How hybrid learning can help your clients do the work
It’s frustrating.
You’ve put together the perfect dog training course and you know that your clients should be getting results that blow them away. But you might find yourself frustrated with clients who just won’t put the work in or who appear to be wanting a quick fix!
The reality is your students try to take the information away to practice, but they may be struggling to remember exactly what to do or what was shared with them in a session.
Did you know that after just one day, people forget more than 70% of what was taught in training?
That’s because people learn differently.
Introducing… Hybrid learning! It’s a complete gamechanger for your students and for you. So let’s dive into what it is, how it works and why it’s worth the extra effort.
Learning styles
Like dogs, people are all individuals. So it makes sense that the way they learn best differs.
When we can offer multiple ways to absorb lessons, we make it easier for all types of learners to retain the teaching and put it into practice.
Learning styles include:
- Visual
- Auditory
- Reading/writing
- Kinesthetic
Visual Learners
Visual learners grasp information best through visual representation like graphics, video demonstrations, handouts, imagery or charts. Highlighting key information in a visual manner can help these learners process and retain information.
Auditory Learners
Also known as aural learners, auditory learners excel when information is presented vocally/through sound. They thrive in group discussions and may enjoy podcasts or audio lessons they can revisit.
Reading & Writing Learners
These learners excel with text-based information such as checklists, workbooks and presentations they can absorb and refer back to! These learners love taking notes and perform well when they can refer back to written materials.
Kinesthetic Learners
Kinesthetic learners learn best through hands-on activities and engaging all their senses. They thrive when learning gives them the opportunity to physically do tasks and perform practical exercises.
Bringing together a variety of dog training resources can help your learners to overcome the hurdles stopping them from going all in and getting the results they’re capable of with their dog.
What is hybrid learning?
Hybrid learning combines in-person training with easily accessible online resources and support to back up and enhance your student’s learning experience.
Following a training session, your students will only retain some of the information covered, so it makes sense that things fall by the wayside a little once they leave class.
In a class environment, there are many distractions for your learners. They need to juggle looking after their dog, listening to your instructions, the mechanics of doing the training, as well as their own feelings and worries.
After just one day, people forget more than 70 percent of what was taught in training.
Couple this with transferring information to family members who couldn’t make the session, and you have a perfect cocktail for confusion.
Is it any wonder students come back session after session without making great progress?
How does hybrid learning make your dog training more effective?
By providing your students with a variety of additional learning resources to reinforce their learning, you will set them up to succeed and reach their training goals.
This means better results for their dogs, their self-confidence, and for you and your business!
What are the benefits of hybrid learning?
- Improves information retention
- Aids accurate transfer of information to other family members
- Inspires practice
- Strengthens motivation
- Enhances results
- Increases client retention
Hybrid learning enables your students to remember more and to transfer learning to other members of their household successfully. It inspires them to practice more often with their dog as they start to see measurable results, and their successes create confidence.
When your clients feel good about their training experience and results, this seamlessly leads to them wanting to stay with you to learn more - and encourages great referrals through word of mouth.
What might you include in a hybrid learning program?
- In-person sessions - one-to-one or group classes
- Access to a video vault of tutorial videos so they can see training in action
- Handouts so they can revisit and digest the information
- Audio recordings they can listen to anytime
- Community group - fostering connection and delivering additional coaching via feedback on student posts
- Progress tracking resources so they can see movement
- Games/challenges to inject some fun and joy
In this example, your base offer is your one-to-ones and group training classes.
When you bolster that with video tutorials, handouts, audio content, and games that inject fun into their training, magic happens.
Adding an online community creates a connection between guardians for support, accountability, and inspiration and allows continued opportunities for feedback and coaching remotely.
When you tie all this together, you’ve developed a package that meets every learning style so you can bring out the best in all of your learners.
Why invest in hybrid learning?
The ultimate benefits of offering hybrid learning resources are that it can supercharge not only your client’s results but your job satisfaction and business success.
The added benefit is resilience for your business.
We all know what it felt like when our businesses had to pivot on a dime. It was incredibly hard for so many dog trainers during the pandemic - but we did learn that online learning is actually incredibly effective!
A hybrid learning model means you already have everything you need in place should you have to return to online only training for any reason.
And you’ll already have a base of superfans who’ll happily vouch for how effective they’ve found online learning to be.
If you love in-person teaching, you can still enhance your offering with these tools - it doesn’t replace what you already do, it compliments it and makes learning easier for your students.
Essentially, hybrid learning means the world is your oyster. When you’re delivering unparalleled support and results, your business can only flourish.
Conclusion
By seizing the opportunity to accept not just the dogs you work with as individuals but the people too you transform your offerings.
Enabling students to process information in multiple ways will enhance their results massively - and relieve you from feeling like all the work you’re putting in is falling on deaf ears!
When you have a breadth of ways for your dog training clients to throw themselves into the learning, you make it easier for them to commit to doing the work needed with unrestricted enthusiasm.
Putting a hybrid program together doesn’t have to take a lot of effort to prepare either!
If you love the idea, but can’t stand the thought of creating all the content to move it forwards, then check out the HeartDog Trainer Toolboxes.
Get instant access to everything you need to take your business to the next level at the click of a link.
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