Blended Learning Courses: What Makes Them Work

Working remotely doesn’t have to mean losing sight of professional development for your team. Blended learning makes the most of online educational materials and opportunities for interaction online by combining them with traditional instructor-led classroom methods.

This allows the traditional class to focus on analysis, evaluation and other higher levels of learning. And because it appeals to a wider range of learning styles, blended learning results in greater retention than traditional learning.

Successful courses include face-to-face sessions that are:

• Visual
• Organized in “bite-sized” segments
• Interactive and participatory
• Structured
• Relevant to participants
• Focused on why, not just how

The effective virtual component includes:

• Presentations, videos and break-out sessions
• Interaction through chat boxes, polling and annotation

In addition, blended learning incorporates self-paced learning before, during and after classroom sessions, including:

• Pre-printed reading material
• Webinars and YouTube clips
• eLearning activities

NSF offers interactive training courses for the medical device, IVD, pharmaceutical, dietary supplement and cosmetics industries.