Can you learn to improvise on a melodic instrument remotely? Musician and improvisation coach Jelske Hoogervorst, founder of Improvise for Real, developed three teaching methods to help people achieve this goal: independent e-learning courses, online courses (offered through a blended learning platform and Zoom), and blended learning courses (a combination of live meetings and a blended learning environment). Due to the coronavirus outbreak, she temporarily stopped offering the latter. But other than that, she could continue business as usual. “I already used LearningStone to teach some fully online international courses,” Jelske says. “These groups didn’t notice the change at all.”
“You can use the blended learning platform to activate participants”
Jelske used to work with Dropbox, email, and Facebook. “It was a very cluttered, impractical way of working,” she explains. “With LearningStone, I can provide course materials in one environment, and participants can post videos of themselves playing music. Everyone can give immediate feedback to each other.”
Recently, Jelske discovered that the blended learning platform offers more opportunities. “I took a course at LearningStone, which taught me how to use the platform to activate participants – for example, by giving them assignments and encouraging them to interact. The course was incredibly instructive, as I can really put myself in the participant’s shoes now. I’ve experienced that more moments of interaction and collaborative learning are crucial for the learning effect.”
“The combination of blended and live results in high commitment”
Jelske now puts the knowledge she acquired during her LearningStone course into practice. “The combination of blended learning and live meetings results in a high level of commitment,” she says. “In my courses, I’ve seen that it’s essential to make the most of live meetings. They revolve around creativity, which is very personal. So, we pay attention to it during live meetings. There’s plenty of room to do so, as I’ve uploaded videos of me sharing standard information to the platform. Participants can independently watch these videos in between live meetings.”
To make sure participants stay involved during these intervals, Jelske posts a new lesson and assignment on the blended learning platform every week. “One of the things I require them to do is post recordings of themselves and listen to each other. That’s what I love about LearningStone: you can design courses with the purpose of activating participants.”
“LearningStone has enabled me to scale up”
Business wise, Jelske also reaps the benefits of LearningStone: “I’ve significantly increased my market. First, I was only active in the Netherlands. Now, my students are spread across the globe – from Australia to the United States. On top of that, I can coach more people at the same time. When I organize pure live sessions, I can coach 5 people in a training room. Now, I can easily accept a maximum number of 50 participants for 1 course. Obviously, it’s very interesting for a business to be able to scale up like that.”
If you ask Jelske, LearningStone provides the go-to solution for trainers and coaches who want to enhance the learning effect and achieve business success: “I support this way of learning 100%!”
