How To Make The Right Call And Select The Ideal Blended Learning Vendor
As predicted by Grandview Research, that the outsourcing industry will reach $525 billion by 2030. Since blended learning is a combination of in-person and virtual training formats that offers an engaging and highly immersive learning experience to learners, it needs to be well-designed and developed with appropriate learning content, interactive media elements, and engaging formats.
However, the process of coming up with the right blend is not a cakewalk, and the increased demand for training in the modern age necessitates a speedy roll-out, too. So, an effective solution to this problem and to ensure continuous learning by getting the best of both worlds efficiently and quickly is to opt for blended learning outsourcing.
The market today is flooded with blended learning vendors, and since we know how important the quality of a blended learning program is to its effectiveness, it is critical to pick the right one from the pool that provides holistic support. So, why not spend time investigating the caliber and suitability of a blended learning vendor when outsourcing with the same focus we have for our in-house projects?
Some Checkboxes To Check When Choosing A Vendor For Blended Learning
1. Assistance And Consultation
Blended learning requires the proper blending of various formats, which calls for domain knowledge. Therefore, accurate consultation and evaluation based on that are extremely important. The vendor must be able to evaluate the training needs and recommend the format that will work best—whether to go for live training, social learning, self-paced learning, performance support system, or any other blended learning format. Look For A Vendor Who:
- Aligns the blended learning program with learning objectives.
- Designs the overall strategy – what, when, how
- Identifies gaps and fills with relevant learning
- Works with multiple authoring tools
- Evaluates the training effectiveness of the course
2. Expertise In New-age Instructional Design Strategies
Designing a blended learning program demands proficiency. The vendor must have in-depth knowledge of instructional design strategies like microlearning, gamification, or storytelling. Being aware of the various instructional methods and their purpose and time of right usage is necessary to make an impact and improve the results of your blended learning initiative. So, the blended learning vendor must have the correct understanding of making the right choice. Therefore, to utilize the strengths of blended learning to the fullest, the vendor must have access to different instructional design approaches. To successfully implement these strategies, the vendor must :
- Use authoring tools to their full potential to create eLearning courses quickly and effectively.
- Have experience and expertise in working with different instructional design strategies.
3. AI Tools Expertise
AI today is making big in any kind of learning and blended learning is no exception. While outsourcing, check if the vendor has the expertise and access to modern technologies required to integrate AI into your blended learning programs. This keeps you current with cutting-edge technologies like machine learning and natural language processing (NLP). An ideal portfolio would contain a list of all of its previous artificial intelligence-based project works. A vendor's familiarity with a range of AI tools and technologies is crucial and a sign of their high-quality work as per current standards.
- Appropriate content generation to lessen the work involved in creating content from scratch.
- Personalization using cutting-edge analytics to assess performance and monitor progress in learning.
- Learning accessibility offers a comfortable blend of learning formats.
4. Project Management Skills
A blended learning vendor with strong project management skills is a must since they will be equipped to work efficiently even on tight deadlines. The vendor needs to have an agile project management process. Furthermore, the blended learning vendor must have a good line of communication to interact with all project participants frequently and function as an extension of the project team. Check if the blended learning vendor:
- Maintains open lines of communication for questions, feedback, and changes throughout the process.
- Ensures the turnaround time is fast with no delays or rework.
- Takes into account and goes over how they intend to handle changes in project scope, if any.
5. Cost-Efficiency
Blended learning offers a variety of training formats based on your learner’s training need, their profile, and the learning environment, which accounts for multiple costs. When selecting a blended learning vendor, the overall cost needs to be considered in addition to considering the quality. When both are aligned, be assured of having a top-notch blended learning program. Check if the AI tools of the outsourcing partner offer the following:
- Choose an eLearning provider that is transparent about the services and prices and does not have any extra charges.
- Select an eLearning vendor based on the nature, extent, and budgetary limitations of your blended learning requirements.
Conclusion
Understanding the specific needs of your learners and matching the right strategy to the desired results are key to implementing blended learning successfully. If outsourcing is chosen, each step in the vendor selection process for blended learning must be carefully considered.
Download AI-Driven Personalized Learning – Revolutionizing Blended Learning today to discover how you can leverage AI to make learning personal. Also, join the webinar to learn how to launch AI-enabled blended learning for upskilling and reskilling.