Blended Learning, Classroom and E-Learning

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to our research which is investigating blended learning within an industrial automation training environment. This paper compares and contrasts blended learning, classroom and e-learning. There has been a significant increase in the level of remote or distance learning using the Internet, often referred to as e-learning. This is either as a stand-alone approach or in a blended setting in combination with classroom learning. Blended learning (Bersin 2004) has grown in importance and is a combination of the different media such as classroom instruction, on-the-job training and e-learning. Claims have been made by authorities such as Whalen (2000) on the significantly improved cost effectiveness of e-learning compared to that of traditional classroom based training. This paper concludes with a review of current doctoral research and the proposed research by the authors to investigate the impact of blended learning on corporate industrial automation training. This paper is in line with the aims of The International Business and Management Research Conference (Hawaii) which publishes articles of interest to the business community in the areas of business education, educational planning and engineering as applied to business.