Ben Franklin Would Tell You To Go With The Blended Solution

"Moderation in all things -- including moderation." - Benjamin Franklin

Lately I have been in several friendly debates with high school teachers over the use of Second Life in secondary education. There seems to be some hesitation in some quarters about losing face time with students. Great teachers have learned to measure the effectiveness of their training session by a glance around the room. They value that face-to-face contact.

On the other hand, many companies and universities are taking their training more and more virtual. Second Life and webinar tools have become viable options for conducting group sessions. Presenters can deliver content, manage breakout groups, have groups report findings, create flip charts...all the tools of the classroom. Voice over IP has even enabled users to hear each other rather than spend the time in text chat.

Some argue that virtual worlds and social networking are the next progression of our social evolution (check out this article from the New York Times, online). In many ways, social networks are logical extensions of our tribal culture: we share ideas, we trade virtual trinkets, we form groups based on common interests and goals.

But what about human interaction? Aren't we social animals with a need for face time, to see a person's expression and react? I would argue that all this virtual time makes actual face-to-face time that much more valuable to learning. Great learning solutions can be built that engage people on both levels.

1. Create engaging online experiences. Use Second Life, webinars, or online resources to create virtual tools and resources that learners want to reuse. Let those experiences create excitement, interest, and healthy tension.

2. Teach people how to facilitate discussions. Once the online piece is complete, have people meet to discuss the content presented. They will all be part of the group called "People who experienced online content." They will have a shared history and experience to get them started and will begin to collaborate and build group norms. Train leaders to facilitate group discussion and draw out ideas and action plans. Encourage learners to form these groups in their work place rather than online to build social interaction and support networks.

3. Use virtual space for continuing development and follow-up. Once a group has formed in real space, encourage them to extend their influence into virtual space through online meetings, wikis, blogs, and discussion boards. By working through the first steps, groups may "unlock" (to use a gaming term) additional content and resources.

Classroom learning is becoming too costly to remain the predominant delivery tool of corporate training. Online delivery is becoming less expensive, easier to produce and sometimes, in the case of Second Life, as good as classroom learning. Human interaction is still an integral part of learning for many people and shouldn't be eliminated entirely. The best options usually combine the flavor and benefits of multiple delivery vehicles.