Simply having a hybrid learning model in place for your destination marketing organization or tourism trade association isn’t enough if you truly want your program to succeed. You need to come up with the right model for your organization. The question is: Do you understand how your hybrid learning program can meet your business needs?

Hybrid learning should be driven by results. Choosing the right approach comes down to assessing the content you need to teach, knowing who needs to learn it, and how you can best achieve those goals. At the most basic level, your hybrid learning program should:

• Incorporate learner preferences

• Be delivered utilizing the best methods and mediums for understanding

What Are The Learner Implications Or Limitations?

The challenge L&D professionals have long faced is that different people learn in different ways. The good news is that this plays to the strength of hybrid learning, which provides the flexibility to deliver a combination of in-person and online training.

Know your team: For hybrid learning – or any learning – to achieve the desired results it’s vital that you consider who your learner is… and determine what medium and learning style will be most effective for them. Switching to online learning styles will be easier for some and more difficult for others. Knowing the makeup of your team may help you determine which approach will produce the best results.

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Know how they learn best: Some learners do best with an in-person approach that provides an opportunity to ask questions or seek clarification. Yet online resources can be viewed again if something was missed… or if a refresher is required at any point in the future. Plus, the student can choose to train at their own convenience. In many cases, in-person and online training go hand in hand. Using them together can support learning by reinforcing knowledge through two different approaches.

Make sure they know why this matters: With any training to be successful, it has to be meaningful. Learners need to know why they are being asked to learn something and how it will help them do their job better or more effectively. It needs to have a clear connection to their job (i.e. context). Finally, learners need to be able to see and understand the benefits driving change. If you can do this, you will greatly enhance learner buy-in.

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What Is Your Learning Objective(s)?

L&D professionals have long understood that it’s important to choose the right training and testing platforms based on the training goals and intended outcomes. Whether learning is in-person, online or a hybrid approach, you need to start by establishing your learning objective. This will have a direct impact on how you structure your course, and which learning platform you choose. Your objectives should work together to help your learners (and your organization) achieve the desired outcome.

It is important that objectives be well-defined and clearly measurable. How do you define success? Your learning program also needs to provide a plan and a timeline on how to achieve those objectives in pursuit of the outcome. In a hybrid learning setting, the objectives, timeline and need for measurable results can influence the best learning platform for the job. Hybrid learning provides a great opportunity to tailor the learning platform to the objectives. For example, if one of the objectives is to help employees become proficient in operating a new piece of equipment, you may opt for an in-person demonstration. Yet if a second objective is to reduce training costs by not having to fly remote employees in for a demonstration, you may determine a video is the better option. Or perhaps simply an alternative tool.

Summary: Which questions should you ask before developing a hybrid learning program to choose the best approach for your team?