Putting Blended Learning to Work: A Case Study from a Multinational Oil Company

Blended learning can be operationalised in many different ways. At Shell International Exploration and Production, a form of blended learning focusing on learning while in the workplace through work‐based activities within technology‐supported courses has been evolving since 2000, with approximately 100 different learning events reflecting this form in 2004. After a review of the general approach to blended learning (‘putting learning to work’) that steers blended learning at Shell EP and the rationale for work‐based activities that serve as the tools for ‘putting learning to work’ within these courses, a case study of the course ‘Production System Optimisation’, including a variety of types of evaluation data, is described. With this case as a point of reference, some reflections on the implications of work‐based activities as a key tool for blended learning conclude the article.