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2. ‘Technology is only important to the degree that it helps us get where we want
to go’ (Mehlinger, 1996). Blended learning does not necessarily imply high-tech
resources or skills. Simple, comparatively low-tech solutions can serve a purpose
while not exploiting the full range of what is available.
3. This chapter has discussed soft skills development in which the oral skill lends
itself logically to face-to-face training and the written skill to online learning, with
structural features of IMFRC and the underlying principles of COPE (unifying the
two strands, so consolidating learning). There are many other ways in which this
could be done: a blended learning course to link negotiation skills and proposal
writing, for example, or the oral and written aspects of participative project
management.
4. Blended learning for the world of work functions effectively when there is an
immediate pay-off for the trainee. AMFA participants were conscious throughout
the programme of the progress they were making and the impact of the course on
their success in everyday work-related tasks.
5. Blended learning is still an unfamiliar concept to many: the course described
here included an introductory face-to-face session to blended learning in which
principles were explained and discussed and this, I think, is essential.
6. Learners do not only learn from the trainer. One oversight in course design
(rectified to some extent during course delivery) was to neglect to provide
trainees with ways to discuss issues and support each other and it is this level
of interaction that means that what is provided is more than a mere online
correspondence course (Muilenburg and Berge, 2000: 1). Blended learning is
a three-way and not a two-way process.
I hope that this chapter has shown sufficiently that ‘do-it-yourself’ is certainly one
valid approach to blended learning. While it has its disadvantages (and may even
appear a little rudimentary at times), it also has the potential to meet very specific
needs quickly, fairly comprehensively and with substantial smaller-scale impact.

References
Hutchinson, T and Waters, A (1987) English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press.
Isackson, P, August 2002 Blog. Available online at www.internettime.com/itimegroup/
astd/lc_blog.htm
Mehlinger, HD (1996) School reform in the information age. Phi Delta Kappan 77,
Bloomington, USA. Available online at www.questia.com/library/1G1-18084235/
school-reform-in-the-information-age

Muilenburg, L and Berge, ZL (2000) A framework for designing questions for online
learning. DEOSNEWS 10/2, ISSN 1062-9416, Pennsylvania, USA. Available online at
http://smcm.academia.edu/LinMuilenburg/Papers/440394/A_Framework_for_
Designing_Questions_for_Online_Learning

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