How can we blend the best of all learning worlds to create optimal learning experiences? There's: 1) the world of real time using technology (synchronous), 2) the world of asynchronous products and - let's not forget (which we often do) 3) the pulsing environment around us - that other world - the "real world." Finding ways in which we can do this will challenge us for many years to come. A growing number of terms are being used to describe this process: 1) blending (a term being used more and more by many involved with technology and learning), weaving (Elliott Masie of the Masie Institute in TechLearn Trends #102, February 1) and orchestrating (Alan Chute of Lucent Technologies in his new book, The McGraw-Hill Handbook of Distance Learning.)

As all of us in the field of technology and learning become more familiar with the wide variety of available technologies and new emerging ones, we want to combine them and use them in better ways, for more specific purposes - live videoconferencing when we need to see and hear and interact in real time as individuals or small groups; audioconferencing when the visual aspect isn't that critical; audiographics when we need to share information and collaborate on documents; satellite showcases when that will serve a specific purpose; CBT products and print materials when we need to work on our own and at our own pace; the Internet and Web when we need to search for resources and text-chat with others; virtual reality when we really need to "get inside of something" - oh...and let's not forget the "real world" - that is our grounding and our "real surround." How do we blend all of this and compose optimal learning experiences?

How "can" we do it? At this moment we just don't know. But looking at the terms that are being used: blending, weaving, orchestrating, composing - it's beginning to sound as though the process will be as much an art as it is a science. (Rosemary Lehman)