In this extended interview, I address a wide range of key questions about blended learning, which I hope will be of interest to just about anyone responsible for learning and development in the workplace. In this first part, I attempt to answer the following questions: What's the case for blended learning? What's so new about the idea of blended learning? Isn't blended learning just a euphemism for e-learning? Aren't blended solutions just another way of bundling up the same old formal learning approaches? When is blended learning appropriate? So, is blended learning always the right option? MORE >>

I came fairly late to the multi-touch iOS/Android/W7 Mobile world, having been stuck on a 2-year contract with a Nokia smart phone that was great compared to the phones I'd had before, but which I now realise was hopelessly behind the game. Like millions of others I never thought apps would make much of a difference to my life but now find myself turning to them as first choice to provide a myriad of services. How can this be? Well, apps tend to do one job really well with the minimum of fuss. They are formatted perfectly for the devices on which they are based. Enough said. What do you think MORE >>

I was at a client meeting the other day at which we were agreeing principles that would act as a foundation to their l&d strategy. We were discussing the all-too-common tendency to over-teach and under-practise in formal workplace learning interventions.Here's how one of the participants in the meeting summarised how the principle should read: Provide just enough information to allow the learner to practise and no more I'm really taken with this. It captures the idea perfectly in plain language. So what are the implications?Training Training is not education. They're anxious. MORE >>

One of the many problems I have with the term 'instructional designer' is that it implies that the only strategy of relevance to learning in the workplace is instruction. Instruction tends to follow this flow: When it is done well then a good job will be done of exciting the learner's interest, the explanations will be kept to a minimum (at least initially) and the learner will be given plenty of opportunity for practice with supportive feedback. Instruction is a good strategy for algorithmic tasks - those that are based on clear rules. instructional design MORE >>

I have noticed in recent discussions just how confusing it can get when social learning is regarded as synonymous with the use of social media. First of all, social learning pre-dates social media by thousands of years. We have always and always will learn socially. It isn't the only way we learn but it is a highly significant element. Secondly, social media has very many outcomes other than learning. People use social media to collaborate on tasks, to promote goods and services, to entertain each other, to exchange information and so on. social media MORE >>