The face of association learning is changing quickly, as evidenced by the reports, news and interest areas of leading association educators meeting in Tucson this spring.
There’s change on all fronts now, with these three big changes now emerging:
1.Interest in blended, flipped and other enhancements to face-to-face (F2F) or in-person delivery.
2. Exploration of the best online course delivery format;
3. A deeper look at learning and instruction in both online and F2F programs.
Blended and Flipped
Gabriele Janes of the Canadian Marketing Association led a discussion on The Flipped Classroom, investigating implications for association programming. One of the topics of discussion was how long online instructor videos or audio presentations should be, with 30 minutes and 15 minutes being the two suggested lengths.
On the blended front, the education arm of the Ontario Real Estate Association will be one of the first associations to pioneer a blended program later this year.
Best Online Format
Webinars are popular but not very profitable, and asynchronous self-study is good for short chunked information but lacking retention for more comprehensive and intensive online programs.
So a few leading association educators are looking to LERN for information on the teacher-led online course format with start and end dates. LERN is the world leader in online programming and is currently engaged with three associations advising them on online learning formats.
Deeper Look at Learning
The big changes in both F2F and online delivery has caused many association educators to take a deeper look at the new research on learning.
Peer-to-peer learning is one emerging trend. At the LERN Tucson meeting Janes led a discussion on how participants are matched in peer-to-peer learning situations.
Coaching rather than training is another emerging area of interest for association educators such as Rob Watters of ASQ, the international association in quality based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Micro-learning, with chunked and very specific just-in-time information, is another area of interest, especially for younger association members in the workforce, he noted.
In response to the quickly changing face of association learning, LERN is developing several new programs to help association educators acquire new skills, including:
-Certificate in Programming Online, a three month online program for association educators on how to develop and deliver successful online programs;
-Certified Blended Instructor (CBI), a three month online program for association educators and instructors on how to develop and teach a blended, hybrid, or flipped course.
-Certified Online Instructor (COI), a three month online program for association educators and instructors with the most advanced and latest techniques for teaching a teacher-led online course with start and end dates.
For info on any of the above, call Tammy at (800) 678-5376 or info@lern.org.
