You have likely encountered these typical stumbling blocks in training: managing low downtime for companies, motivating participants, and ensuring the sustainability of learning all under one roof. The "Blended Learning" method combines in-person events with flexible online courses, paving the way for entirely new, individualized pathways.

We help trainers and companies make the most of these opportunities. Boring lectures are a thing of the past - engagement, interaction, and questions are the magic words! With this concept, blink.it was recently represented at "Tips & Tools".

Tips & Tools - The name says it all!

At the "Tips & Tools" on September 2nd in Cologne, trainers and personnel developers met again for exchange: Approximately 120 participants attended various lectures and workshops on professional development topics. Last year, blink.it was already present as a participant – this year, motivated by organizer Axel Rachow, they themselves participated in the exciting one-day program with a lecture.

“Training 4.0: Live present and digitally accompanying”

The nearly two-hour workshop by blink.it founder Michael and employee Hans-Martin conveys informative and interactive advantages, opportunities, and methods in Blended Learning. The goal of the presentation: to give trainers a positive mindset, recognize the benefits of the Blended Learning method, and inspire them to explore new avenues for their own training.

Participants therefore worked out the advantages of traditional in-person events and online courses themselves in the workshop:

| Advantages of in-person events | Advantages of online courses || ---------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- || Interaction between trainer and participants | saved travel costs || Variety in training | location and time independence || direct contact with trainer & fellow participants | consistent quality || direct adaptability to the learning level | tests and quizzes possible || teamwork & group dynamics | stress-free space due to lack of group pressure |

The concept of Blended Learning builds on leveraging the advantages of both methods to ultimately create sustainable training. The lecture from blink.it, building on the dynamic group work, addressed particularly the crucial questions of trainers and clients: WHY use Blended Learning? And HOW do I set up such training correctly?

For you to read later: Your advantages of Blended Learning: Checklist for trainers

Tips & Tools 2018 – Hans-Martin from blink.it at the workshop on Blended Learning.

Blended Learning - Runway instead of Barrier

Blended Learning is still a new method for many in vocational training and offers numerous opportunities for trainers and participants. Accordingly, there was a large influx of questions from the about 40 listeners to blink.it. How they can link in-person and online content - many trainers are initially uncertain. Likewise, regarding the creation and use of their own videos.

Michael and Hans-Martin quickly broke down the barriers: Various models for Blended Learning enable finding the right integration for every training and every company. And videos can be produced nowadays inexpensively, quickly, and with minimal effort, tailored to your own content.

Tip: You really only need a surprisingly small setup for your own videos, which we have compiled in a purchasing recommendation list for you:

Conclusion: Fresh impetus for training

The feedback from the “Tips & Tools” participants on the blink.it workshop was overwhelmingly positive. Both from trainers, for whom blink.it and Blended Learning are uncharted territory, and from participants who are already familiar with the concept. About 10% of the participants of “Tips & Tools” are already blink.it customers! In 2019, blink.it will be back on site with an exciting new lecture.

Until then, a general conclusion remains: The interest in Blended Learning is growing rapidly! The combination of in-person and online learning offers great advantages for trainers, participants, and companies. The trend is towards long-term sustainable and individually tailored trainings. The integration of personal and online training is likely to become indispensable in the long run.

So keeping pace is the order of the day. Start now with the first step: With our guide to Blended Learning.