5 Reasons to Design Blended Learning Using a Campaign Approach

With plenty of new instructional strategies, techniques, and technologies available to us to create modern learning, it seems creating a comprehensive and instructionally sound blended learning solution should be fairly easy.

But it’s not.

Simply stringing together a bunch of learning assets into the curriculum isn’t enough to encourage individuals to complete the blend. That’s because blended learning is much more than content associated with a common theme. Blended learning should create a purposeful learning journey; a journey in which the traveler recognizes the value of each step along the way.

How do we emphasize this value? I recommend taking a campaign design approach to building the blend.  Here are some reasons why this approach is so impactful: 

1. Campaign learning allows us to emphasize more than just formal, scheduled, live learning.

Every piece of content is valuable, and that value is obvious to the learner. Whether you are learning from an infographic, e-learning, or face-to-face class, each individual interaction is fully integrated into the larger learning experience.

2. Campaign learning supports workflow learning.

Workflow learning emphasizes embedding content “in the flow of work.” For this to be successful, individuals need to know how to use those embedded tools. In a campaign approach, tools, worksheets, and other performance support tools are introduced during formal learning events, and participants are taught how to use these tools in their various moments of learning need after the formal campaign is complete. 

3. Content is imagined and designed as discrete reusable pieces.

Every piece of microlearning is valuable as a standalone tool and as part of the integrated blend. This means that we can create multiple learning journeys for different roles using content that is consistent across the entire campaign. And when content needs to be updated, it only needs to be updated one time. Every campaign (we used to call these “courses”) is consistent, and every learner has up-to-date information readily available to them.

4. This approach provides learners with a map (called a campaign map) that guides them through the learning journeys.

Blended learning has one common issue. Historically, it has consisted of a whole bunch of stuff that our learners don’t know how to navigate, or information that seems unimportant. For learners, a comprehensive list of 12 or 15 resources or activities can be overwhelming. The course map provides visual guidance on what needs to be completed, how much time each interaction should take, and how each piece of content integrates into the larger picture.

5. Using a campaign design approach allows us to maximize our investments in modern learning methods.

By teaching people how to use microlearning and other tools, we are encouraging them to access the learning management system when they need on-the-job guidance. When learners have confidence in the training resources we provide to them during and after a formal learning event, L&D can replace Google. Training becomes the trusted source for relevant, timely, accurate information.

A campaign design approach to blended learning is powerful - with it, we can teach people how to use the tools we created on the job while guiding them through a meaningful engaging experience. 

Campaign design is a framework that allows us to communicate with our learners, our stakeholders, and our design team. It simply helps us make sense of modern learning.