The company was named after Delphi, the historical city in Greece. "Know thyself," is the historical inscription in the temple of Apollo at Delphi. It is that wisdom, which Delphi Mindconnection wants to impart to its trainees.
In any case, Delphi Mindconnection knows itself pretty well. In retrospect, the training agency from Best in the south of the Netherlands thinks they should have switched to blended learning earlier. They are very honest about that, says experienced trainer Driesen. Why change, if the training courses are booked up every year? "The more you taste success, the more you get stuck in your patterns. Past success is a bottleneck for the experienced trainer. Sometimes that experienced trainer is the biggest roadblock," says trainer Paul Driesen (63) of Delphi Mindconnection.
Paul Driesen. Photo: Delphi Mindconnection
Blended learning from 2017
Every training in the past used to start with thick multi folders and printed teaching materials, handed out to trainees on the first day of training. But Delphi Mindconnection wanted much more than just handing out folders. The training agency dreamed of interactive PDFs, with videos to color it all in.
In 2017, Delphi Mindconnection made its first attempt to digitize and start with blending learning. "We decided to put the 'written support materials' online. For that, we had chosen LearningStone as our platform," Driesen says. "At first it was mainly running alongside our printed material. Now we realize we weren't really getting the full benefits out of it. Converting existing concepts to digital learning paths requires much more than a collection of PDFs and a digital questionnaire."
"Past success is often a bottleneck for the experienced trainer, or perhaps the experienced trainer himself is the biggest roadblock."
Only during covid in 2020 did Delphi Mindconnection turn around. By necessity, the live training sessions had stopped altogether. The training agency was at a loss because the annual programs were continuing. "The biggest resistance then turned out to be between our own ears. We had to start training online. That's where LearningStone proved terribly useful. It turned out that we also had to think rigorously differently. More from the perspective of the student," Driesen reflects.
"Supported in part by multiple workshops from LearningStone and guidance from the Development Accelerator, we really started to change, expand and deepen our understanding of blended learning. Individual learner development is now enhanced by the learning environment in LearningStone. With reflection reports, quizzes, videos that updated all the time, a social wall and albums. Tools that are especially helpful between monthly training sessions, to apply it in the participant's practice. 'What training journey is the trainee going through?' became one of the defining themes."
Now Driesen feels he is an expert in blended learning. "I really lived through the whole journey of blended learning. An educational expert recently reminded me that 'You have to learn to learn,' and that applies to setting up blended learning as well."
