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learning facilities is noted repeatedly. In addition, with the growing sophisticationof participants – particularly on a course like IDLTM – there is an expectation that,to coin a phrase, course provision will have moved beyond ‘BL 1.0’ to ‘BL 2.0’.Secondly, the course material and examples must be directly relevant to managementin an LTO. Since management textbooks rarely draw on examples in an educationalservice context, this has meant developing a coursebook based on the course, as wellas assembling a stock of examples and cases from the world of the LTO manager, suchas articles from the IATEFL Leadership and Management SIG Newsletter.Thirdly, as Dziuban, Hatman and Moskal (2004: 10) point out, with blended learning,‘Just as students have to relearn how to learn, faculty have to relearn how to teach’,while in courses such as IDLTM, bringing together trainers from a range of differentareas can create a forum for mentoring and the exchange of pedagogical practicesand, as they also suggest, can ‘revitalize senior professors by refocusing them on theprocess of effective instruction’.Fourthly, because there is a high level of integration across the eight assessed coursemodules, it has proved beneficial to restrict the number of trainers to a maximum offour because of the close co-operation required – at least ideally – among trainers.With a small scale course like IDLTM such co-operation is feasible, but it is clear thatin large-scale course provision, facilitating communication and co-operation across ateaching team becomes a more challenging and even more important requirement.Fifthly, the trainers themselves influence how, when and what participants contributeto online tasks and discussions. If trainers are perfunctory in the way they interactwith participants, the latter are disinclined to contribute in depth. Indeed, Garrisonand Vaughan (2007) advocate that teachers must provide ‘…ongoing facilitation,monitoring, and modelling of the course expectations for students throughout theentire semester’ (p. 141). What participants value is comments from trainers whichare insightful, though not necessarily lengthy, and which are worth taking time offfrom their own busy schedules to read and reflect upon.Finally, although blended learning tuition involves a combination of elements,inputs and activities which are greatly facilitated by the means of a VLE, ultimatelythe success of blended learning depends on the imagination, understandingand commitment of the trainers, the effectiveness of well-organised and reliableadministration and the wholehearted engagement of learners, prepared toparticipate in a course that may extend over a prolonged period.ReferencesDziuban, CD, Hatman, JL and Moskal, PD (2004) Blended learning. EDUCAUSE Centerfor Applied Research Bulletin Issue 7. Available online at http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0407.pdfGarrison, D and Kanuka, H (2004) Blended learning: Uncovering its transformativepotential in higher education. Internet and Higher Education 7: 95–105.98 | Blended learning: The IDLTM experience