3 Ways Hybrid Learning Benefits Both Learners and Instructors

Hybrid learning is the new normal for corporate trainers. Ever since the pandemic required nearly every workplace to accommodate remote workers, employee training plans converted from in-person workshops to combinations of virtual sessions, face-to-face classrooms, and asynchronous modules. 

While the transition was rough – particularly on the learning and development folks who had to quickly convert content – it looks like it was a good thing for all parties involved. Here are three reasons why hybrid learning benefits both learners and instructors (and why your organization should lean into this new normal).

What is Hybrid Learning?

Hybrid learning in corporate training refers to delivering formal training in both virtual and in-person formats. 

Sometimes, that manifests as hybrid classrooms, where the same course is offered at the same time to both in-person and remote learners. Other times, hybrid learning may look a little more spread out with an in-person workshop, asynchronous e-learning module, and virtual study group to follow up on the topic, all accompanies by videos and print training manuals for reference. 

While hybrid learning will differ from one organization to another, no matter what, it accommodates both in-person and remote learners. 

3 Hybrid Learning Advantages

#1: Increased Accessibility

Hybrid learning is more accessible to learners. We mean that in two ways. First, when there are both remote and in-person options, learners can join without geography constraints. Second, virtual training is more likely to be made accessible to learners of various abilities (such as ADA-compliant captions on videos). Here’s why that is good for everyone involved:

Advantage for Corporate Learners

More accessible learning is great for the employees receiving the training for several reasons. When you no longer need to limit courses based on geography, more learners can participate than previously would have been able to. That means employees who might otherwise have missed out on topics like management training or product updates can now access more training than ever.

On top of that, hybrid learning offers more flexibility. For example, learners can now complete compliance training as elearning modules or watch video lectures from their own devices. That means they can engage with training on the timeline that works for them: on their commute, while on the treadmill, or during a slow week.

Finally, accessible learning for different learning and physical abilities means more learners can consume your crucial training content on terms that will help them learn. That is a win-win!

Advantage for Corporate Instructors

The corporate L&D team wins when more learners access training, too. When you are no longer handcuffed to delivering leadership training as 3-day in-person workshops, you are freed up to offer more training at a lower cost. Plus, hybrid learning allows L&D teams to try out different content types and delivery models to find the best way to hit your learning objectives.

#2: Hybrid Learning Offers a Greater Range of Ways to Engage With Content

By definition, hybrid learning offers more than the standard in-person class. That means learners can engage with your training content in new ways. In many cases, hybrid learning includes a classroom experience, on demand videos, physical workbooks, searchable PDFs, and more. Here’s why that is a benefit:

Advantage for Corporate Learners

Hybrid learning spreads out knowledge transfer across a whole library of content. That means your learner can engage with the right content at the right time. For example, when learning about your company’s product offerings, they can get the big picture overview from your new hire classroom training. Then, when they need to dive into specifics of each product, they can review videos on your digital content delivery platform. And when they need to find an answer to a customer’s question, they can pull up your PDF to do a keyword search. That is a much richer experience than the traditional lecture-and-reference-material method.

Advantage for Corporate Instructors

Hybrid learning takes the pressure of the in-classroom facilitator to cram everything the learner needs to know into one session. When all learning had to be funneled through in-person training, instructional design often went by the wayside in order to shove as much information as possible into hours of slideshows. Now, you can focus on optimizing classroom sessions for learner engagement, breakout sessions, and social collaboration.

#3: Corporate Learning Becomes a Journey, Not a Destination

Traditional employee training was often treated as a separate experience from the rest of their career. New hire training lasted one or two weeks. Compliance training happened once a year. Leadership or sales training happened as off-site experiences every few months. Hybrid learning changes that model so that more content is available on demand. You guessed it, hybrid learning benefits everyone involved:

Advantage for Corporate Learners

Hybrid learning allows learners to incorporate training into their everyday life. Part of this includes the right-content-at-the-right-time advantage mentioned above. On top of that, they can start doing 10 or 30-minutes of learning per day or per week using on demand learning content. For example, all managers could be put on a learning journey that covers conflict resolution, inclusivity, and negotiation skills. Instead of being pulled away for three days, these topics can be covered in elearning modules and virtual chats over the course of several months before capping off with in-person workshops. 

Advantage for Corporate Instructors

Hybrid learning journeys allow corporate L&D teams to provide better training. It allows instructional designers to map out learning so different objectives are achieved by the delivery method that makes the most sense. It also allows facilitators to act as conductors, pointing learners towards the right resources, rather than forcing them to be entertainers at the front of a classroom. At the end of the day, the learning journey advantage comes down to business sense: companies that use learning journeys are 2.5x more likely to be financially successful. 

Hybrid learning empowers learners and instructors alike to get more out of corporate training. With more employees than ever seeking personal growth from their organizations, that will be a game changer for companies across the corporate world. That said, hybrid training isn’t always easy to deploy. Reach out to find out how Mimeo Digital helps deliver digital content to support your hybrid learning program. 

