In this article, the second of our hybrid learning series, I’ll build on the key takeaways from the last 15 months that I shared previously.  I’ll focus on new design considerations when creating learning solutions for clients with hybrid workforces.

What’s really changed and how new is hybrid learning?  For me, it’s all about inclusion.  Learners in the room must have an equal opportunity to learn from their peers dialling in and vice versa.

So, how do we provide this equal, inclusive learning experience?   It’s hard! A facilitator’s natural instinct is to scan for and react to participants’ verbal/non-verbal signals.  A learner’s instinct isn’t much different; reading the room to decipher how best to connect with the trainer and other participants. We’ve got better at doing this when we’re all dialling in remotely but how will we fare when some are on-site and others not?

The upshot is our facilitators need to design and plan differently to deliver successful hybrid learning experiences. Below is my checklist so that none of our participants feel inferior because of their location:

- Which comes first… programme design or available technology? At Euromoney Learning we’re tech-agnostic so, where budgets allow, match the tech to the programme rather than design the programme to suit the tech. Our learners’ experience comes first so select hardware that adds value to our trainers’ chosen learning activities. 
- Conference Platform: be guided by our clients’ preferred platform… and provide access to relevant software and tools to create the best-shared learning experience. 
- Involvement: 

• Welcome: whether it's a virtual entrance and registration that mimics the real-life venue, or a shared on-screen welcome message, make all participants feel part of the programme from the minute they join and ensure they have the same access to their instructor
• Participation: encourage remove learners to switch on their cameras. Position our cameras, microphones and screens to encourage everyone to speak up.
• BYOD: ask all on-site learners to bring their devices so they can contribute to shared documents and online collaboration - Padlet's a great tool!
• Interactivity: we guarantee consistency by using Kahoot! for online interactive quizzes, and CameraTag for video roleplays.
• Q&A/Plenary Discussion: ask participants to interact with each other and the facilitator in the same way... post your questions online for inclusion in the follow-up discussion.

- Networking: it’s hard to replicate a hybrid networking environment that doesn’t feel forced.  So far, we’ve trialled encouraging all participants to have their lunch together.  Participants on site go to a different room and those dialling in are encouraged to join. 

In conclusion this evolving hybrid world encourages us as learning providers to enhance our existing solution design and better plan participant engagement.  What would you add to my checklist?  To help answer this, here are the questions that prompted this article:  

• Where do you stand on how new is hybrid learning?  
• How will you encourage inclusive learning going forward?  
  

What is a Merkle Tree?

If the hashing process is repeated with exactly the same transactions, exactly the same hashes will be created. This allows anyone using the blockchain to check that the data has not been tampered with, because ANY change in any part of the data will result in a completely different hash, affecting every iteration of hashes all the way to the root. This is known as a Merkle Tree.

Merkle Trees serve the purpose of significantly reducing the amount of data required to be stored and transmitted or broadcast over the network by summarising sets of hashed transactions into a single root hash. As each transaction is hashed, then combined and hashed again, the final root hash will still be a standard size.