or replace my personal connection to clients but rather expand my offerings through sustainable online support.

2. The technical possibilities have grown significantly and have become both easier to use and higher quality in application.

3. By observing my daughter, I see a strong trend towards digital learning in the future. I want to be able to offer my clients the right offerings in the long term.

My impression: Many companies are already dealing with the topic of digital learning but do not have the capacity to prepare learning content and support employees online. As an external service provider, I can provide much support and offer a holistic, sustainable solution. My clients are thankful that I bring experience and background knowledge on e-learning and blended learning.

To summarize this long response:

I think I was the biggest skeptic of e-learning that existed. And today I am totally thrilled that it works – and so easily! Especially since we can use online support on all devices, just like an app.

Thank you for your time, dear Nicole!

Are you also considering whether blended learning should be an opportunity for your training or coaching? Then test yourself and take 45 minutes for an initial blended learning concept! We have selected four typical methods that are popular for online support.

With this guide, you will be walked step by step through the four methods and thus create your first concept for blended learning. If you find that you enjoy it, you should definitely give blended learning a chance!