Reframing Virtual and Hybrid Learning
With a Human Focus 

You and I are in the same (virtual) room.

Cast your minds back, if you will, to the so-called ‘dark ages’ of corporate training delivery. Just a mere three years ago in January 2020, only 50% of this training was done online. Fast forward to three months later, and the proportion was 100% (thanks, global pandemic). 

If online delivery is now the expected benchmark, we need to ask: exactly how good is it? And from whose perspective? What does success look like for the organization and the learner? 

These are precisely the questions explored by Jo Cook, a leader in virtual classroom training and Jane Daly, founder of evidence-based learning and development consultancy, PeopleStar,  their new research report, “Through the lens of research: Amplifying human focus in virtual and hybrid learning.” The foreword is written by Donald H. Taylor, Chair of Learning Technologies. 

Three main themes from the data 

The report draws upon their experience in behavioral science to highlight three vantage points: first, the learner perspective versus what the organization is offering them; second, the organization perspective and how to succeed; and third, the hybrid perspective and how to avoid expensive pitfalls and mediocre events. 

Highlights 

The executive summary provides the following key insights and takeaways: 

 – Less than 10% of learners feel that virtual and hybrid sessions have exceeded their expectations. The there are several barriers to this:

a) Performance and use of technology (44%)

b) Attendees not knowing how to use the platform (43%)

c) Facilitators not understanding the technology (37%)

d) Design of the sessions not updated for virtual delivery (37%)

  • Additionally, the research shows that learning professionals are still transitioning to virtual and hybrid learning, with 6% of respondents taking an evidence-based approach. 
  • More than 88% of participants in the study confirm that their organization has increased the virtual and hybrid offering. 
  • Only 58% of participants felt that the technology performs well. 
  • Just 33% were aware of virtual and hybrid learning best practice. 
  •  Half of participants report that up to 75% of their organizations’ learning offerings are available in virtual/hybrid formats.
  • 23% wanted to allocate more budget to virtual/hybrid learning.
  • 15% planned to increase their insight to boost its impact. 

To download the full report for free, visit: https://virtualresearchinsights.com/report2022/.