University of Twente Student Theses
Professional development training: will it blend? : How to offer blended learning
Graaf, Joost de (2017) Professional development training: will it blend? : How to offer blended learning.
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| Abstract: | Technological innovation in education give rise to new and more efficient possibilities for developing employees through professional development training. Because of increasing technological possibilities, researchers keep referring to the subject of blended learning. Despite elaborate coverage in literature, little literature exists on how blended learning can be applied in a business setting. This study analyses how an organisation, who markets professional development training, can offer blended learning. Blended learning, a thoughtful combination of educational experiences delivered through face-to-face and online activities, is a challenge for organisations who wish to professionally develop their employees through this type of training. In this comparative case study, it is analysed how professional development training can be offered through the use of blended learning. The data is based on interviews with six blended learning experts and theoretically grounded in a conceptual model with theoretical propositions. The central result of this study is that the learner is the most important element of the learning experience. As such, the central recommendations focus on the learner—individual learning styles and learner control have to be facilitated in creating a blended learning environment. Only then a blend will be successful. Furthermore, the case study showed that collaboration is important in blended learning. Collaboration is straightforward to accommodate in face-to-face learning, however, in online learning social cohesion has to be formed face-to-face so that the threshold to collaborating online is lowered. Finally, no optimal blend is possible in practice, because of the fact that every learning situation is different. The recommendations given in this study on how blended learning can be offered in a professional development training setting, contributes to the literature of blended learning by providing empirical evidence on how blended learning is used in a business setting. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Clients: | Unknown organization, Nederland |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 01 general works, 70 social sciences in general, 81 education, teaching |
| Programme: | Business Administration MSc (60644) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/74208 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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