The CED Group specializes in developing inspiring learning tools and providing effective guidance, with the goal of making a lasting impact on both child and education professional. The move towards blended learning had been underway at the CED-Groep for some time and was further developed using the Learning Management Software from Procademy. An interview with Hanni Bijl and Marléone Goudswaard of CED-Groep about blended learning, the added value of online and newly gained insights.
Online learning: scaling up quickly
"At the time we were in talks with Procademy , we were already working with blended courses (the mix between online and offline education, -red.) in a different system ", Hanni, responsible for buying and selling training at the CED Group, opens the conversation. Marleone, innovation officer at the same organization, adds: "We wanted to explore in a pilot extensively, spread over several months the possibilities of blended learning In Procademy , to explore whether this tool would fit well with our vision."
But then a virus broke out. From one day to the next, the physical meetings, on which at that time much of the training programs still relied entirely, were no longer possible. The rollout of Procademy 's online LMS (learning management software) thus gained momentum.
"Formally, we still had to finalize the contract with each other," Hanni laughs, "but fortunately we were able to start setting up in advance, just so we didn't have to waste time. With that, of course, a pretty intense period followed: we were all used to working on location, to achieving training goals with physical meetings. We did have Microsoft Teams, but until the pandemic, it was not really used much, if at all. In a short time we had to switch to 100% online."
Marleone adds: "So there was no question of quietly testing for a few months, looking for the role of online in a blended learning approach. We had to see everything translated directly to Procademy , in order to continue training above all."
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The implementation
An implementation that, although under high time pressure, went well. "Fortunately, with Procademy we have a tool in house that is easily adaptable to our specific needs. Of course you have to get used to a system, but that was not the biggest challenge. For example, even the whole process of signing up and paying for training on our side and actually getting access and going through it on Procademy 's side is fully automated." says Hanni. "Choosing Procademy gave us a tool that fits well with working with our own autonomous trainers," hooks Marleone, "Trainers are in control of the learning trajectory of trainees. They can follow and manage their courses. On top of that, Procademy continues to develop continuously and we regularly see our wishes realized in new releases. The implementation was technically challenging, but the real change was in the way we started looking at training. The prevailing view was that it could not be translated to a (partly) online interpretation. In practice, that usually turned out to be quite possible."
Permanently Blended
Online learning accelerating as a result of a global pandemic, then: but how permanent is this move to online, now that physical meetings are now readily available again? Marleone sums it up clearly: "Blended learning is not going away anymore. Trainers and students have recognized the added value. Offering material online, submitting and assessing homework assignments online, it all ensures that the knowledge level at the physical meetings is higher and more equivalent."
Hanni adds: "Sessions that do take place on location are now more substantive. You can go a layer deeper because people have already been able to reflect on the material. They have already mastered the basics online." "Before, trainers would look at the total curriculum and ask themselves how many days that could be trained in." outlines Marleone's changing understanding. "Now trainers look much more at what chunks of material can be broken down into and when online or offline training best fits such a section."
So what actually makes a blended learning program successful? Marleone has a clear answer to that, too: "The answer is the same for all forms of training. The most important thing is that the learning promise is actually realized. So if it says that you are better able to write a language policy plan after a training, that you are demonstrably better at it."
But how do you guarantee that? Is a checkmark behind your name after completing an e-learning sufficient? "As far as we are concerned, that is precisely where the power of blended learning lies: those check marks are a judgment of a course, in which you also complete practical assignments that a trainer reviews, in which you receive feedback on your written plan AND in which physical training sessions have a place for practice."
Learning in five years
Making quite a gigantic revolution in a short time: so can you actually say anything meaningful about where (blended) learning is going to go in the next five years? Hanni begins, "In the coming period, we're really going to look deeper into the tool of Procademy. So; what else can we get out of that, to further improve the process and the learning experience? In a broader sense, I think that students, too, will increasingly recognize the added value of (partly) online learning. No longer sitting in a classroom and having all the knowledge come at you, but being able to walk through learning processes at your own pace and level, that is where a student really gains."
Marleone concludes, "Social learning will also take off. Students helping other students in the chat, moderated forums on which trainers and students can exchange information, that sort of thing. In the coming years I expect that we will make great strides in this in our fine cooperation with Procademy and that social learning will also increasingly become the norm in the world of (blended) learning." Duly noted!
