Designing Your Personal Learning Path: A Blended Learning Approach

When we talk about the blended learning experience it’s important to remember that we are all blended learners. It’s easy to lose sight of that fact when we spend our days designing learning experiences for others. You have a choice in how you learn, just like the learners you're developing and designing training content for. 

And there’s so much information to absorb! We often fall into the ‘we need to be experts at everything’ trap. Curation? Sign me up. Virtual reality? I’ll just order some VR headset. Advanced instructional design techniques? Where can I take a class?

Realistically, we can’t all be experts at everything. Instead, we need to treat our professional development and personal learning journeys as if they were blended learning designs for other people’s development.

Ultimately, we’re creating our own personal blend. And that means putting your design background to work. One way to approach this is to use the ADDIE model of instructional design to assist you.

1. Analyze

Your personal learning environment, needs and constraints. For example, are you generally on the road, a remote employee, member of a hybrid team or in a traditional office space? What learning resources are generally available to you? What do you want to learn and by when? As you know, environment dictates design, and that’s true for your personal learning, too.


2. Design

Your personal learning path. Start by prioritizing your learning goals into ‘must learn’ and ‘nice to learn’ categories. Don’t try to become expert at everything right away. By documenting personal learning objectives, including measurable outcomes and timelines for completion, you create an achievable set of goals that can also be communicated with your mentor or supervisor.

3. Develop

(and identify) your personal learning network (PLN). There are so many resources available to you and you need to be able to pick and choose which resources are right for you. See the table at the end of this post for questions to ask yourself when establishing your PLN.  

4. Implement 

your plan. Just do it. Make time to learn. Collaborate with peers and your personal learning network. Practice what you’ve learned. Keep track of key lessons-learned.  And curate your content! Self-curation is critical to managing and maintaining your PLN. 


5. Evaluate

Is your plan working? Are you focusing on the right topics? Do you need some outside guidance to set priorities? You can change direction mid plan, but make sure you do it thoughtfully. Your approach to how to manage all of this is entirely up you, but you need to be willing to let your process evolve. Be willing to change your approach, or take on new ideas.

How do you manage your personal blend? By applying the same discipline you would use for designing any learning initiative. You are worth it!

Questions to ask when establishing your PLN

Article:  8 Tips To Create Personal Learning Paths In eLearning

The most profound eLearning experiences are those that resonate with us on a deeper level. We form a connection with the subject matter and become active participates in the learning process. In this article, Christopher Pappas explores how to create, cultivate, and use personal learning paths in eLearning.

Blog: Curation is the Key to Managing Your Personal Learning Network

How do we find the time to parse through all the information and make decisions about what content is relevant, timely, and, perhaps most importantly, accurate?

Community of Practice: Virtual Learning Community of Practice

Join our private Facebook community of practice for learning and development practitioners to pose questions, ask for advice, and collaborate with peers.