Hybrid learning is the new normal for corporate trainers. Ever since the pandemic required nearly every workplace to accommodate remote workers, employee training plans converted from in-person workshops to combinations of virtual sessions, face-to-face classrooms, and asynchronous modules. 

While the transition was rough – particularly on the learning and development folks who had to quickly convert content – it looks like it was a good thing for all parties involved. Here are three reasons why hybrid learning benefits both learners and instructors (and why your organization should lean into this new normal).

What is Hybrid Learning?

Hybrid learning in corporate training refers to delivering formal training in both virtual and in-person formats. 

Sometimes, that manifests as hybrid classrooms, where the same course is offered at the same time to both in-person and remote learners. Other times, hybrid learning may look a little more spread out with an in-person workshop, asynchronous e-learning module, and virtual study group to follow up on the topic, all accompanies by videos and print training manuals for reference. 

While hybrid learning will differ from one organization to another, no matter what, it accommodates both in-person and remote learners. 

3 Hybrid Learning Advantages

#1: Increased Accessibility

Hybrid learning is more accessible to learners. We mean that in two ways. First, when there are both remote and in-person options, learners can join without geography constraints. Second, virtual training is more likely to be made accessible to learners of various abilities (such as ADA-compliant captions on videos). Here’s why that is good for everyone involved:

Advantage for Corporate Learners

More accessible learning is great for the employees receiving the training for several reasons. When you no longer need to limit courses based on geography, more learners can participate than previously would have been able to. That means employees who might otherwise have missed out on topics like management training or product updates can now access more training than ever.

On top of that, hybrid learning offers more flexibility. For example, learners can now complete compliance training as elearning modules or watch video lectures from their own devices. That means they can engage with training on the timeline that works for them: on their commute, while on the treadmill, or during a slow week.

Finally, accessible learning for different learning and physical abilities means more learners can consume your crucial training content on terms that will help them learn. That is a win-win!

Advantage for Corporate Instructors

The corporate L&D team wins when more learners access training, too. When you are no longer handcuffed to delivering leadership training as 3-day in-person workshops, you are freed up to offer more training at a lower cost. Plus, hybrid learning allows L&D teams to try out different content types and delivery models to find the best way to hit your learning objectives.

#2: Hybrid Learning Offers a Greater Range of Ways to Engage With Content

By definition, hybrid learning offers more than the standard in-person class. That means learners can engage with your training content in new ways. In many cases, hybrid learning includes a classroom experience, on demand videos, physical workbooks, searchable PDFs, and more. Here’s why that is a benefit:

Advantage for Corporate Learners

Hybrid learning spreads out knowledge transfer across a whole library of content. That means your learner can engage with the right content at the right time. For example, when learning about your company’s product offerings, they can get the big picture overview from your new hire classroom training. Then, when they need to dive into specifics of each product, they can review videos on your digital content delivery platform. And when they need to find an answer to a customer’s question, they can pull up your PDF to do a keyword search. That is a much richer experience than the traditional lecture-and-reference-material method.

Advantage for Corporate Instructors

Hybrid learning takes the pressure of the in-classroom facilitator to cram everything the learner needs to know into one session. When all learning had to be funneled through in-person training, instructional design often went by the wayside in order to shove as much information as possible into hours of slideshows. Now, you can focus on optimizing classroom sessions for learner engagement, breakout sessions, and social collaboration.

#3: Corporate Learning Becomes a Journey, Not a Destination

Traditional employee training was often treated as a separate experience from the rest of their career. New hire training lasted one or two weeks. Compliance training happened once a year. Leadership or sales training happened as off-site experiences every few months. Hybrid learning changes that model so that more content is available on demand. You guessed it, that hybrid learning benefits everyone involved:

Advantage for Corporate Learners

Hybrid learning allows learners to incorporate training into their everyday life. Part of this includes the right-content-at-the-right-time advantage mentioned above. On top of that, they can start doing 10 or 30-minutes of learning per day or per week using on demand learning content. For example, all managers could be put on a learning journey that covers conflict resolution, inclusivity, and negotiation skills. Instead of being pulled away for three days, these topics can be covered in elearning modules and virtual chats over the course of several months before capping off with in-person workshops. 

Advantage for Corporate Instructors

Hybrid learning journeys allow corporate L&D teams to provide better training. It allows instructional designers to map out learning so different objectives are achieved by the delivery method that makes the most sense. It also allows facilitators to act as conductors, pointing learners towards the right resources, rather than forcing them to be entertainers at the front of a classroom. At the end of the day, the learning journey advantage comes down to business sense: companies that use learning journeys are 2.5x more likely to be financially successful. 

Hybrid learning empowers learners and instructors alike to get more out of corporate training. With more employees than ever seeking personal growth from their organizations, that will be a game changer for companies across the corporate world. That said, hybrid training isn’t always easy to deploy. Reach out to find out how Mimeo Digital helps deliver digital content to support your hybrid learning program.