Shift in Blended Learning - Example of Melding of Training and Support

In a previous post Shift in eLearning from Pure Courseware towards Reference Hybrids, I talked about the shift from Courseware towards other kinds of Blended Learning solutions with a greater emphasis in information sources.

As an example from the software training world, what we are seeing more an more is a melding of Training and Support materials. In other words, our blended learning model often used to look like:

now it looks like:


Note: the midpoint represents the launch of the system. The key differences here are:

1. Support materials such as help, cheat sheets and manuals are seamlessly integrated with training and used prior to actual system launch. The training materials are also seamlessly integrated into with support materials so that they can be easily accessed at the time of use.
   
2. "Training" is handled over time with a series of learning events that includes learning events scheduled post-launch and that are often more like office hours. This spacing is known to have much better impact.

Keywords: eLearning Trends