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Blended Learning is defined as
a style of education in which students learn via electronic and online media as well as traditional face-to-face teaching.
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Summer Time!
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Just saying it can make you smile. It is the time of year when most of us focus on blending our work time with time spent with family and friends. The slower pace of summer also offers a wonderful opportunity to sit back and take stock of how to increase the impact of training that many of us provide to our employees.
There has never been a more opportune time to leverage innovative technology with knowledge of learning and development best practices to offer impactful blended learning solutions to employees.
This summer's issue focuses on helping you and your organization consider the many options for implementing a blended learning approach.
In this issue, our Client Spotlight article features the Massachusetts Trial Court and its approach to developing an innovative speaker series.
Our recommended vendor -
professional videographer Scott Hancock -
is
one of our core partners in many of our client projects
. Our Staff Spotlight welcomes the newest member of our team, e-Learning Specialist Dana Remian. Lastly, our Tips article focuses on 10 best practices for implementing a Blended Learning approach.
For more information on how ODLS can help your organization with its organizational development consulting, learning solutions and Event Management needs, read on, and be sure to visit us at
www.donahue.umassp.edu/odls
.
Dana L. Henry, ODLS Director
(617) 287-4068
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Bringing Together Police and Autism Self-Advocates
Blended learning does not always involve technology. It can also integrate diverse audiences and simulation activities, taking a completely different approach to learning other than a traditional lecture or classroom instruction.
Recently, ODLS brought
together
15 peace officers from four local law enforcement agencies to receive specialized training about autism and related disabilities through
Experience Autism®
, the only evidence-based autism police training program in the United States.
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New at ODLS!
Spotlights
Useful Resources
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Client Spotlight: Massachusetts Trial Court's Speaker Series
The Massachusetts Trial Court contracted with ODLS to develop 12 online, on-demand modules on different topics to begin forming a library of innovative online programs for new and sitting judges. Each module is built around videos of a speaker presenting on a particular topic and includes a menu for navigation and a knowledge check. Some sample topics include:
- Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders
- Equanimity on the Bench
- Breaking Poverty Barriers to Equal Justice
- The Physiology of Addiction: Effects of Drug-Taking Behavior on the Brain
- Contempt in Criminal Cases
- Juror Attendance Procedures and Judicial Discretion Hearings
Recommended Vendor: Scott Hancock
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Scott Hancock, video producer and editor, is an award-winning storyteller
with extensive experience in content creation, impact producing, and story editing.
As a talented and creative video producer, Scott and his team thrive on helping brands uncover and craft their unique stories. This is done through a collaborative process - one that starts with listening, which helps Scott to truly understand a client's objectives. They then develop visual content strategies, balancing the client's wants with what's needed to engage their target market.
Scott and his team have worked with
a wide variety of industries including
tech, public relations, health care, non-profit, government, and more.
Staff Spotlight: Dana Remian, e-Learning Specialist
We would like to welcome and introduce our new e-Learning specialist ,
Dana Remian,
who just started full-time on June 1, 2019.
Dana joined our team on a part-time basis on April 1, 2019. He is responsible for the design and development of e-Learning and multimedia assets, as well as the selection of technology solutions, setting the unit's e-Learning standards and best practices, and establishing new, innovative approaches to blended learning for ODLS clients. He brings several years of experience as a corporate trainer and a wealth of experience working for both public sector and non-profit entities. He applies a creative and critical eye to designing attractive and evidence-based approaches to learning.
Dana received his bachelor of arts in English literature from Worcester State University. He anticipates completing a master's of education in instructional design from the University of Massachusetts Boston later this year.
Dana will be working out of the Shrewsbury office, supporting all ODLS clients by providing innovative blended learning solutions.
We are thrilled to welcome Dana to the ODLS team!
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Top 10 Best Practices for Blended Learning
When many of us first think of
Blended Learning, we think of
on-line learning. However, as a best practice, it entails much more than just the use of technology.
Blended learning
is defined as a style of education in which students learn via electronic and online media, as well as traditional face-to-face teaching. More and more research is showing that adult learners retain more knowledge and build work-related skills when they can use multiple learning channels. So what are some of the options you can chose from to build your blended-learning solution?
Here are our top 10 best practices to help you implement an innovative Blended Learning Solutions for your employees:
- Classroom Training: Yes, our first tip is to not cut out classroom training from your blended-learning design. Survey any adult learners and they will tell you that "face-to-face" is still their preferred learning method. However, by combining traditional classroom training with supportive online learning, you can drastically reduce the amount of classroom training in your curriculum and get better results!
- e-Learning Modules: The first component of blended learning that most of us turn to is asynchronous, or self-study, online learning modules. A few simple best practices for developing e-Learning modules include the following (to name only a few): length should ideally be 30-45 minutes; multiple knowledge checks should be incorporated; and video segments and other graphics should be utilized to increase engagement throughout the module.
- Webinars: Webinars are often confused with asynchronous e-Learning modules. The main difference is that a webinar, though completely online, is a live event. Webinars afford the convenience of being accessed online with the benefits of live interaction and dialogue.
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Helpful Links
Professional Development Vendors
- Real Cool Productions: Full-service video, animation, and mixed media production company in Boston that services global businesses.
- CommonLook: Rely on CommonLook to achieve compliance with PDF and document accessibility standards through a process called Remediation.
- Tara Hall: Independent graphic and web design consultant.
Professional Development Resources
Professional Learning Associations
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