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2. ‘Technology is only important to the degree that it helps us get where we wantto go’ (Mehlinger, 1996). Blended learning does not necessarily imply high-techresources or skills. Simple, comparatively low-tech solutions can serve a purposewhile not exploiting the full range of what is available.3. This chapter has discussed soft skills development in which the oral skill lendsitself logically to face-to-face training and the written skill to online learning, withstructural features of IMFRC and the underlying principles of COPE (unifying thetwo strands, so consolidating learning). There are many other ways in which thiscould be done: a blended learning course to link negotiation skills and proposalwriting, for example, or the oral and written aspects of participative projectmanagement.4. Blended learning for the world of work functions effectively when there is animmediate pay-off for the trainee. AMFA participants were conscious throughoutthe programme of the progress they were making and the impact of the course ontheir success in everyday work-related tasks.5. Blended learning is still an unfamiliar concept to many: the course describedhere included an introductory face-to-face session to blended learning in whichprinciples were explained and discussed and this, I think, is essential.6. Learners do not only learn from the trainer. One oversight in course design(rectified to some extent during course delivery) was to neglect to providetrainees with ways to discuss issues and support each other and it is this levelof interaction that means that what is provided is more than a mere onlinecorrespondence course (Muilenburg and Berge, 2000: 1). Blended learning isa three-way and not a two-way process.I hope that this chapter has shown sufficiently that ‘do-it-yourself’ is certainly onevalid approach to blended learning. While it has its disadvantages (and may evenappear a little rudimentary at times), it also has the potential to meet very specificneeds quickly, fairly comprehensively and with substantial smaller-scale impact.ReferencesHutchinson, T and Waters, A (1987) English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge,Cambridge University Press.Isackson, P, August 2002 Blog. Available online at www.internettime.com/itimegroup/astd/lc_blog.htmMehlinger, HD (1996) School reform in the information age. Phi Delta Kappan 77,Bloomington, USA. Available online at www.questia.com/library/1G1-18084235/school-reform-in-the-information-ageMuilenburg, L and Berge, ZL (2000) A framework for designing questions for onlinelearning. DEOSNEWS 10/2, ISSN 1062-9416, Pennsylvania, USA. Available online athttp://smcm.academia.edu/LinMuilenburg/Papers/440394/A_Framework_for_Designing_Questions_for_Online_Learning152 | Blended learning for English for occupational purposes